Secure web hosting you can trust

DigitalOcean knows how critical cloud infrastructure security is for your business, especially as you grow and scale. We offer customizable virtual machines and managed hosting with all of the key security features you’ll need to know your application’s web host is secure and protected.

Have confidence in your web hosting security with DigitalOcean

We take secure web hosting seriously and have invested in security features that will enable you to focus on what matters: building and growing your business. Our core products are built with security in mind.

Virtual Machines (Droplets)

Virtual Machines (Droplets)

Our virtual machines are security-first. Use SSH keys to access your Droplets directly from the terminal and take advantage of Cloud Firewalls at no additional cost.

Managed Hosting with Cloudways

Managed Hosting with Cloudways

Our Managed Hosting offering, Cloudways, will make it even easier for you to host your application, and with all the security features you need, such as the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on, which includes DDoS attack mitigation (DDoS protection), firewalls, and more.

Managed Kubernetes

Managed Kubernetes

Enjoy the best security features built into Kubernetes, additional benefits such as Etcd data encryption at rest, the benefits of DigitalOcean being on the Kubernetes Private Distributors List, and easy security configuration.

Managed Databases

Managed Databases

Protect your data—and your customers’—with our backup options (including automatic backups) for Managed Databases, connections over TLS/SSL for web traffic encryption, extensive permissions options, and an application firewall.

Secure Networking

Take advantage of your own Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Cloud Firewalls, Load Balancers, and DNS at DigitalOcean.

Object Storage

Our S3-compatible object storage product, Spaces, has built-in identity verification, data encryption, and heightened security as a default setting.

Worry about your business, not your cloud hosting security

Enjoy our many built-in security features for DigitalOcean secure web hosting and Cloudways managed hosting.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is secure web hosting?

Secure web hosting is web hosting provided by a web hosting service that emphasizes important security features you might need as you grow your business.

Secure web hosting services are not a guarantee with every hosting provider. Research the hosting providers you’re considering to ensure they have the secure hosting features you need.

Some of these security features might include:

  • A dedicated server offering where you can choose to have dedicated servers just for your business or application

  • Free SSL certificate or SSL certificates that ensure only the users or admins you’ve approved can access your servers and applications

  • Virtual private server (VPS hosting) that ensures, even if you’re using shared web hosting, that your virtual server allocation is private and protected from others on the shared hosting server.

  • Web application firewall to block out any undesirable or harmful traffic or access attempts

  • Other key website security features or advanced security options such as secure sockets layer, secure servers, automatic backups, two-factor authentication, spam protection, DDoS protection (distributed denial of service against unauthorized users aka DDoS attacks), and more.

DigitalOcean is a great secure web hosting option as we offer all of the above web hosting security features and many web hosting services generally.

How do I know if the web hosting service I use is using secure hosting best practices?

There are many great hosting plans and hosting services out there, but not all of them will emphasize secure web hosting. DigitalOcean does, and you can see this in all the secure web hosting service features we offer and include in our hosting service.

If you are considering a different web hosting service, look for the above website security features on the website of that web hosting company. If their web hosting service doesn’t cover the best web hosting security practices, and if website security is important to you, consider looking elsewhere for your hosting service.

Secure web hosting is complicated, which is why your web hosting provider needs to have experience in secure hosting. We hope you will consider DigitalOcean for your secure web hosting service as your hosting company.

Beyond secure web hosting, does it matter which website builder I use?

You can build your website from scratch or use popular website builders like WordPress. Either way, you’ll want to keep security in mind.

While choosing from secure web hosting services for your web hosting is a critical choice for security, how you build the application itself can greatly impact what features you might need from your secure hosting (e.g., shared server vs dedicated server, hosting plans with a free SSL certificate, VPS hosting, etc.)

What other considerations should I have when choosing hosting services?

There is much more to web hosting than just security. Web hosts can offer many different kinds of web hosting services that emphasize different cloud hosting solutions, for example:

  • Hosting services with an emphasis on secure hosting: offering hosting plans that include dedicated servers, a web application firewall, a free SSL certificate, DDoS protection, SSH access, two-factor authentication, and other protections meant to deal with security threats such as cyber attacks.

  • Hosting companies with hosting plans emphasizing reliability or performance: a focus on server location or data centers location and customer support for when you need help from a support team.

  • Web hosting services focused on cost: offering hosting plans with affordable web hosting deals or discounts, monetary benefits like a money back guarantee. However, it is important to make sure that cost-focused providers are still offering high quality services beyond just savings or a money back guarantee.

  • Hosting services focused on a specific kind of website builder (e.g., managed WordPress hosting or linux based web servers). WordPress hosting plans are particularly common.

Assess your needs to decide what kind of cloud hosting fits your web applications.

Is DigitalOcean a secure web hosting company with secure web hosting services?

Yes! DigitalOcean cares deeply about offering high-quality secure hosting to meet your applications’ needs.

As mentioned above, our web hosting offerings include web security benefits such as:

  • Protections from cyber attacks

  • A support team to help you when you need it

  • DDoS Protection

  • VPS hosting

  • Two factor authentication

  • SSH access

  • SSL Certificates

  • Automatic backups

  • And more!

We take web hosting seriously, including secured web hosting. Whether you need same server hosting, a dedicated server, shared web hosting, managed WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, general cloud hosting, or another kind of web host, our web hosting offerings have you covered.

We hope you will consider us for your hosting provider among the web hosts you’re considering. Learn more about our hosting plans.

How do I switch from one hosting provider to another hosting provider?

If you aren’t satisfied with your current hosting provider and are looking for more secure web hosting providers, you can switch hosting plans without interrupting your cloud hosting.

If you are interested in DigitalOcean and want to learn about the best web hosting plan we offer to meet your specific secure web host needs, reach out to our sales team who can help with a migration.

What is the difference between dedicated hosting and shared hosting?

A web host can offer both dedicated hosting and shared hosting (sometimes referred to as same server hosting), and it is important for you to know whether the web host you choose is among web hosting companies with dedicated or shared web hosting offerings.

Dedicated hosting is when an application has a server entirely to itself or a business has dedicated hosting on a server for only its applications.

Shared hosting is when multiple users share the same web server (hence the term “shared hosting”). Shared hosting can be a great option for businesses looking to reduce the amount they’re spending with their hosting providers. But with shared hosting comes the important consideration of security and privacy.

The best web hosting deals for shared hosting will typically include web security benefits to ensure the proper security measures are in place to prevent any single business on the shared hosting from accessing any other separate business on the same web server. Many hosting providers offer shared hosting (some as a default for their hosting packages), but you’ll want to ensure your plan is shared hosting secure/site secure.

Both dedicated hosting and shared hosting have pros and cons that are worth exploring across the web hosting providers you are considering. We’d encourage you in either case to consider the security measures in place (especially if you are looking for advanced security features).

What are SSL certificates?

An SSL certificate is a way to authenticate a website’s identity and enable an encrypted connection. Thus the SSL certificate ensures that user data is secure and website ownership is verified—only an admin with an SSL certificate can make changes to your application or your cloud hosting.

We highly recommend finding a dedicated hosting provider who will provide an SSL certificate for your use. Many web hosting companies will offer this as part of the advanced security features that come with their hosting packages. DigitalOcean’s hosting packages are no exception.

Which hosting provider offers the best web hosting?

There are so many hosting plans out there and the best one will depend on your business’s needs.

We hope you will consider the hosting plans offered by DigitalOcean.