If you are maintaining a website or web application which is very critical to your business and/or houses a lot of private information, you need to ensure that the website or application is situated on suitably secure hosting. This will ensure the maximum uptime for your critical application as well as the security of all associated data from hacking, malware, spyware and other online nasties which can damage websites and web applications to often irretrievable levels.
You also need to look closely at the type of hosting you have. Shared hosting, while cheaper than dedicated server hosting, is not ideal for the security conscious as you could be sharing your server with any number of illegitimate businesses and dodgy websites which can compromise your security. Dedicated server hosting, where you control everything on a particular server, is far safer and lets you keep close track of any possible security loopholes in order to ensure the safety of your application and its data.
A good secure hosting provider will also act as a security consultant, helping you to make decisions about script installation, content management system and even marketing impacts for things like SEO and PPC management. Keep an eye on uptime and routine maintenance windows to make sure your web application is online as much as possible within secure data centres, and make sure you find a host who is offering a high SLA, or Service Level Agreement, which ensures they can’t let your website go offline without suffering any penalties.