The 7 Security Headers Every Website Needs (And Most Are Missing)

Security headers are invisible instructions your web server sends to browsers. They prevent clickjacking, cross-site scripting, data sniffing, and a range of other attacks. Most small business websites are missing the majority of them.

The 7 headers you need

X-Content-Type-Options prevents browsers from misinterpreting file types, which attackers use to disguise malicious files.

X-Frame-Options stops your site from being embedded in hidden frames on other websites, preventing clickjacking attacks.

HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) forces browsers to always use HTTPS, even if someone tries to connect via HTTP.

Content-Security-Policy controls which scripts and resources can run on your pages, blocking injected malicious code.

X-XSS-Protection activates the browser built-in protection against cross-site scripting attacks.

Referrer-Policy controls what information is sent when visitors click links to other sites.

Permissions-Policy restricts access to browser features like camera, microphone, and geolocation.

How to check yours

LaunchKitty checks all seven headers on every scan and shows you exactly which are present and which are missing. Each missing header gets a specific prescription explaining what it does and how to add it. For most hosting providers, adding security headers takes five minutes.