What kind of security do I need for my website?

Question:

I’m setting up my first website through ipage.com and one of their features is this:
Prevent Identity Theft & Secure Your Data – Just $ 12.95/year
Identify security vulnerabilities that could lead to Identity Theft and allow hackers to steal sensitive information. Exclusive registration price! A $ 59.95 value.
$ 12.95 per year

Is this something I need? I’m mainly gonna use the website to link to my various projects around the net (youtube, books on amazon, my blog etc). I won’t be selling anything right now directly through my website, but probably will later. Should I wait till I start selling to get this? Is this something I could handle myself with software? Or is it worth the $ 12.95 a year?

Answer:

You don’t need that for a personal website.  It’s for businesses accepting credit cards or membership information.  It’s an SSL certificate.  It uses the secure protocol https instead of http.  Even if you use a payment processor like PayPal or 2CheckOut to accept payments, you still don’t need it because those processors give you links to a secure payment page.

You can always add it later on if you decide you need it.  It doesn’t have to be purchased now.  I bet a lot of people who buy it never use it.  It’s that “Prevent Identity Theft & Secure Your Data” that convinces them they need it.  They aren’t talking about YOU, they are talking about transactions occurring on your site.

Good selection you made.  iPage is a great host.