Monthly Archives: July 2016

Basic Protection against Website Hacking

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As a site owner, is there something more horrible than the thought of seeing all of your web-developed work being altered or deleted by a hacker?

You’ve worked exhausting on your website – thus take the time to safeguard it by implementing basic hacking protections!

In addition to frequently backing up your files (which you must already be doing, for numerous reasons), taking the subsequent 3 straightforward steps that can facilitate to make your website safe:

Website Protection

Keep platforms and scripts up-to-date

One of the simplest stuff you will do to safeguard your website is to update any platforms or scripts you’ve installed.

As a result, several of those are created as ASCII text file open source programs, their code is definitely on the market – each to good-intention developers and malicious hackers.

Hackers will pour over this code, probing for security loopholes that permit them to take control of your website by exploiting any platform or script weaknesses.

As an example, if you’re running a website under WordPress, each your base WordPress installation and any third-party plugins you’ve put in be prone to these varieties of attacks.

Ensuring you mostly have the most recent versions of your platform and scripts installed minimizes the chance that you’ll be hacked using this manner– although this isn’t a “fail safe” way to protect your website.

Install security plugins

To enhance the safety of your website once your platform and scripts up-to-date, chose security plugins that actively act against hacking.

Again using WordPress as an example, you’ll need to look into free plugins choose WP Security and Bulletproof Security (or similar tools on the market).  These merchandise address the weaknesses that are inherent in every platform, thwarting extra varieties of hacking attempt that might threaten your web site.

Lock down your directory and file permissions

Now, for this final technique, we’re aiming to get slightly technical – however keep up with ME for a moment…

All websites will be cooked right down to a series of files and folders that are stored in your web hosting account.

Besides containing all of the scripts and knowledge required to create your website work, all of those files and folders is allotted a collection of permissions that controls who will read, write, and execute any given file or folder, relative to the user they’re or the cluster to that they belong.

As an example, take the permission code “644.” during this case, a “6” (or “4+2”) within the initial position provides the file’s owner the power to scan and write the file.

The “4” within the second and third positions implies that each cluster users and web users at giant will scan the file solely – protective the file from sudden manipulations.

So, a file with “777” (or 4+2+1 / 4+2+1 / 4+2+1) permissions would then legible, write-able, and feasible by the user, the cluster and everybody else within the world.

As you may expect, a file that’s allotted a permission code that offers anyone online the power to write down and execute it’s a lot of less secure than one that has been latched down so as to order all rights for the owner alone.

Of course, there are valid reasons to open up access to alternative teams of users (anonymous FTP transfer, united example), however these instances should be fastidiously thought-about so as to avoid making a security risk.

For this reason, an honest rule of thumb is to line your permissions as follows:

Folders and directories = 755

Individual files = 644

To set your file permissions, log in to your cPanel’s File Manager or connect with your server via FTP.  Once within, you’ll see a listing of your existing file permissions and make the necessary changes.

In closing, applying these simple website protection steps will result in a better security system for your website!

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Website Hacking Info 101

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If you are a website owner then you know that nothing is more horrifying than seeing a message saying that your website have been hacked.

There is a lot of possibilities as to why this happens.

Today we will look at the possible underlying circumstances as to why your website is hacked or is susceptible to website attacks and hacking.

Three things come to mind on why websites are usually hacked:

  1. To send out spam email\
  2. To gain access to your personal data, mailing list, credit card info, and others.
  3. Gain access to your site so that they can install malicious software that they can use your site.

The benefits of hacking for the hacker boils down to mass exposure, reduced overhead, tools, increased rate of success.

Why Hackers Hack?

Economic Gains

Obviously the first reason as to why a website gets hacked is purely economic. Hackers do this to make money from your audience.

One way they do is by the means of a Drive-by-download. This is the act of injecting your site with a malware hoping to infect your website visitors.

It works like this, whenever your readers visit your site, chances are they will be downloading a fake software that you recommended and that software is has only one command, to extract vital credit card info. The effects are rather devastating to say the least.

System Resources

Another reason why a hacker will hack your website is farming your system resources. This comes in the form of increased bandwidth and physical server use.

This is big business as a successful hack not only mean that the hacker has now increased bandwidth, but moreover, he can build a leasing environment off yours.

Hactivism

This is a bit tacky to quantify but nonetheless too real not to consider. If nothing else, some hackers derive maximum pleasure and satisfaction from being able to take control over a site, in this case, a government site to protest or show their agenda.

They then show this to their peers and use as bragging rights. One famous example is a group of hackers who call themselves “anonymous”

Boredom

Yes, some hackers, out of sheer boredom (for having too much time on their hands) with nothing better to do will actually find hacking a site the actual cure for their boredom.

In closing

Being hacked is not a pleasant experience. It will demand your full attention if you want to restore your site and remove the malware installed.

In our next installment I’ll present some anti-hacking and security guides that you can use to avoid being hacked again or hacked in the first place.

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