How to Stop Your Website from Being Hacked

You've worked hard to build your website. You have a great product; you're making money and people love visiting it. But if your site gets hacked, all that could be in jeopardy.

To protect yourself from hackers and keep your site up and running smoothly, follow these tips:

Install security updates immediately.

• Install security updates immediately.
• Update your CMS and plugins regularly.
• Update your operating system and other software as soon as updates are released.
• Use a security software that automatically updates your software.
• Keep your firewall up to date. You should also update and patch it at least once a month, or more often if there's an active threat to your site or network that could be exploited via the firewall's vulnerability (like SQL injection attacks).
• Update your antivirus software too—not only will this protect you from malware, but if you're using an outdated version of antivirus, it may be susceptible to some older exploits that have since been patched by the vendor or by Microsoft in Windows itself (this happened recently with Sophos Anti-Virus).

Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF).

Many webmasters don’t realize that their websites are vulnerable to hacking, spamming, denial of service (DoS) attacks and more. A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a tool that protects against these types of attacks by monitoring your website traffic and blocking malicious requests before they reach your server.

As a result, WAFs can help protect against malware, spyware and keyloggers in addition to hacking attempts. In fact, some WAFs can even be used to block access to websites altogether!

Use a strong password policy.

A strong password is more difficult to guess. Most people use common passwords like "123456" or "password", which hackers can easily guess. A good way to create a strong password is by using different types of characters, such as letters and numbers, upper case and lower-case letters, and special characters.

You should not use any personal information in your password because it could be easy for someone else to access your account if they have this information or know someone who does (like family members).

It's also important that you change your password regularly so that hackers can't keep trying the same one repeatedly until they get in!

Avoid using weak or default passwords.

Now that you've got some ideas about what makes a good password, let's review the opposite. Use these tips to avoid weak or default passwords:

• Passwords should be hard to guess. This means avoiding birthdays, addresses, names of family members or pets—basically anything that can be easily guessed by someone who knows you well enough to know your schedule and your favourite people. If it's too easy for someone on the street to guess your password (and they will!), then hackers will have no problem getting in either!
• Passwords should be long. You may think it's annoying when a website asks you for a "strong" password with at least 8 characters, but if done properly it will keep hackers out for sure! Plus, longer passwords are easier for humans like yourself to remember than short ones anyway.

Remove inactive or unused user accounts.

If a user account is inactive, there's no need to keep it around. You should also remove any accounts that haven't been used for a long time, as well as any accounts that have been in use for years but aren't necessary anymore. This will help you save disk space, which will make your server run more efficiently and be less susceptible to data loss.

Implement two-factor authentication to protect login credentials.

Two-factor authentication is the best way to protect your site from being hacked.

A two-factor authentication (2FA) system requires users to enter their username and password, as well as a separate piece of information before logging in.

For example, when you turn on 2FA for your Gmail account, Google will ask you to enter a randomly generated code sent via SMS or app. That means that even if someone steals your password, they won’t be able to log in because they don’t have access to the second factor of authentication which is sent directly from Google itself.

Ensure that you are in control of all files and directories on your server.

If you want to avoid your site being hacked, make sure that you are in control of all files and directories on your server. This includes making sure that the only people who have access to those files are yourself or other trusted individuals.

It is also important to keep track of what changes have been made on your website (if any) as well as ensuring that no suspicious code has been added to the existing content.

Protect against malware, spyware and keyloggers on your computer.

• Install an antivirus program.
• Don't open suspicious emails, click links in them, or download attachments from them.
• Don't visit suspicious websites that could be hosting malware or phishing attacks (i.e., sites that look like they're trying to steal your information). This includes any site that is asking for personal information (such as your social security number) or is otherwise designed in a way that looks like it's not legitimate (for example, using all caps, poor grammar, and spelling, etc.). When in doubt about whether a website is safe, search Google for its name along with the word "scam" or "reviews." You should also check out reviews of the company at TrustPilot and SiteJabber before making any purchases on their site (if they have one) because these sites allow users who have had negative experiences with a particular brand or product to leave their comments publicly so other people know what they're getting into before making an online purchase!
• Make sure you always log out of online accounts when you're done using them so others can't access them without having their own account password set up correctly first--and don't forget; never share passwords with anyone else either! If someone needs access, then give them temporary credentials only so no one else can impersonate them later down the road.

Don't let hackers take over your website.

When you think of hacking, what does it mean to you? Maybe it's the image of a hooded man hiding in the shadows, or perhaps it's that scene in The Matrix where Neo is sitting at his computer, and he sees all these green lines moving around. These are both common misconceptions about hacking that have spread across pop culture and become engrained in our minds as what hackers look like and how they operate.

Of course, this isn't true. Hacking doesn't necessarily involve someone breaking into your home or office to steal secrets, but rather gaining access to sensitive information through technology. Hackers can use this knowledge for personal gain (like stealing money) or political means (like releasing secret government documents).

The best way to prevent your website from being hacked is to follow the security best practices listed above. Once you have done this, there are many tools available that will help keep your site safe and secure. Contact us for more information on how to keep your website secure.

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