3 TIPS TO STOP HACKERS RUINING YOUR WEBSITE

We all know that owning a website can be hard work…however, life can be far more stressful if the website was to get broken into.Not only would you have to figure out how they did it, but you would have to repair all the damage!

Nobody likes to wake up and find that their website has been taken over by an online pest.Hackers can really ruin your life if they access your personal information. Unfortunately, hackers constantly prey on victims over the Internet. You need to safeguard yourself from hackers to avoid the damage a hacker can cause to your life.

These days, it’s all the more common to find that websites are frequently being taken over by these foreign hacker bugs and SPAM. Google has even taken action steps to protect searchers from these sort of spammy sites, which, if your site ends up becoming one, can hurt your rankings and SEO. Whether it’s spammers, hackers, or general web violators you’re trying to avoid, here are some tips on how to stop a hacker from breaking into your website.

Use Strong Passwords

Passwords are like the doors to your website fortress, so it’s important to keep them strong to prevent web strangers from creeping in. Have strong passwords for your CMS, webhost’s admin login, webhost’s billing login, and other digital widgets and plugins you may use and have added onto your website.

Try not to use the same passwords over and over again. Often, the best passwords are the ones that are random and are long phrases. If you know you’re going to have trouble remembering passwords, consider a good password manager to save you time and headaches with recovering passwords. Make sure that when you’re putting in passwords anywhere that it’s over an SSL (https) connection. Check with your webhost or just take a look the next time you enter private information – the web address of the page you’re on should have ‘https’ in the beginning of the address.

Steer clear of third-party scripts

Don’t install third-party scripts on your website unless you know exactly who made them. Further, don’t open any websites that contain dangerous third-party scripts. Never install any program on your computer that you don’t fully know and trust. The best way to ensure you don’t fall prey to a third-party script involves activating a strong firewall and anti-virus program. These safeguards will keep you safe from hackers. These programs will launch a warning when you attempt to open such a website.

Update EVERYTHING

Make sure you have the most updated programs on both your hosting account and desktop.Flash can also cause problems on your desktop if it’s not the latest update. These programs are used by millions, so it’s no wonder many hackers try to hack it.

Always keep an eye out for the latest fixes and releases for all active scripts. Monitor the web sites of the developers whose scripts you are running. Add their sites to your RSS feed to immediately get the bug fix patches and other tweaked releases. Don’t hesitate to install these because hackers will try to exploit recently outdated scripts with confirmed security flaws.

If one person on your server gets hacked or sends out harmful spam e-mail, there’s a possibility all websites and data on the server become compromised. Consider upgrading to your own secure dedicated server to prevent this potential disaster from happening again.

And one final tip which most people forget – don’t throw away your old computer! When you buy a shiny new PC that can do some real cool things, keep your old PC for ONLY logging into bank accounts and hosting accounts, PayPal and anywhere where security is important. Don’t surf the Internet with it, and password protect it so that the kids don’t use it either. Remember that these hackers are capable of doing anything to your computer – including extracting information from your old motherboard.