It is good to be security conscious in the digital world. Hackers and internet thieves will happily act on any opportunities that are given them, so it's important to take all preventive measures possible to protect your website from hackers.

But why would someone hack my site?

There are several reasons! If you are a professional webmaster and own a commercial website, you must have some competitors. Would you ever be willing to disclose your sensitive analytical data like the sources of your visitors, profitable keywords, conversion rate, pages your viewers like most and similar information to your rivals? I'm sure you don't, but sometimes hackers can get to this!

They crack the unique user-name and password used in your web hosting account OR run a malicious script to break it; then they access the web folders and steal all sensitive data. Now they can use this data as they wish to. It could be used for blackmail material or they could sell this information to your competitors.

If you store clients' information, like their full name, address, credit card number etc. in a database and the whole database goes into hackers' control, the privacy of your clients will be on stake! It will be a blemish on your company's reputation as it's you who failed to protect the identity of the clients as you should have done.

Alternatively, malicious hackers can damage your website severely. They can tamper the pages, change settings, edit content and simply destroy your website. Surely its better to take some precautions to reduce the likelihood of this happening rather than trying to fix the issue after the event!

Let's learn how to stay protected and some of core aspects to secure website hosting are.

Firewall:

Firewall is a device or a program that inspects traffic passing towards and outwards a domain. It can allow, deny, proxy or encrypt traffic at any point of time as it is instructed. A properly configured Firewall helps bypass a lot of unwanted problems and protect your website. If you are using dedicated web hosting service, you can install Firewall of your own choice any time.

Individuals, who access internet from home, can also install Firewalls to protect their systems.

SSL:

Configure SSL (Secured Socket Layer) on your web server. This is a set of cryptographic protocols that helps ensure secure data transfer during browsing, emailing, instant messaging and other similar communication processes. By using SSL, you can provide your clients a secured mode of transaction. It is essential when you ask your buyers to enter their credit card number or other sensitive data online.

Use Original OS:

Always use a licensed version of Operating System on your web server and upgrade it regularly. Individuals who have PC or notebooks should also practice this.

Install anti-virus:

These are pieces of software that protect your system from malicious scripts. As soon as the anti-virus software recognizes a harmful program trying to penetrate into the system, it removes the file and displays alert messages. Again, use original software to make full use of the programs.

Passwords:

Keep changing passwords of your web hosting account, email account, net-banking account etc. frequently. Do not use predictable phrases or words as passwords and never use the same password for all your online accounts. People who buy online should always keep this in mind.

In the case of shared hosting, it may not be possible for you to install your preferred programs. However, managed hosting service providers would allow you to configure your server as you want and you can ensure online safety for your customers and yourself.

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