Website Security - Preventative Measures - Knowledgebase

Backing up your account

We're starting this article on website security with an introduction to backups. Making regular backups of your website is very important, and is one of the best recommendations that we can provide. cPanel includes an easy backup utility that you can use to backup your entire website, including your databases, email, and files. For more information on backing up your website, please view the following flash based tutorial for working with the Backups section of cPanel:

There are numerous techniques that hackers can use to compromise a website, however the reasons these techniques are successful are usually because of:

Vulnerabilities in the software you run on your hosting account
Vulnerabilities in software that you run on your local computer

Vulnerabilities in the software you run on your hosting account

Most software that users run on their website is Open Source software. Open Source software is software that is freely available for anyone to download and use. For example, both Joomla and Wordpress are very commonly used, and they are both Open Source. One of the drawbacks of Open Source software is that anyone can download and view the software's code, which makes it easier for hackers to find ways to compromise a website. The authors of such Open Source Applications release updates and security patches on a regular basis. Please be sure that you are running the most current versions of any third party software on your website, as the most current version is usually the most secure version as well.

The following is a list of links, for Wordpress and Joomla specifically, that point to the software's own information about security:

WordPress

Wordpress.org - How to Keep WordPress Secure
http://wordpress.org/development/2009/09/keep-wordpress-secure/

Wordpress.org - Hardening WordPress
http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress

Wordpress.org - Upgrading Wordpress
http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress

Joomla

Joomla.org - Joomla Security Center
http://developer.joomla.org/security.html

The Joomla Security Center includes information about their latest security news, their latest security articles, and more information in general about the Joomla Security Strike Team.

Joomla.org - Upgrade Instructions
http://docs.joomla.org/Upgrade_Instructions

Vulnerable plugins

Keeping any third party plugins / extensions on your website up to date is just as important as keeping the core software up to date as well. We've compiled a short list of links for more information about this topic as well.

Joomla

Joomla.org - Vulnerable Extensions List
http://docs.joomla.org/Vulnerable_Extensions_List

Wordpress

Wordpress.org - Hardening WordPress - Plugins
http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress#Plugins

Did you code and develop your website yourself?

If you coded your own website, knowing common techniques hackers use can help you take steps to make your own software more secure. The following is a list of links to articles on Wikipedia that provide more information on common hacking techniques:

Common ways websites are hacked

SQL injection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sql_injection

Code injection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_injection

Cross-site scripting (XSS)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Site_Scripting

Remote File Inclusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_File_Inclusion

Vulnerabilities in software that you run on your local computer

Not only do Open Source applications like Joomla and Wordpress release updates on a regular basis, but so do companies such as Microsoft and Adobe. The following is a list of links to major software titles and information about the security updates they have available:

Adobe

Adobe.com Security bulletins and advisories
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/
For example, Adobe offers many popular products, such as:
Adobe Reader - http://www.adobe.com/support/security/#readerwin
Adobe Dreamweaver - http://www.adobe.com/support/security/#dreamweaver
Adobe GoLive - http://www.adobe.com/support/security/#golive

Microsoft

Microsoft.com - Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Microsoft provides Windows Update to help keep your copy of Windows and other Microsoft products up to date. Be sure that your version of Windows has installed the most up to date security patches available.

Apple

Apple.com - Apple security updates
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
Apple is well known for the security and stability that their products come with, but even Apple has to releases security updates. Please see the link above for more information regarding Apple security updates.

Knowledgebase

Categories

Categories