5 Tips to Keeping Your Website Safe From Hackers

You’ve probably heard about websites being hacked, but you may have adopted the ‘it can’t happen to me’ attitude. The truth is, hacking a website can be easy for savvy thieves who are constantly coming up with ways to tap into your website and compromise your private information.

Consider the following 5 tips to keeping your website safe from hackers.

1. Keep Your Software Up-To-Date

Regardless of who built and designed your website, it’s your responsibility as its owner to make sure your software is kept up-to-date. CMS providers, including WordPress, are always on the ball trying to fix any kinks and releasing regular updates to make sure that their software is not prone to being hacked. Make sure that you take advantage of these updates and run them whenever your CMS alerts you of a new version. If third-party plug-ins are being used, make sure that they are using the latest version at any given time.

2. Switch Over to HTTPS

HTTPS – which stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure – is very secure, and is used to transfer pertinent data between a web server and a website. Switching over to HTTPS adds a Transport Layer Security or Secure Sockets Layer of encryption to your HTTP, which protects your website and the information of your site’s users from being attacked.

3. Make the Directories on Your Admin Hard to Spot

Hackers are very savvy when it comes to stealing info from websites, and one way they do this is by heading straight to the source – your admin directories. Hackers use scripts that go through all the directories on your web server for pieces of information such as ‘login’, admin’, and so forth. They then go through these folders to affect your site’s security. To protect your directories, make them hard to find by giving them plain-sounding names that only your webmaster are aware of.

4. Install Security Plug-Ins

Keeping your website safe from hackers can be done by installing security plug-ins. In WordPress, for instance, you want to use plug-ins that help prevent against having attempts, such as Better WP Security and Bulletproof Security. These plug-ins identify any weaknesses in your site and platform, and stop hackers in their tracks.

5. Use Strong Passwords That Are Changed on a Regular Basis

While this might sound like a no-brainer, it’s amazing how seldom people use this easy tip. Hackers that try guessing passwords have exponentially multiplied over the past little while, making it more important than ever to make up a password that is strong and tough to figure out. Ideally, it should include both capital and lower-case letters, as well as numbers and symbols. In addition, it’s helpful to change this password regularly just in case you come across a hacker who has nothing better to do than spend hours trying to figure out your password.

The Bottom Line

Don’t think it can’t happen to you. Websites are being hacked all the time. Not only can a website hack compromise your information, it can compromise that of your users too. Do yourself a favour and take the steps necessary to keep your website protected.