How Not To Get Hacked

Writing by Nick Stamoulis

Website security is one of the most important aspects of running a website. Particularly if you are using a CMS – content management system – because open source systems like Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal are often updated and if you don’t use the latest version you could be vulnerable to a security leak or a hack. If you’ve ever had it happen then you know the dangers.

Google Webmaster Central wrote a great blog post today about hacking and website security. I heartily recommend reading this post and you should make an effort to stay abreast of the latest security techniques for whatever system you are using.

HTML-based websites are not immune either. They can be hacked just as easily as any other, especially if you have a lot of code, widgets, or other applications on your site. If you use open source widget creators, Javascript, or add applications to your site for your users, those things can be entryways to a hacker sneaking in to use your site as a spam headquarters, malicious malware drop, or cookie hijacking.

While most webmasters and website owners probably have nothing to worry about, you should take every precaution to oversee your site’s security. It’s an important issue…sometimes its not all about search engine optimization! )