Your blog just got hacked! That’s a terrible thing to say and an equally terrible one to hear. Spending, rather devoting, thousands of hours building your blog and then seeing it hacked would seem like best dream becoming the worst nightmare. All those years spent in writing articles, editing, proofreading, adding relevant images and videos, and getting them published finally rendered meaningless. Your blog is stolen from you, ripped apart and wasted completely. What do you do? Don’t worry; there are certain steps you can take to keep your blog from being hacked.
- Choose a strong password: This point can’t be overstressed. You would be surprised to find how strong and complex passwords can keep your blog from getting hacked. Don’t use your name, date of birth or address as your password. It is better to use something that is not known about you. Try using complex alpha numeric combinations which are difficult to crack. And another important point to remember is to keep changing your password as regularly as possible. Needless to say, don’t share your password with anyone. Use different passwords for different sites. It is quite irritating having to remember complex passwords (with alphabets, numbers and special characters). You can make use of password generating software tools.
- Follow guidelines of your CMS: Choose a web developer who understands the importance of security and follows the guidelines of your CMS (Content Management System). Make sure you have the latest version of CMS that can tackle new security issues. But before you choose to update, make sure you tested the updates impact on your blog.
- Having multiple admin accounts may help: You can have 2 or 3 admin accounts but not just one. The reason is very simple. When a hacker tries to hack your blog, your personal details would be the first to get compromised. When you have another admin account you can take control over your blog more easily.
- Install Plugins: Install Plugins that monitor your files. Tweak your configuration in such a way that when you make changes to any of your files you get notified immediately. Before you install Plugins on to your computer, it is important that you scan every Plugin and theme especially if you have downloaded the same from other sites. Make scanning a habit and don’t wait till your blog gets hacked.
- Create different complex passwords for different aspects of your website: You have the option of having 3 varied usernames and passwords for your hosting. Create different unique passwords for each aspect of your website.
- Never use admin as your login name: Although CMS offers ‘admin’ as the default login name, it is advisable to change it. If you use admin as your login name, you make the work of hackers all the more easy. They have to only guess your password!
- Create a backup of your data: Although creating a backup blog’s content may not keep your blog from getting hacked, it will surely minimize the impact of damage done to your site.
Regardless of the fact that no amount of caution can keep your blog completely safe from being hacked, there are few simple and timely precautions that can keep your blog from getting hacked.