What do an outdated image re-sizer, US Bank, and computer hacking have in common? In 2012, this well-known bank fell victim to computer hackers due to an old WordPress plug-in.
Hacking is a problem affecting millions of webmasters per year. 648,000,000 websites fall prey to hackers, due to some common neglect and vulnerabilities, that include:
- Using cheap hosting companies.
- Hosting outdated plug-ins.
- Maintaining poor or weak passwords.
- Leveraging out-of-date platforms, extensions, and third-party services.
A number of weaknesses allow hackers access to your website’s operations and content, potentially halting or ruining present business affairs.
Joomla and WordPress are among hacker-favorited sites, with almost half of the web’s top 100 blogs using WordPress for content management. Heinous actions, such as using script injections and site redirects, are used by hackers who are privy to particular ‘security holes’ related to Joomla and WordPress.
In March of last year, over 30,000 Joomla and WordPress sites were injected with malicious software. In the years 2010-2012, potential for incoming malware and similar threats increased 140%.
While a number of high-profile brands have experienced unsuspected hacks, negligence and lack of awareness are top causes for falling victim of a hacker attack.
Be aware, taking note of available solutions and safeguards:
- Verify existing websites using Google Webmaster Tools.
- Use a well-known and secure hosting service.
- Backup up all website content and associated plans and notes.
- Use strong, complicated passwords, changing them often.
- Take inventory of PHP extensions, keeping them up-to-date.
- Reveal inbound PHP requests, revealing potential hackers’ IP addresses.
This infographic from WhoIsHostingThis.com, gives great insights about website security, possible threats and how you can protect your websites from the same:
