You know how it feels…you’ve been writing a blog post every day for the
past 2 years now, and you recently checked your dashboard to see that
you already have over 600 posts; 600 posts that took an average of an
hour to write, proofread and edit, format with images, and publish and
share.
You’ve also noticed that you have a little over 10,000 comments; that’s
at least 10,000 minutes of yours and you readers’ time, cumulated over
the span of several years.
The above scenario seems cool rite?, until something really strange happened.
You no longer own the 600 posts, and the 10,000 comments, and any other
part of your blog. It would have been good news if you just sold your
blog for five figures, but in this case, it was stolen from you; yes, a
malicious hacker just got into your website, and is ready to rip it
apart. As if the pain isn’t enough, the hacker that hijacked your blog
will probably redirect your blog to an illegal website, or turn it into a
website filled with adult content.
What Are You to Do in a Situation Like this?
Do you just sit down and fold your hands, and believe this is your fate?
Or do you get your blog back? Or let’s reexamine the question:
What if you can prevent that from every happening?
What if you can make sure that thousands of you and your readers’ hours
won’t be wasted eventually? A lot of us are sad at every instance of a
particular website being hacked, when we are really doing nothing to
protect ours. Here are 6 ways to protect, and save yourself in the case
that hackers are targeting your website.
1. Have Strong Passwords, and Change them Regularly
The first step you should take to protect your blog from being hacked is
to have a password that is very strong. You’ll be surprised at how
simple the password some people use is, and they end up complaining when
they’re hacked.
Make sure your password doesn’t contain your name, address, or even date
of birth. Use something nobody can ever associate with you, and don’t
ever talk about your password to anybody. Also make sure you change your
password regularly; like every 3-6 months, and you will be able to
protect yourself from being trailed by a hacker.
2. Have More than One Admin Account
It could be 3 or more, and it could be only two. It is very important
not to have just one admin account. The reason for this is that the
first thing an hacker will do once they hack your blog is to change your
details, and you can protect yourself by taking control through your
other admin account.
Another thing you should realize is that this technique is just as
dangerous as it is helpful, so make sure you prepare yourself for this;
the more admin accounts you have on your blog, the more routes an hacker
can take to get to you. To protect yourself from this, make sure the
username and passwords for all your admin accounts are so unique and
different, so that it will be difficult for any hacker to take control
upon getting to your blog.
3. Install Plugin that Monitors Your Files and Notify You of Changes Immediately
You can also tell your hosting to help you configure your server to
notify you in case there is any change in any of your files at any time,
or you can look for a plugin that makes this easy.
A lot of little changes happen to our blog every day, but the reality is
that some of them shouldn’t be. It is important for you to make sure
you don’t come to know about any of these changes lately, so make sure
you regularly monitor your sever and wordpressinstallation for any changes.
4. Scan Every Theme and Plugin You Want to Install
This is especially important if you download your themes and plugins
from other websites online, or if you’re using cracked plugins and
themes. You never know when a sleazy programmer will put a little code
in your theme or plugin, or when that cracked software you’re
downloading will be virus infected.
Don‘t just wait to get hacked before you realize this, so make sure you
scan every theme and plugin you want to install on a regular basis; scan
them with your own antivirus before you install them.
5. Back up Your Blog Regularly
Don’t ever miss a day, because you never know when your blog will be
hacked. One thing I have noticed in the hacking world is that, no matter
how secure, there is nothing that cannot be hacked. Of course, you can
invest time and effort into making your blog very secure, and you can
even hire an expert to take care of this aspect. But the reality is, if a
group of hackers dedicate their efforts to bring down your blog, it
will only last a few hours at best.
The best thing to do in a situation like this is to back up your blog
regularly. Have at least 2 plugins/software that backs up your entire
blog, and make sure you check regularly to ensure your files are
properly backed up.
6. Use Different Passwords for Every Aspect of Your Website
For every webmaster you can have up to 3 different username and
passwords for your hosting, and these 3 passwords can make it easy for
you to recover your website in the case that you’re hacked.
- The first password is for your hosting account; where you can see tickets, pay for hosting, and change your Cpanel details.
- The second password is for your Cpanel; where you can access various parts of your website and make changes directly to your blog.
- The third password is for your wordpress installation in itself; where you can add new posts, reply to comments, create new accounts, and update your blog directly.
The deadliest mistake any blogger can make is to make all 3 passwords
the same, and you can protect yourself to an extent by making these
passwords different.
You should also make sure all 3 usernames are different, and try getting your web host to help you change your details from the default one to something more secure.
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