What’s one lesser-known tip to avoid having your website hacked?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
1. Hire a Hacker
No amount of security solution will help because these only raise the bar for hackers to do their job. There’s nothing like having a hacker who can think like one and protect your website.
– Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea LLC
2. Choose a Difficult Back-End Password
It’s imperative you take the necessary steps to protect your website/users’ information. A simple but overlooked step is to develop a back-end password that is not easily hacked; a combination of numbers with upper/lower case letters is ideal. Lastly, make sure your website can withstand a basic SQL injection because it is one of the most common types of hacking attempts.
– Anthony Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings
3. Limit Login Attempts
Limit the number of times someone can attempt to log in to your website with an incorrect password before they are locked out.
– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
4. Make an Obscure Password
Your website is the most important online real estate that your business has, and you must protect it accordingly. One way to do this is to keep the wackiest and most complicated passwords anybody could imagine. Do not have your password named after your cat or anything else directly related to your personal life. Keep this password in your head, and store it on a piece of paper in a safe.
– Andy Karuza, Brandbuddee
5. Keep Your Underlying Software up to Date
By updating the software you rely on (e.g., your content management system), you can make sure you have all the latest security patches in place. This will mean your website won’t have well-known vulnerabilities hackers can take advantage of. Update early and often!
– Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting
6. Use Frameworks and Libraries
Most development frameworks and libraries have lots of security best practices baked right in. They will protect against SQL injection, session hijacking and other common attack vectors. You can’t help but write secure software when using these tools. Try to fight the urge to reinvent the wheel. Use what others have already created and vetted.
– Jared Brown, Hubstaff
7. Create a Secure Password
Website security is serious business. Although there is a variety of website security applications and plugins, perhaps the most overlooked security practice is creating a secure password. A password that includes a variety of capitals, numbers and symbols can make hacking into your site more challenging. It is also important to never include your name or business name in your password.
– Jay Wu, A Forever Recovery