In today’s society, online hackers pose a huge risk to webmasters, companies, and government agencies alike. While often times server security is your hosting provider’s or IT department’s responsibility, there are several actions that you can take to help ensure that your website and other accounts are safe.

1. Create complex passwords. In most situations where a password is cracked, it is because the password is way too simple. Although you may love your dog, cat, goldfish, child, or anyone else very much, do not use their name as a password. Hackers that use password crackers will be able to gain access to your account way too easy. Instead, using a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols is ideal. For accounts that are case-sensitive, take advantage of using both upper and lowercase letters. The more complex your password is, the harder it will be for a hacker to crack. If you need help creating a good password, try use a website like http://www.goodpassword.com

2. Periodically update your passwords. This is, without a doubt, one of the easiest but often most effective lines of defense that you have. Often times hackers will gain access to somewhere, like your e-mail account, and not take any action to deface it. Instead, they will monitor it over time and can often use it to gain access to other accounts. By periodically updating your passwords, it will lock the hacker out of the account after he has gained access to it. Obviously, the more frequently that you update your account, the better. At the very minimum, we recommend that you update your passwords once every quarter (once every 3 months).

3. Use different passwords for different accounts. This is another simple yet very effective defense against hackers. Often times, hackers will crack your password for one account (ie. a forum login) and then use that password to try gain access to other accounts (ie. your webhosting account). As many people use the same password for everything, this creates an obvious problem. In short, if someone is able to get your password, they will have access to everything you do on the internet. By using different passwords for different accounts, in the event that a forum login gets cracked, your webhosting account is not in jeapordy.

4. Check the last login. Many hosting providers, e-mail applications, etc. now tell you on the main page the IP address, date, and time of the last login. Although your tendency is to completely overlook this, it is a very useful feature to verify that your account is secure. A brief look at this text (which is often located on top of the page once you first login) can tell you if someone has been in your account. Obviously, in the event that you do not recognize the IP address, date, or time, you can simply change your account password. Additionally, use can contact the hosting provider or IT department and request that the IP be blocked from the server.

5. Protect your password. A hosting provider, service provider, IT department, or anyone else will never need to know your password – they have a root login that will allow them access to your account. For this reason, you should never give your password out over the internet. A common way that hackers can gain access to accounts is by sending a phishing e-mail requesting that the user login to the website. Most of the time, you will notice that these links are not actually hosted by the company that it looks like the e-mail is from. This is because they are not – once you login the login credentials will automatically be sent to the hacker. Always make sure that you login to the company’s website, don’t login using any links that you receive via e-mail.