Is Your Joomla Website Really Secure? Follow These Tips to Make It Hack Proof

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Malicious attacks on websites are increasing day by day. Starting from the official websites of big institutions, databases of banks, user email accounts from social networking websites; hackers are targeting everything. The number of websites developed on the Joomla open source package is more than 3% and this percentage is on constant rise. More than 50 million users downloaded Joomla package till now and this number is still increasing. The current version of Joomla is 3.4 and it is always better to update your Joomla website as the latest version is developed keeping the latest security issues in mind. Hackers are coming up with new techniques and attacks on small websites also increased a lot. Hacking kits are also available these days for as low as $3000 and those who have some idea about software packages can buy and use them for exploitation. Phishing schemes, Trojan horse attacks, bypassing admin passwords became very common these days. When compared to websites developed in java, websites developed in PHP are more vulnerable to security threats and one must follow some tips if you don’t want to fall in the trap of these attacks. Tips of securing your Joomla website against malicious attacks: • Update your Joomla website regularly. If you are using 1.6x or 2.3x versions of Joomla, you can’t find better time than this to update to Joomla 3.4x and the security features in the latest version improved a lot. • While installing the third party applications, care must be taken and thoroughly check whether they are secure or not. In most of the Joomla website hacking cases, the hackers got access after the website owner installed third party applications without knowing that they are malicious. If possible, take the advice from professional web design and development companies while installing them. • Though this tip seems general, it is usually neglected. Change the admin name from default one and make your password hard to guess. Use the combination of numbers, upper and lower cases letters, special characters and make it at least 8-10 character long. • All the extensions like Add-ons, Modules, Language extension packages need to be updated regularly as the outdated extensions are more vulnerable than outdated Joomla. • Anyone can access the admin page of the website by typing the url “ and it is always better to create a barrier to access that page and the Joomla development services you opted can help you in this regard. • Disable the changes to “configuration.php” file and protect the file and restrict the permissions to overwrite or modify or change or replace. • It is always better to keep the number of persons limited who know the configuration of your Joomla website. • Most of the Joomla website users install SEF (Search Engine Friendly) components with a view to make their website more SEO friendly. Components like sh404SEF will inform you whenever you website is under suspicious attack. • Even if you follow all these tips, don’t forget to back up your files in a secure location. Even in case of any mis-happening also, you can easily start your website without losing much data if you create backup files periodically. Source: http://www.wamda.com/ostechnologies/2015/06/%20is-your-joomla-website-really-secure-follow-these-tips-to-make-it-hack-proof