Optimal Website Security – Tips from the Pros

For webmasters, business owners and most hobbyists alike, there’s little worse than discovering their website has been hacked into. This of course counts double if the damage done has been severe or the security of the data is compromised, but even if little to nothing untoward has happened, knowing that an unauthorized party violated your private web space is a pretty unnerving thing to grasp.Of course, there’s always the rather sickening prospect that the damage could be permanent – once you realise there’s been an intrusion you may be able to do very little about it. As such, prevention is always the very best course of action, which means not only choosing a reputable and capable hosting company, but also keeping an eye on a fair few security good-practices too.    For example:Third-Party Plug-InsIt’s always tempting to spice up your website with any number of plug-ins that don’t come from a recognised or reliable source. However, even some of the most widely used and well-reputed plug-ins out there today have been manipulated in such a way as to allow hackers to easily access any websites that use them. So if for example you’re using WordPress, only ever use official and verified plug-ins from the same developers.Read Up on What’s NewFor every niche, site type and software program on the web today, there’s a ton of cutting-edge information you should be keeping an eye on. From forums to message boards to newsgroups and right through to blogs, site security is something that’s being discussed 24/7 all over the world, so there’s no excuse not to keep tabs on what’s new and what matters.Accept and Use UpdatesWhen you get a message telling you that version 2.3.4.2 of your software is now available, get it and use it! It might not revolutionize the user experience and you may not even notice any difference, but at the same time it might also plug a thousand security holes behind the scenes.Pioneering Spirit?It often feels like a good idea to get in at the ground floor with a brand new piece of software the masses don’t yet have access to, but in reality it’s anything but. Any software that hasn’t yet been put through its paces by thousands of users could be riddled with bugs and horrific security flaws – do you really want to be the person to find them all? Wait until a general consensus has been reached on the value of any piece of software – only then should you try it out.Backup Your BackupLast but not least, the importance of backing up all of your online data every single day cannot be overstated – at least all of the data you actually consider valuable, that is. What’s more, you should also get into the habit of backing everything up at least twice, with one copy kept safely away from the area in which the first is stored. After all, unlikely events like fires and floods won’t stop after consuming just one of your backups if they’re stored right next to each other.