With the rise of something good usually also comes something bad and in the instance of the Internet providing us with so many good things, it has also opened up security holes for the less sincere people to come and have a go at ruining the enjoyment of the WWW. Owning and running a website is no different to running a high street store, the security of your site and your customers should be a priority, not an afterthought.
Security should be any webmasters concern, because if your website gets hacked it will not just affect you, it will usually affect any visitor that visits your site who lacks virus protection. As our title suggests, you would never dream of leaving your front door unlocked and therefore if you own a website you should never leave your FTP unlocked because this is one of the most common ways of being hacked.
By using a hosting company like Heart Internet who offer all customers the chance to unlock and lock their FTP means that you can prevent one of the most common forms of hacking, which is usually someone getting your FTP details and then altering your files to include malicious links or downloads. Although we and the rest of good side of the Internet despise anyone that does this kind of thing, it is actually a very clever process.
The process is simple:
Get your FTP details
Download or auto inject code into your files, most commonly index / home
Upload files again if not auto injected
Infect people who come to the site with lack of security
In the early days of this type of attack it was usually done manually, but as technology has become more advanced and sophisticated, so has the quickness of the procedure, with sites getting hacked in seconds rather than hours.
We often get asked the question - "how did they get my details?"
Well, in a very few cases they will actually land upon a security weakness with your host and steal everyone's details, but usually, and most frighteningly, the process normally begins right on your computer.
If your PC becomes infected with a virus, some of the viruses variants will find which FTP program you are using, go through your login details and passwords, secure them and then they will be "moved on" to the people who are then going to cause you the harm. Once these details are in their hands it will take them seconds to infect your files and upload them again, often leaving webmasters unaware what has happened until a visitor reports the issue or Google Webmaster Tools drops you an email you wont forget in a hurry.
Although locking your FTP will not 100% prevent your website being hacked, it is one of the most formidable defences against this kind of crude attempt to ruin your business. So, next time you are choosing a host make sure you pick one that will allow you to lock your FTP, because a locked FTP is a secure FTP, which means you are doing everything you can to help prevent yourself and your visitors and customers.
Ian Spencer works for Clear Web Services, a SEO Web Optimisation and Web Design company serving the Forest Of Dean, Gloucestershire and South Wales.
He has worked in the SEO and Internet Marketing world for many years, and working in partnership with another company has launched the new SEO business.
http://clearwebservices.com/ For More Information, please call 01594 835 857 or email info@clearwebservices.com
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