Are you sure your blog is secure? 6 tips to protect your blog

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Are you sure your blog is protected? I don’t want a “Yes”, because you can’t answer “Yes” with 100% contentment. Do you know your site is observed eagerly by someone?

No not your visitors, but tons of worms, viruses, spyware, spams, and hackers who are finding a way to put down your blog. You need to protect your property from them-that’s your responsibility.

You must be hearing some news about site security breaks every day. Most of them are because of improper caring. Most of us are not alert about these security issues. We post, comment, share that’s all. There are hackers who want to crack your password, there are many worms which may make you shut down the entire blog. All you need is to spare a little time for increasing your blog’s safety.

Here are some tips which may help you to increase the security measures of your blog and keep it secure.

1. Update your blogging platform

Blogging Platforms update often. One of the main reasons why they are updating often is to increase the security measures by correcting Bugs. If you are using a blogging platform like Google’s Blogger or Tumbler they will update their self. But for professional bloggers who use self hosted WordPress  – updating is required. Every time you update your WordPress platform your blog’s security also increases. So first thing you need-Keep Up To Date

2. Make sure your computer doesn’t swallow your blog

“Why blame my computer? My blog is on the web”- you may ask me that. But remember your computer is the regular gate which connects with your blog. There may be thousands of Tracking Trojans and other worms in your computer-which will track everything, including your secret passwords and holes in your blog’s structure. The best thing you can do is – protecting your computer with Antivirus and Antispyware programs. Use some Antivirus software including Internet Security. These are best choices.

Þ     Norton

Þ     Trend Micro

Þ     ESET smart security/Nod32

Þ     Kaspersky

3. Are you sure your password is not”123456”or”princess”?

Passwords play an important role in web security. For a self hosted WordPress -you need to deal with many passwords -for your Blog, Database, FTP and Host. So make sure they are strong. Many studies proved that most of us are using weak passwords like “123456”, “princess” or our Name. Cracking these passwords is just kid’s play for Hackers. Here comes the importance of strong passwords.

Make sure your Passwords

• Contains 12 characters or more

• Includes digits and characters like!@#$%&*”:? ‘

• Contains lowercase and uppercase characters

• Are different for WordPress Username, Database, Host and FTP

And Change passwords in every 6 months.

It’s almost impossible for Hackers to find a strong password like ‘$%Q&u03%t?#’ (I hate when they Do!)

4. Don’t forget to back up.

Always Backup before making important modifications. Backup your Database, resources and your entire blog.  Most hosting providers have one click back up services. Do this once in a month. Backups are great tools for restoring your site, in case there are threats. (Google’s Blogger has its own ‘export’ tool for back up-use it).

5. Akismet doesn’t do it all(Must have plugins for protection)

I noticed while I was participating in a #blogchat that most people think- comment spams are the only security threats to their blogs. They install Akismet (Or similar plugins), sit back and shout “Who’s going to spam me now?” Spams are only a minor part of the villains. They just contain a link or message that leads to somewhere else-that’s all. But for other worms-they break your blog’s root. Here comes the need of security plugins. You should choose them carefully-make sure they are not rubbish.

These are the best plugins which will keep your blog secure up to a limit -

¤    WordPress Antivirus(look’s for holes in your code; inform bugs)

¤    Exploit Scanner (scans Files and Database; inform you when found any suspicious things.)

¤   WP security Scan (scans your WordPress installation and suggests corrective actions on database security, passwords, File Permissions and WP admin security).

There are many more choose carefully.

6. Beware of Hackers (What if you are hacked?)

As I told you above it’s impossible to secure your site 100%. But you can boost up to 99% if you followed above steps. But still Hackers are tough guys. They may inject codes and cracks and some junks to your blog somehow. Join some protection tools like vaultpress-if you want.

If you are hacked, inform your Webhost first. Ask them for protective measures. Block the Suspicious IP address from Hacker, Change your passwords immediately and set File Permissions. You can read The WordPress FAQ for more technical information. After all stay calm when you are hacked – you can make it.

That’s all.  I am not a tech geek to explain about technical side of security but still you can read it From WordPress Codex. These are the main tips for protecting your site- I tested. If you got more security tips –please share. I’m looking for your responses.  So one last question – Are You Sure Your Blog is Secure?