Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

September 01, 2010

How to Protect a Web Hosting Account from Hackers

Your web hosting account is the central control panel for all of your online endeavors, which is why it is absolutely imperative to ensure the safety of your web hosting login credentials. If a cyber criminal does gain access to your login credentials there is virtually no limit to the havoc they can cause for your online business. Once an intruder is inside the hosting account they can transfer ownership of domains, change the appearance of your web sites, and even steal advertising credits form you for use with their own web sites. If you're worried about such tings happening then you will be relieved to know that the following information will help you completely secure your web hosting account.

Password Etiquette

Keeping your password safe should be the primary focus of your security concerns, especially if you have a web hosting account that hosts multiple profitable sites. The best way to keep you password safe is to use a password generator to create a completely random string of letters and numbers. After the password has been generated you can store it in an encrypted file on your hard drive for maximum protection.

Of course, if you want to take an extra step to secure the password, you can password protect the encrypted file with a complex password, for double safety. Once you have the random password stored in an encrypted password protected file, you can then upload it to multiple file sharing sites and/or burn a copy of the file to removable media for safe storage in the event of computer hardware failure or viruses.

Email Etiquette

Having good email etiquette is also extremely important, as may hackers use email communications to deceive people and gain access to their hosting account. Most of the time this will come in the form of a spoof email that will claim to be form the web hosting company. The hacker will most likely mimic every aspect of a normal email form your hosting company, and the email will prompt you to renew your hosting account or it will be closed.

The hacker then provides a link in he email to a spoof version of your web hosting provider's login page. When you login on this page the hacker will store your credentials in a database, and automated software will log into your hosting account immediately and change your hosting login details. This practice is often called fishing, and is one of the main methods used to steal passwords of all kinds. To prevent fishing make sure you check the sender of every email from your web hosting company, and look at the URL of your web hosting login page before typing in your password.

Tags: hacker,  login credentials,  safe password,  encrypted file,  email etiquette,  spoof email