Joomla Security Tips for your Website
Joomla development is the perfect solution to get websites which fulfill the needs of small and large businesses alike. This perhaps explains its immense popularity among all the CMS web development solutions available in the market. Joomla developers have perfected their skills of developing websites which are highly secure thus protecting the interest of your business. However developing a secured website is no child’s play. A lot of things need to be implemented to protect a website from external threats. Here are a few security tips which should be applied to your Joomla website.
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Use Secure Servers - A lot of security issues in CMS web development arise due to the mismatch of server and technology. When it comes to a Joomla website you should host your site on a server that runs PHP 5.2 or in CGI mode. It should support Su_PHP which helps in executing scripts under your specific user account and easily identify security breaches.
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User Account & Permission - Most websites fall victim due to the fact that they don’t set proper user accounts and permissions. A website is likely to be used by multiple users in a large organization and it becomes very important to set different levels of user permission. This reduces the vulnerability of your website.
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Weak Passwords - Setting weak and common passwords is as good as using a cheap and easily breakable lock in your homes. Your password shouldn’t be something that can be cracked with brute force by hackers. Craft a password that contains numbers, upper and lowercase letters and special characters and change it at regular intervals. This goes a long way in protecting your website.
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Use Extensions Carefully - It is a fact that Joomla extensions make it such a powerful platform but at the same time they pose the biggest security threat to your website. So you need to be extremely choosy while adding extensions to your Joomla website. Read their reviews and rating before you make use of them. Keep the extensions updated as and when patches come out and avoid using unnecessary extensions in your website.
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Remove Unused Extension - It is most likely that your server still has a few extensions which you have stopped using or don’t intend to use in the future. It would be wise to remove them as they can be the source of vulnerabilities in your website as such files in the server fall easy prey to the hackers and can be the source of problems in your website.
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SSL Certification Is Must - This is one of the best ways to secure a website. Use SSL on your site and force Joomla into SSL mode for all logins. You need to configure the SSL certificate for your site’s domain and make sure there are no compatibility issues with the appearance and functionality of the website.
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Shut Down FTP Layer - The FTP layer has lost its significance in today’s web development techniques. On most occasions you need to turn it off to allow third-party extensions to work on your Joomla website. Thus to reduce the security threat to your website it is wise to disable it completely after ensuring it doesn’t have any of your login details.
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Change Table Prefix - Hackers can easily gain access to the default jos_users database table. This allows them to take control of the website. Use random names as this adds another level of security to the website which cannot be breached easily.
Making a website secure from external threats in Joomla tests the skills of developers and thus always you should always insist on hiring the services of Joomla developers who have a proven track record. Remember unlike design and functionalities it is very difficult to measure the level of security in a website. So tying up with developers who have worked on several sites in the past is the wisest thing to do.