How to prevent website from being hacked?

Question

I had an older forum site and I used SMF as my forum software. I used MySql through cPanel to upload my forum.

OK, so I went to my site one day and it had completely been hacked and the screen was black and said I had been hacked by "sniper" and he gave his email address too I guess so the people he hacks will cuss him out(he must have an anger fetish).

So, I'm currently working on another forum and I'm putting a LOT more work into this one and how do I NOT get hacked? When I did the last time I lost all of my hard work >:(

Thanks for your answers.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there is a lot to worry about.



http://25yearsofprogramming.com/blog/20070705.htm



That should get you started. Make sure you have an impossible password, like !H%b1*77F!



Try to hack your cPanel, yourself, and check for vulnerabilities.



Don't use gmail or yahoo, they are way too easy to hack. Have an email account where it isn't obvious how to find the login page. Some email providers, like mail.com provide alternative endings, so, even if someone sees your address, it isn't apparent where to access security questions and stuff.



In general, the easiest way to get into someone's cPanel, Facebook, or any other service they sign up for on the internet, is to use their email address and reset the password, then delete the pertinent emails.

Answer 2

IF a person wants to go to the time and trouble, you can NOT avoid being hacked. (Even MAJOR companies have this problem.)



There is NO SUCH THING as a hackproof Internet connection.



Best you can do is keep an OFF-LINE copy of your website programming so that you can reload it AFTER it has been hacked.

Answer 3

That hacker must have used "brute force" algorithm to figure out your password. One thing to solve this is using a strong password by lengthen the number of characters, adding numbers and special characters like "Th!$_1s_mai_r3@l_p@$$w0rd".



It could also be that the hacker somehow knows someone from your hosting and and that guy maybe sell out your account or something. Admin guys are sometimes evil!



Hope this will help you out.

Answer 4

How does giving you this information help with the site? Are you the site administrator? You can e-mail me for more info if you want, but unless you're a tech-geek, then nothing I say will make sense to you, and neither will it do the site any good if you're not the one in charge of it.

Answer 5

Hi

of course if you where using Linux as a server then there would not be much to worry about....

Answer 6

TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND GETTA LIFE!