Hacked... Sigh...

Nah, I'm not referring to my blog.

But I know of old blogs deleted by their owners being taken over and redirected to porn sites.

Word of advice: if you are ever tempted to start a new blog, DON'T delete your old blog.

At the very least, have a small post that says 'Hi, I don't blog here anymore. Click this link to go to my new site!'.

The consequences of deleting your blog is relinquishing your 'reknowned' blog name to the 'sharks' in the blogging sea especially people with malicious intent.

OK, that was a bad example. It isn't even hacking in the first place.

Anyway, in the wee hours of the morning, I received word that certain portions of a website that I maintain have been defaced. Sigh... just like we have vandals in the physical world, we have hackers in the Internet.

I'm no security expert but here are some simple guidelines to minimize hacking:
  • First and foremost is your password. Don't do something silly like having the same password like your blog name. Create something more sophisticated with a mixture of alphabetic, numeric and special characters as the system permits. Having a mixture of upper and lower cases also makes your password harder to break.
  • A good password can be hacked eventually if there are continuous attempts used on your webpage or site because these are not done manually by human beings, but using hacking programs and tools. Which is the reason why you are advised to changes your password at regular intervals. I know, it's a real pain but I guess it's inevitable. Maybe, to reduce the brain stress, you can cycle the passwords. Hmm, wonder if is a bad idea to cycle passwords?
  • If you own and maintain your own website , *phew* that's a whole new can of worms to be tackled. Having the latest version of applications with the latest security updates is a must. Ensuring that your folders are set with the correct security privileges is another.
OK, those are just some very simple guidelines that I can think of offhand. Please feel free to offer more tips and tricks to prevent hacking if you know any good ones. I would appreciate the feedback.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yes, that's true though. Sometimes, it's better to not delete for memories sake, that's what I think.

(:
Annie said…
I've heard about the passwords too. I especially don't care for the surveys they often have on MySpace - constantly asking unsuspecting idiots like:
What's your favorite number
What's your birthday
What's your father's middle name
Where were you born
What's your middle name
and what's your dog's first name.

I see people filling these 50 questions and posting it as a bulletin on MySpace having it go to 100-200+ people to read.
*shaking head*

It's the most idiotic thing to do. It's asking for someone to figure our your passwords.
Anonymous said…
hmmm..didn't even know abt this kinda "hack" .. these guys really think outta box! Tks for the tips!
Jonzz said…
Kyels: I so agree with you.

Annie: That's an interesting fact. I don't use MySpace so I have no idea.

mott: no problem. Hard to keep up to date since the offender always has the advantage.

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