While thinking about our brand new internet start up, it occurred to me that we will have to make sure that our social network site is protected against hackers. This because hackers cannot only cause damage to our customers, for instance by stealing their data, but they can do damage from inside the company as well, and by doing so, damage our company. So, realizing that it will be important to protect ourselves, I looked up some advice on the matter and I came across an interesting website (ehow.com), where some tips are given to protect a website against hackers.
First of all, we should keep our servers in a locked location and only allow designated staff near them. Moreover, it is very important to restrict access to computer drives. Secondly all virus protection should be kept up-to-date: both employees and the person responsible for the LAN should run a virus protection daily. The next tip tells us that we have to be very specific about the types of passwords we allow and that the admin password should be kept to ourselves. Fourthly, it is very important to only run current scripts for our website, because hackers look for dated scripts that are more likely to have holes in them. Next to this, it will also be important to disable employees’ passwords as soon as they leave our company, preferably before they leave the building. Moreover, any accounts they might have with the company should be closed. This to protect our website against any damage from a disgruntled former employee. And last but certainly not least, we should set up a firewall and take steps to keep it secure, as this is the only way to protect our website from hackers on the outside once we connect to the Internet.
Following this advice, our website should be secured against anyone with bad intentions!
Sources:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2317226_protect-website-against-hackers.html
http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/jbrown/files/hackers_cartoons.jpg
