Although the current state of the global economy is prompting many business owners to cut costs in various areas of business management, no expense should be spared when it comes to securing your web hosting plan, especially if you are an online business owner that relies on the Internet for full time income. Many people don’t realize that hackers usually intrude the operating system of a webmaster’s personal computer with a virus (such as a key logger) before retrieving the login credentials of their hosting account. Fortunately, it is possible to completely secure the Windows operating system within without spending a lot of money or time in the process. The following tips should help you secure Windows to protect your hosting operating system from intruders.
Initiating Automatic Updates
Windows provides automatic updates for their operating systems, which include important security fixes. Without these updates the operating system is essentially incomplete, and there may be many exploits in existence that could be utilized by hackers to gain access to the user interface of your operating system. Although web hosting providers do an excellent job of encrypting data and protecting your web server from being intruded, without antivirus software and the appropriate Windows security updates your personal computer could be vulnerable to hackers. Thus, the first step in securing the Windows operating system is installing a robust antivirus software and ensuring that automatic updates have been initiated.
Using Generated Passwords
Hackers also use powerful software that is designed to continuously send and receive requests from web servers in order to guess a password through trial and error using databases of existing words and number combinations. The effectiveness of such software, also commonly referred to as brute force hacking tools, can be significantly reduced by using automatically generated passwords, which are far more random, complex, and difficult to guess than actual words and number strings. Password generators can be found on many websites online for free, and web hosting providers usually offer such tools as well. Ideally, you’ll want to use a randomly generated password for your personal computer’s operating system, and your web hosting account. To remember the password it is recommended that it be stored in a secured location on external media within an encrypted file (this encrypted file should use a password that you’ll remember, as it will contain your generated passwords).
User Settings and permissions
There are also various user settings related to the security of the Windows operating system, which can be adjusted according to your preference within the control panel. Unfortunately, the majority of webmasters are not familiar with these administrative preferences, so it is not recommended to adjust security settings without first researching the topic. Perhaps the most important aspect of user settings is the permissions granted to each user. By restricting the capabilities of each user within your Windows operating system, you can prevent employees and/or other members of your household from downloading malicious software accidentally.
Category: Security IssuesTags: antivirus software, hacker, key logger, login credentials, secure web hosting, security update, web hosting safetyPosted on Friday, Mar 18, 2011
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