Are you a shared hosting user? Learn to implement preventive measures and secure a shared hosting environment to protect your business online.
You may know that shared web hosting is the cheapest way to host your website. But do you know how it is the most vulnerable hosting environment to hacking?
Don’t worry.
Even though shared hosting has a great chance of bringing several security issues, you can take suitable actions to avoid them.
So how can you secure shared web hosting?
This article will tell you the most vital ethical hacks to secure your Shared hosting environment.
Now, you may think, “Mine is a small business and small website, and why should I need to think this deeply? Is all these necessary?”
Haa, I have heard many people say this. I discuss among them the security steps to secure their website from hackers.
To them and you, Let me tell you the possible problems you will face after being hacked.
If one website in your shared server gets hacked, your website is also at risk of hacking.
Once hacked, the hacker will have complete control of your website.
He can divert your customers to other sites, can share unwanted or vulgar content, and can totally loot your data.
It will make all your hard work up to that time in vain and bring loss in your business.
What is Shared Hosting?
Before understanding the hacks to secure shared hosting environments, let’s learn what is shared web hosting.
It will help you take what I am going to say seriously. For visitors to see your website, it needs to be available on the internet.
For that, you seek help from hosting providers, and they provide you with the server to host your website.
If your website is small and doesn’t need much space to run and maintain, buying a complete server will be useless and expensive.
Here comes the idea of shared hosting, where a single server provides hosting to multiple websites. You can think of it as similar to a big apartment containing several flats.
Each person has their own flat and shares a common lift, corridor, main gate, etc. It is the most effective way of hosting a website. Also, if any technical issues arise, you can freely contact your hosting provider.
So you don’t need to worry if you lack technical knowledge in running a website.
Hence it’s easy to manage too. But keeping all these benefits aside poses serious security issues. If you can clear them, then shared web hosting is the best by all means.
Read related posts: Common Misconceptions about Shared Web Hosting
10 Tips to Secure Shared Hosting Environment
Having said the benefits of using shared web hosting, the dangers of shared hosting are less when comparing its benefits.
But we cannot leave it unbothered. What if a security issue arises and all data is lost? So taking proper actions to avoid is always good rather than worrying.
As you have heard the saying, “Prevention is better than cure.” Let’s see what preventions we can take to avoid such security risks.
1. Create Regular Backups
Don’t underestimate backups. They can save you from the loss of your data when security issues arise.
Usually, after a website is hacked, all data it has will be wiped off.
And in some cases, the bug may be deep hidden inside the website codes. And it will reappear more often creating many problems.
So if you have a backup with you, you can restore your website to fresh data. You can restore the last backup. So doing backup often is bliss in protecting shared hosting.
But before doing all these practices, you need to understand whether your hosting provider provides a backup service. So before choosing any hosting provider, consider those who provide regular backups.
If not, it will be a headache for you to do frequent backup and it’s not that easy most times.
So seeking help from a management team will be the best decision as they will take care of everything for you.
2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication is a two-step process of logging into any website.
It helps to secure your website because even if someone is trying to hack your website, they will need to prove their identity twice.
You may think your password is strong. If it is lengthy and with few numbers and special characters, it’s not a fact.
Hackers can easily track them and hack you.
Hence having a two-step authentication adds double protection for websites, especially in a shared hosting environment.
Cpanel has this provision, So utilize it.
In the two-step verification process, first, you type your password. Then, you have to answer the secret question (you have to set this one time).
If both records match with your database records, you will be allowed to log in.
If one fails, you will get a notification. And after two-step clearance only, you can access the website.
3. Set File Permissions
It is about providing security to highly confidential files. It decides who can access your files and make necessary changes.
At the least, you should do this if you don’t want the hackers to take control of your website.
You will get three options read, write, and execute. These three types of users can have access depending upon the permission you set.
One is the user, and that is you.
- The next one is a group which means your subscribers, contributors, editors, etc.
- The third one is the world, that is anyone on the internet.
- To do all these, you will have to access the cPanel in your hosting account.
4. Block PHP Execution on Unknown folders
The server facilitates users to add some files like code for themes, plugins, etc. It is written, usually in a programming language called PHP.
So when someone tries to hack your website, the main focus he looks for will be this area where the malicious files will go unnoticed.
These files written in PHP code prevent the execution of those malicious scripts. Don’t worry. You can avoid hacks by disabling PHP execution on unknown folders.
Enable them only on those directories where you need them. Then any unknown files will not run in those directories and create the problem.
5. Avoid Accessing CPanel from Untrusted Sources
Accessing CPanel through third-party sources may sound harmless to many people.
You feel too so because you may have done it sometimes and may not have faced any problems.
I know you did it without knowing the after-effects. But why should we risk when it comes to security issues?
These third-party sources may offer you many features that you find attractive, some even free.
But all this will be at the cost of your valuable pieces of information.
They may be saving your passwords, and credit card information and may even spoil your website’s smooth running.
So kindly avoid accessing CPanel from those third-party sources. Think about yourself before taking such action and the effort you take to reach this level.
If it doesn’t matter to put all your hard work at risk, then go ahead.
6. Avoid Public IP Logins
Logging in through a public lP address provides a chance for anyone to access your website through the internet.
Public IP logins mean free wifi and Internet available in malls, railway stations, schools or colleges, etc.
Logging in through such IPs can result in many cybercrimes. Your business will be more vulnerable to threats at any time.
Hackers can steal your confidential information, can misuse you. Sometimes, they can even treat you to pay them to avoid making that public.
7. Use Stronger Passwords
When asked to put in strong passwords, people often think of putting in long passwords. It includes your name or any loved one’s name, birthdate, anniversary date, etc.
Those passwords may seem to be stronger. Even the security setting will tell you, Yeah! Your password is strong (in green letters).
And then you take a deep breath and may even jot down that 8-digit password that you can’t remember (naked truth). But don’t consider hackers to be fools.
Anyone who knows your personal details and some hacking skills can easily track your password and lock you.
Long gone are those days, when people set passwords that they could remember.
Try to use the password-generating software that generates passwords that make your eyes roll when you see them.
That is what is needed. A 20-digit password with majorly special characters and a combination of upper and lower alphabets with numbers is the best choice.
8. Update Software Regularly
You may have found warning messages for software updates in almost all devices you handle day-to-day.
Those update messages have been put aside always clicking reminds me later my many of the people.
Do you know why they are so desperate to make you update the software?
It is for your security.
Day by day, hacking techniques are changing, and finding them and keeping you safe from those frauds are the motives behind most of the updates we see.
In the case of your website, if the administration panel permits you to update the software, do it ASAP.
Without any second thought, do it because you don’t want to lose your sensitive data.
And if you find it difficult to continuously check for updates and do it, then try to handle this task for some managerial teams.
Hire our experts to manage your WordPress websites.
Even though you need to pay for their service, at least you are risk-free and tension-free.
9. Buy Shared Hosting from Trusted Company
It is one of the most important things you should do. The hosting provider has very much to do for you when it comes to shared hosting services.
So choose them wisely after knowing the services they provide, especially about security and backups in case of shared web hosting.
It may be hard to find such a good company in this digital world, where large paid affiliates work for money only and are simply promoting.
To whom can you trust? To be frank, it is a confusing question.
It is better to choose one according to your idea and then shift to the new one if the current features don’t meet your expectations.
My small suggestion is not to go behind big giants in the hosting industry. They are already established and may not be able to value you much.
Give a chance to new young companies which are striving to succeed. They provide you the 100% with utmost sincerity valuing you the most.
10. Use DDoS Protection
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are usual these days.
It is a method way of blocking the regular traffic to a website by sending unwanted bot traffic. So it will not allow potential visitors to view your site.
Each bot acting as an individual device attacking the target server sends multiple requests to the server to view the site.
Too many requests at a single time put your server down. Thus, the real people will see an error (the site is not reachable or the server is busy).
You will potentially lose genuine visitors. Distinguishing between human traffic and bot traffic will be confusing for the server.
So, activate the DDoS protection available within your hosting environment.
If your company doesn’t provide one, leave them and choose those who can help you here.
Don’t hesitate to take fast action as each second is valuable. When it comes to making your shared hosting secure, you should not have second thoughts.
Last Thoughts
When you run an online business for the first time, it is common to choose shared web hosting. Because it’s the cheapest and most resource-friendly way of hosting.
But when your business grows or is steadily progressing, holding on with shared web hosting poses some risk factors.
So choose a dedicated server for hosting your website. Else religiously follow some techniques to safeguard your business.
Here I have listed ten tips to safeguard your shared web hosting environment.
If you find difficulty in doing anything, seek help from specialized persons to handle all of these for you.
Don’t think like, ” Oh, these all are costly to maintain.” For the small amount you pay, you can sleep soundly without worrying about the loss of your business.
Still having double thoughts, think of waking up a day to know all your data are lost, or your business is going steadily down.
You will be doing everything to stop it then. So do it before it happens and save yourself.
Secure your shared hosting environment following the tips I mentioned. I hope this article helped you to make serious decisions.
Don’t take this silly. If you do so, you are the one going to suffer.