There are a lot of Content Management
Systems (CMSs) that are in use today and Joomla is one of them. It is also one
of the most vulnerable CMSs prone to high risks of insecurity. The primary
causes for vulnerability being misconfiguration and third-party extensions that
bear weak codes. You must put up proper measures to secure your Joomla site
from such insecurities.
To secure it, there should be
an SSL certificate that you can consider for website security. There are many
SSL providers who offer the cheapest SSL certificate that will please your
pocket. Apart from it, there are other measures that you can adopt to protect
your Joomla site. This article provides you with other important Joomla
security tips.
#1. Constantly Upgrade Your Joomla Site
Applying regular updates is a
significant measure for protecting your Joomla site. Most of these upgrades
come with improved security features and complicated code structures that
hackers will find hard to break. For them to attain this, they will have to start
from scratch. The latest versions of Joomla websites will have you notified
when there is an upgrade or a new extension.
#2. Set up a Security Plugin
Security
plugins are fitted with malware and scanners that help in the identification of
any security threats and vulnerabilities. Having a security plugin will enable
you to take appropriate and immediate actions in case of any security risks.
#3. Use A Reliable Hosting
A reputed hosting company
offers so many advantages to your Joomla site. A hosting company will take it
as a responsibility to make upgrades to the PHP version. It also carries out
security checks and locks any threats from reaching your site. A hosting
company will also ensure the optimal performance of Joomla website.
#4. Do Not Use Nulled Templates or Extensions
Websites that offer free themes
and extensions are so many. They offer these themes at a low price or for free.
Using these themes and extensions poses a considerable risk to your Joomla
site. Nulled templates are so vulnerable, and they can be hacked easily.
#5. Use Strong Login Details
The first thing that you should
do after launching your website is to change the default login details. This is
because a hacker will try using these details first. You should also avoid
guessable passwords and usernames. Password generator tools can be utilized to create
strong passwords. You should also add another security layer to your Joomla
site by enabling two-factor authentication.
#6. Remove Unwanted and Unidentified Developer’s Extension
Joomla is a free site that
enables the installation of new modules to try out new functionalities. Some of
these extensions can be very vulnerable. It is essential that you test any
extension to assess its reliability before you use it. You also must erase any extension
that you are not utilizing. This is because some of these extensions can easily
get compromised by hackers.
#7. Carry out Regular Joomla Backup
Having
a backup will help you restore your Joomla site whenever it is compromised, or
you mess up with it. Your hosting company can help you in carrying out regular
backups.
#8. Protect Administrator Login
Restricting
access to your security is a proper measure for improving the security of your
Joomla website. To do so, you can create strong passwords and can make
.htaccess file also. You should also use a secret key anytime you want to make
changes to your Joomla database.
#9. Restrict FTP Layer
Restricting
an FTP layer allows operations to files without necessarily making the file
folders writable. This increases the security of your Joomla site.
#10. Install SSL Certificate
As
mentioned earlier, one of the perfect ways to make your Joomla site secure is
to secure it with an SSL certificate. One of the ways to secure a connection
between your website and the visitors to your website is to install an SSL
certificate. It also optimizes Google ranking. You can opt for the cheapest SSL certificate that you can afford.
If you do not know about SSL installation, then you can hire an expert to do
the work for you.
#11. Have Appropriate File Permissions
You
should make sure that you are using an ideal Joomla set up. The preferred CHMOD
configuration should have the following:
PHP
files – 644
Configuration
Files – 644
Other
folders – 755
#12. Constantly Monitor Your Joomla Website
You
should continuously keep an eye to your Joomla website to make sure that there
are no threats posed to it and to make sure that everything is operating
appropriately. You can make use of free tools like StatusCake to help in the
monitoring task.
#13. Enable Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URL
SEF
URL helps to make your Joomla website search-friendly. It also gives your
website more security features. A SEF URL hides data and makes it tougher for a
hacker to uncover any security weaknesses.
#14. Disable File Editing
You must
disable file editing authorizations. Only those directories that require file
editing option should be granted write access permissions. These permissions
include upload and cache directories.
#15. Use a Web Application Firewall
A web application firewall (WAF) plays the role of filtering and monitoring HTTP
applications. It is essential for protecting your Joomla website from top
Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) 10 security, known
vulnerabilities & malware. Web
Application Firewall will also be of great essence in login protection,
SQL injection, backdoor protection, and XSS attack.
#16. Harden Your PHP Configuration
PHP
language is the language in which Joomla is written. It is recommended that you
change the following PHP directives in your php.ini file to improve your Joomla
security:
expose_php = 0: Hiding your PHP version will hinder attackers from
knowing which kind of vulnerable is hidden.
open_basedir =
“/var/www/yoursite.com:/tmp/”: it
stops cyber intruders from accessing your system.
display_errors = 0: You should not display any errors to attackers that
expose the vulnerability of your site.
#17. Change Joomla Database Prefix
Changing
your database prefix to something else hinders attackers from targeting your
site for malicious reasons.
Conclusion
Joomla
website is a vulnerable website which needs to be protected. Good measures
should be put in place to secure your Joomla website. Installing an SSL certificate is one of those measures that you can put in place
to ensure the safety of your Joomla website.
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