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A few days ago, an incident happened to me that has prompted thewriting of this article. Im sure that if this is an issue for meand one of my Web sites, its an issue for many others. With my personal Web site, I use a nationally known Internet Hostprovider to host it. Theyve hosted my site for years, and Icant really complain about their services (except that you canrarely find a real person to talk to). However, a few days ago, I wanted to give a good friend of mine,Dave Barry, access to FTP into my Web site to download aparticular file. Rather than using an FTP program, he used IE(Internet Explorer) to FTP into the site. The strange thing is,before I even gave him my username and password, Dave was insidethe server where my site is hosted! Dave said that the server, and any sites hosted on that server,were wide open for attack. He was able to see the System 32Directory, passwords, etc. The good news for me is that Dave is aCertified Internet Webmaster Security Professional Instructor, sohe knows exactly what hes talking about (and I dont). He ran a report to show the vulnerability of my Web site. Thatreport indicated that there were seven high risk vulnerabilities,four medium risk, and two low risk. It also said that it wasimperative that I take immediate action in fixing the securityissues of the network. Now isnt this a comforting thought, especially since Ive neverquestioned the security of my Web site? I use one of the top Webhosting firms in the country. This problem should NOT havehappened. I contacted the hosting company, and theyre checking into it. Atone point, they said, A little further research on my part foundthat anonymous FTP is erroneously enabled on your website. Then,in a later e-mail, they changed their mind, I did misspeak lastnight when I said that anonymous access was enabled, as I couldnot upload any files at all, though I could view some directoriesand files, evidently some relatively innocuous system datafiles. Dave disagreed, and he promptly sent me two files to prove howvulnerable and insecure the system is. I sent them those files aswell as the security report Dave ran, and theyre continuing tolook into it. To date though, a week later, they still haventgotten back with me on it. In my case, though this is a very disturbing situation, it isntthe end of the world. I dont sell anything on my Web site itsthere for informational purposes only. But, for those of you who actually sell goods or services overthe Internet, this could be a huge, and extremely distressing,problem. As Dave said, I could crash the entire server in amatter of minutes. But, hes one of the good guys wearing awhite hat, not a hacker. Hes also responsible for 40+ Web sitesthrough his company, all of which are extremely secure. What can you do to protect your own Web site? Now that we knowhow serious a problem this can be, lets look at some ways youcan protect your Web site. 1. Contact a security expert like Dave Barry and have him run asecurity audit on your Web site. Visit Computer Concierge andcomplete the FREE Website security report. Find out what your Website security vulnerabilities are, and learn what needs to bedone to fix them. http://security-report.computer-concierge.com2. If the security audit on your Web site proves that you havesecurity issues, and if your host provider cant give you alogical explanation, move your site to a different hostingcompany. Im going to move my personal site to CombustionHosting, where security is a #1 priority, and where I can getpersonal attention and support.http://combustionwebhosting.com/products/secureplans/3. Ask your current hosting company about their securitypolicies. Then, point them to this URL, which lists The Top 20Most Critical Internet Security Vulnerabilities. This list wascompiled by a list of security experts from the FBI and the SANSInstitute. Though you may not be able to understand much of thereport, your hosting company will. Not only does the report listthe security risks, but it also gives solutions to the problems.http://www.sans.org/top20/4. If youre a do it yourselfer, visit the U.S. Department ofEnergys site which offers a listing of tools for securityanalysis. http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/SecurityTools.html5. Or, consider Retina, which provides excellent securitysoftware. http://www.eeye.com/html/index.html6. SecureNet Solutions also offers products that will runvulnerability reports for you. http://www.securenetsol.com/The main thing is to learn from my mistakes and dont be caughtoff guard. If youre using a hosting company to host your Website, make darn sure that the server and your Web site aresecure. Visit Computer Concierge for a free security audit. Then,go with a reputable hosting company who places the utmostimportance on security, like Combustion Hosting.Remember: Your Web site is your online business. Dont you lockthe door and secure the windows of your brick and mortarbusiness? Do you have an alarm system? Dont you think itsimportant to do the same with your online business?

About the Author

Robin Nobles teaches 2-, 3-, and 5-day hands-on search enginemarketing workshops thru http://www.searchengineworkshops.com inlocations across the globe as well as online courses athttp://www.onlinewebtraining.com/. Robins partner, JohnAlexander, recently published an e-book titled, WordtrackerMagic," at http://www.wordtracker-magic.com (which offers greattips for helping you learn how to focus on your target audience.)