Website hacking is a hazard that is becoming more dangerous as the Digital Age picks up steam and more and more miscreants take to cyberspace to reek havoc on unsuspecting websites and online businesses. You cannot assume that you are ever safe from the latest virus or worm that may be floating around out there, especially if you are using more Windows based applications to power your site. Personal computers are more frequently attacked than any other kind of computer because a larger number of people own them, and hackers understand they can cause the most trouble through targeting these entities. If you are part of this huge percentage of websites and businesses, you have more to worry about than most. That's why it is recommended that you do the following to protect your site or business:

1) Choose a reputable hosting provider.

Web hosting companies are often vigilant in their fight against malware, viruses, worms and trojans. They do their best to stay ahead of hackers and provide the necessary software updates and hardware solutions needed to avoid ever getting hacked by a ne'er-do-well. If you have chosen a reputable hosting provider, then you have a lot less to worry about down the road. However, you are still not out of the woods, because there are a number of ports of entry that hackers can use to gain access to your business and records.

2) Get a server upgrade.

The last thing you want to do if you put a lot of stock into your website or online business is to entrust it to a shared hosting plan. While these are great for starting small websites and blogs with very limited revenue potential, they are also easy marks, because you are sharing the server with a variety of other websites. Whatever happens to them can happen to you. In order to be in absolute control of what happens with your website, you need to choose a server upgrade, such as cloud hosting, virtual private servers, or dedicated web hosting. These plans are all better equipped to keep the wolves at bay.

3) Never do business with someone without vetting them first.

Any time you are going to take on a public facing entity, such as a website or online business, you need to make sure that your customers or visitors are legitimate. That means if you allow comments, do not allow those that would include spam links that others could click on. Guilty by association, at the end of the day, still means guilty, at least as far as the web world is concerned. Protect your own interests first, and choose to be careful before choosing to be all inclusive.

Learn more about computer security training or ceh courses