Hackers, Hackers & More Hackers!

I've always wondered why anyone would want to hack a small local site. What's the motivation? Recently I discovered it's for practice or just fun! They aren't necessarily criminals but they can be. Here's a great site that goes into the philosophy about who and why they do it: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hackers/whoare/.

Whatever their motivation is, your website is vulnerable. The most powerful companies on the internet dissuade thousands of hacking attempts per DAY. It's full time work to keep up with the hundreds of viruses, hacks and security holes that are developed daily.

I specialize in Joomla Open Source software and that, like the popular Wordpress blogging software recently became a target to hackers. The best way to keep the hackers at bay is to keep your software current and to change your passwords often! For those of you that have a Joomla website, I am in the process of implementing a new program for everyone that is easily accessed from your administration area.

Here's what you need to do. First login to your admin area and IMMEDIATELY change your login (even both username and password should be changed, not just the password).

Here's a pdf file that will illustrate the Update Manager to keep your version always current: Update Manager.

Note: If you don't see the update manager please contact me, I'm in the process of updating all sites and may not have gotten to yours yet. - 6/17/10