There's nothing worse than finding out your business website has been hacked and is being used to send out bulk emails, spam visitors, or spread malicious software.
If it hasn't happened to you, don't fall into the trap of thinking that this scenario is something that happens to other people. Spam hacks are absolutely rampant.
Fortunately, the business model of spammers requires them, more often than not, to automate their hacks to seek out vulnerable Web servers and sites, because they have to do things on a huge scale to turn a profit.
This means that by taking a few easy precautions you can secure yourself against all but the most devious, aggressive, and relentless of attacks.
Remember that no site is ever 100% secure, so you always need to vigilant - no matter what Web platform you use. But, the following tips should at least ensure that you aren't a "soft target".
1. Secure your mail server
Vulnerable mail servers can be tricked into forwarding on emails that don't necessarily originate from your site. This means that spammers can use a distributed bot net to force your mail server to send out massive amounts of spam.
What's worse is that this spam mail essentially looks like it comes from you, and this can really harm your reputation. It can also get your mail server blacklisted or shut down, which in turn can affect your ability to email clients and customers - not to mention chew up bandwidth and affect the performance of your server.
Check the state of your domain's mail server using something like MXToolBox's SuperTool, which will help identify potential problems (i.e. your server is an open relay).
Always access your mail accounts securely - it should not be possible to send email via SMTP without providing a valid username and password.
In addition, many VPS and dedicated Web hosts offer Webmail clients that require you to enter a username and password into a Web form. If this is not done over HTTPS, it means that hackers might gain access to your email accounts.
Enabling DKIM and SPF adds authentication, and on a decent Web hosting account with cPanel, this can be as easy as clicking Enable DKIM and Enable SPF.
You'll have to speak to your Web hosting company if these features aren't available via the admin panel - consider upgrading to a better host or plan if not.
Digitally signing and verifying emails with DKIM and SPF also increases the trust associated with your domain, and this means that company emails going out to Hotmail. Yahoo, and gmail addresses are more likely to be delivered - instead of being sent to trash by their spam filters.
2. Secure ALL access devices
All the security in the world won't prevent your Web server or mail from being hacked, if the methods used to access the site aren't secure too.
One of the most common ways for hackers to gain entry to mail accounts (or any other account - like the database admin, or file system) is to plant malware on vulnerable devices to harvest login data.
Accessing your email from an Internet cafe, home PC, or via your mobile device may be all the opportunity a hacker needs to grab that login data. Once they have it, they have complete access to whatever accounts you do, and can do all the same things you can.
Look at where and how you access sensitive information, and make sure that communications between those devices and your server are secure. This means ensuring that you login over HTTPS (don't transmit your senstive data in clear text).
Make sure each device has security measures in place to prevent malware, worms, viruses, and so on. A good place to start is by downloading and installing a decent anti-virus package. I use Avast, which is freely available.
3. Implement disaster recovery
Ok, so disaster recovery may not prevent a hack, but it does prevent long term damage that would otherwise be the net result of a spam attack.
Because malicious software can be so insidiously designed as to render an infected site essentially useless for the rest of time, it is important to be able to wipe the slate clean and start again.
Being hacked is not always a case of finding out what went wrong and fixing it. Nasty code may lurk unseen and dormant for days, weeks, or months, before resurfacing to cripple the site once again.
Make sure that your site is regularly backed up - preferably to a different server (in case the current server dies suddenly). A hack that completely wipes out your file system and database then causes no more damage than the down time it takes to reimplement the backup.
Many hosting companies offer integrity assurance software that can help detect when and if files are created or modified when they shouldn't be. So if something like the Gumblar virus edits your .htaccess file to redirect Web traffic from Google to a porn site, you will know about it.
Early warning systems can help detect an intrusion or malicious hack, allowing you to identify the problem early, and implement disaster recovery procedures.
Remember, there is no point in reinstalling a vulnerable system. Hackers will simply hack it again. It is important to understand what went wrong, and, at the very least, reset all passwords.
While the above tips won't necessarily keep you safe from every threat out there (for example, most small business sites are susceptible to DDoS attacks), they will help your company cope with many of the commonplace, automated spam hacks.
What other easy-to-implement security procedures do you put in place? Share your tips in the comments.
