The Internet is, by definition, a network which is open and available to anyone with the means to connect. For that reason, there are few venues in the digital world where security is as vital a concern as it is on the Internet. Where web hosting is concerned, security starts with strong passwords, intelligent user permission policies and with making certain that one insulates their customers and their visitors from having their security compromised when they're using any features included on one's site. These policies and procedures, fortunately, are very easy to learn and understand.



Remember that a dictionary word is never a good password. Between a bit of intelligence gathering about an individual and some lucky guessing most nefarious individuals will have little difficulty figuring out someone's password if it happens to be a word which is found in the dictionary. One should also avoid making passwords which are someone's birthday or another easily obtainable piece of information related to the person to whom the account belongs. Any password should be at least eight characters long, preferably more, and should contain a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Such passwords are almost impossible to guess which is the best possible situation.

Many of you probably hear on the news, every so often, “A popular website has been compromised and many people have had their personal data stolen!” When a website is compromised, it puts thousands at risk for one of many possible types of identity theft. It is rare that a site is hacked to this extent: usually, the data is collected through look alike sites, through spyware, or through other means of collection; most of which happen on a single-user basis. It makes many people nervous when giving out personal information to anyone online because they are not sure what can really happen, and they do not have all the facts.

Last but not least, Internet Security is something that has grown to be a main concern among society. Companies have come out with Identity Theft prevention services, but often, by the time you get those, it is already too late or doesn't help. The purpose of this guide is to help you try and develop safe internet habits and to keep you as safe as possible from unwanted problems relating to your personal security.

When a user logs onto a website, the privileges they enjoy at that site should be strictly and diligently determined. The user should never be given more power than they actually need. It is better to inconvenience the user by giving them less power than necessary and to give them more as the situation demands than to give them all the power in the world and hope that they behave appropriately. While they may have the best intentions, a user with a great deal of power over a site may inadvertently cause irreversible damage.

Remember that a website is vulnerable principally from the web host panel. This means that any passwords and user privileges given at the hosting site must be the most intelligently thought out permissions of all. If the user simply needs to upload files to the FTP server from time to time, then they should be given no greater power over the site than that which is required to perform this simple task. Users generally appreciate the fact that they can't do anything wrong by accident; it offers them a sense of security in the course of performing their duties as related to the website.