hAlp! I am a n00b. How do I know my Joomla site is secure?

You may be new to Joomla, you may be a grizzled veteran. No matter who you are, it is always good to make sure your Joomla site is secure and not open to sploits.

It is a safe assumption when you first discovered Joomla, the last thing on your mind was how to handle security on your new website. I know it was for me. I had no idea I was not only building a website, but forcing myself to become a Linux system admin and a security expert.

Joomla is a secure CMS, but…

By itself Joomla is a very secure CMS that sometime get’s a bad reputation. To complicate things, components, modules, and templates are developed by outside developers and are not always the most secure or hardened code. On top of all that, you need to understand Linux permissions and various other things related to website hosting you might not be accustomed to. This is a lot to swallow for anybody.

ConfigServer as a solution for dedicated server or VPS

If you have your own dedicated server or VPS and have root access, the very first thing you should install is ConfigServer. Do not pass go, do not collect 100 dollars. Go, do it now. I will wait here for you. …. ……. ………. Ok, I see you are back.  ConfigServer either looked really cool, or really confusing to you.  If it looked cool, feel free to skim the rest of this article and comment below about how much of a genius I am and ask how to spell my first name properly so you can name your children after me. ;)

That ConfigServer was confusing, I want something easier

If it looked confusing, I have a different option for you.  The good folks over at RSJoomla have a new product (Joomla component) called RSFirewall. It brings basic security and firewall goodness down to where everybody can understand it. While this is not the “be all, end all” to Joomla security, it is a huge step in the right direction, and will absolutely allow you to sleep at night, worry free. With features like system scanning, an actual firewall, password protection and extensive security logs, your Joomla sites security will no longer be a monkey on your back. Get the free version of this component and play with it. It installs in a few clicks and is really straightforward to understand. Read more about RSJoomla here.

If you’ve got other tips and trix for increasing security for a Joomla website, please let us all know in the comments below.



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