Can web hosting be hacked?

How can someone hack your hosting?

Are you worried that your shared hosting plan is jeopardizing your WordPress site’s security and performance?

We wish we could tell you your website is safe, but the reality is, shared hosting poses variety of security risks.

While shared hosting could be the foremost economical solution to run your website, it can compromise your site’s performance and security.

Clients often ask us if they’re website are often hacked thanks to shared hosting. the solution is yes, shared hosting carries a particular amount of security risks that would potentially cause a hacked site.

If this happens, hackers can use your website to spam your customers, display unwanted content, and redirect your visitors to unknown sites. If Google detects that your site is hacked, they're going to blacklist your site immediately, and your web host will suspend your hosting account.

But don’t worry, you'll take steps to secure your website against shared hosting risks. during this article, we'll discuss the risks of using shared hosting and therefore the steps to guard your site.

TL;DR

By exploiting shared hosting vulnerabilities, hackers can quickly infect your website and conceal their hack from you. you would like to put in a security plugin like MalCare that's capable of detecting such activity on your site. Its smart scanner will detect any suspicious behavior on your site and provide you with a warning immediately. you'll also use MalCare to wash up the hack instantly and protect your site from being damaged.

In order to know the risks, you would like to first understand how hosting works.

What is hosting?

To make your website available on the web , you would like an internet server that you simply can purchase from hosting providers like Milesweb Domainindia, BlueHost, Kinsta, etc.

Every function and operation of your website will utilize resources from this server. for instance , when a visitor involves your site and needs to look at your home page, your server will fetch the info required and display the house page. To run this process, your website will utilize a number of your server’s resources.

Now, not every website must use a whole server and its resources. Many websites are small in size with only a couple of pages and posts and need just a fraction of a whole server’s resources. Thus, investing in a private server isn't only expensive but a waste of resources.

You can consider it as buying a whole apartment house once you only need one apartment.

Thus, shared hosting was born. Shared hosting may be a system under which one server hosts multiple websites.

The number of internet sites on a shared server depends on the limit of resources granted to every website. But shared hosting servers can even host thousands of internet sites together.

This makes it possible for hosting providers to supply shared hosting plans at such low rates making it the most cost effective option possible.

But hosting thousands of internet sites on one server also poses some problems. We’ll discuss this intimately next.

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Top 5 Shared Hosting Security And Risks

Going back to the apartment analogy, imagine you share the apartment house with thousands of people . you've got a couple of common spaces like the elevator, the stairwell, and therefore the lobby.

Now, if one person doesn’t follow proper safety protocol and shut their windows, a thief could break in and gain access to the common areas. This thief is now lurking inside, trying to interrupt into other apartments.

Similarly, if one website on the server is hacked, hackers can leverage their access to attack other sites residing on an equivalent shared server.

But it’s not just security that you simply need to worry about. Even basic maintenance are often one among the safety issues. for instance , if one person features a plumbing leak and fails to repair it for an extended time, the leak could spread and begin affecting other apartments next thereto also .

Likewise, other websites on your shared server could cause problems for your website. Here are the highest 5 hosting security and performance risks of employing a shared hosting service:

1. Shared Directory

Every WordPress website has its own folder that contains its WordPress files, content, and other data. This folder resides inside what's called a ‘directory’ on your web server.

On a fanatical server, there'll be one directory with one website’s files inside. But with shared hosting, there'll be one directory with multiple websites’ folders inside.

Even though your website features a separate domain and separate content, by sharing this directory, it's intrinsically linked to the opposite websites on your server.

This means if a hacker is in a position to access this main directory, they will target all sites on an equivalent server. Hackers do that by running programs to spot any vulnerabilities on all the sites within the directory. this might be an outdated plugin installed on the location . Once they find the vulnerability, they exploit it to hack into the location .

2. Slow load time

If another website on your shared server is hacked, it could also spell trouble for your website’s performance. When an internet site is compromised, hackers can use it to execute malicious activities like storing illegal files and folders, sending spam emails, launching attacks on another website.

In this way, the hacked website is using quite it’s shared server resources. this may affect your website. It’ll significantly hamper your site. Your site could also become unresponsive and inaccessible to visitors.

3. DDoS attacks

Your website can become slow if other sites on an equivalent server are experiencing a spike within the traffic.

When a hacker wants to bring an internet site down they program thousands of malicious bots and devices to send a flood of traffic to an internet site . this is often referred to as a DDoS attack (Distributed Denial of Service).

To cater to the sudden surge in traffic, the web site under fire will start consumption more resources from the server. this may invariably cause lesser resources available to your website which can have a negative impact on its speed and performance.

Your website isn't the target of the attack just fatal accident .

4. Shared IP address

An IP address may be a unique code that identifies a tool using the web like your mobile or computer. Servers also are devices that use the web and thus , every server bears its own IP address.

A shared server would have one IP address which suggests all the websites hosted on this server will share an equivalent IP address.

If a neighboring website conducts criminality or spams its customers, the IP address is blacklisted and marked as malicious. this may cause variety of problems for your site:

Firewalls will identify your website as malicious and block their users from accessing it.

Email providers like Gmail will blacklist your IP address which suggests any email you send are going to be diverted to your customers’ spam inbox.

Search engines like Google will blacklist your site and mark it as insecure.

5. Untrusted Neighbors

Your web hosting provider will never reveal the names of the opposite sites that you simply share a server with. So you've got no clue who your neighbors are.

A hacker could purchase a shared hosting plan a bit like you and become your neighbor. they might run spam and phishing websites to steal data from their visitors. Not just that, they might be using the hosting server to store malicious files and folders.

Sharing your server with an untrusted neighbor will certainly pose a threat to your site.

So do you have to switch from shared hosting to a fanatical server? for several , this won't be a reasonable option. But don’t panic just yet! you'll take measures to stay your site safe albeit you select to use a shared host.

How To Protect Your Website From Hosting Security Risks

While the only option could be to never choose shared hosting, the very fact is that not everyone can afford a fanatical server and IP address. We’ve listed four measures you'll implement on your website to mitigate the risks of shared hosting:

1. Install a Security Plugin

This is a measure you want to combat your site no matter whether you employ shared hosting or a fanatical server.

A good WordPress security plugin will put up a robust defense against hackers and any malicious activity on your site. If a hacker on your shared platform is trying to realize access to your site or execute malicious commands, the safety plugin should detect it and provide you with a warning .

We recommend installing MalCare on your WordPress site.

It will automatically station a robust firewall which will block hackers from accessing sensitive files on your website.

It will scan your website a day to form sure there's no malware present on your site. If a hacker has inserted anything malicious on your site, the scanner will detect it and provide you with a warning immediately. you'll clean it up promptly with the moment malware removal option without breaking your website.

You can also implement recommended WordPress hardening measures on your website in only a couple of clicks. These measures will stiffen your website’s security.

2. Review your Shared Host

We suggest comparing different hosting providers and checking what security measures they put in situ at a server level.

You can search reviews of other customers. you'll also contact the customer support team via chat or call to urge more details on your host’s security. Most reputed hosts have found ways to affect the threats mentioned above.

Ensure that they separate your website’s environment from others. this suggests the environment of site1.com shouldn't be accessible to the environment of site2.com.

3. Set File Permissions

As we mentioned earlier, hackers on a shared server can attempt to gain access to your WordPress files. you'll prevent this from happening by setting the proper file permissions to make sure only you, the owner of the web site , can access them.

To change file permissions, you would like to access cPanel in your hosting account.

4. Block PHP Execution in Unknown Folders

If hackers find a vulnerability on your website, they exploit it to make their own files and folders. this may allow them to execute malicious activities on your websites like redirecting visitors or spamming customers with unwanted content.

Usually, they execute code during a programing language called PHP. While PHP execution is required on your website, it's used only especially folders. you'll prevent hackers from completing their activities by blocking PHP execution in untrusted folders.

You can do that manually as we’ve explained in our guide about disabling PHP execution, otherwise you can use a plugin like MalCare to implement it in only a couple of clicks.With that, we come to an endways protecting your site if you’re employing a shared host. By implementing these measures we’re confident your site is safer now.

Final Thoughts:

Shared hosting plans are usually an honest option for websites that are just beginning or for businesses that require a basic online presence. But as your business grows and your site becomes bigger, you would possibly got to consider getting a fanatical server.

If you'll afford a fanatical hosting plan, it’s always advisable to use that for better security and performance.

But no environment is 100% secure from cyberthreats. Hackers find all kinds of ways to interrupt into your site. We strongly recommend that you simply always keep a reliable security plugin like MalCare active on your site.

This will ensure your site features a firewall to dam bad traffic and a scanner to see for malware. within the event your site is hacked, you'll quickly clean it up with the moment malware removal option. you'll rest assured your site is secure. For more information, you'll check our guide web host security.