The previous two posts in this blog were about securing your server (Securing your cPanel Dedicated Server). It is impossible to overstate the importance of this topic. Phishing is now one of the biggest threats in terms of cyber-crime, or even just global crime in general, with organized bands of hackers now working in concert to invade your server.

A recently published article by the BBC news reported that cyber-crime, mainly internet banking and credit card fraud, is now the fastest growing sector of global organized crime worldwide. It is increasing at a current rate of 40% per year. It is now a $100 billion per year industry. While huge thefts will be noticed, the main threat are the small attacks where an attacker gains information, then proceeds to use it repeatedly but only for small amounts at a time, causing the theft to often go unnoticed by the victim. Though these small amounts add up over time, causing damage to people’s credit and official identity.

There are small things that put your server at risk, such as the program known as Joomla! It is a PHP software installed under end-user accounts that can be compromised if not updated to the newest versions immediately upon release. If you don’t keep an eye on your customers and the software they’re installing, you could be allowing them to compromise the server as a whole.

This example proves what are two of the key tenets in server security: constant updates and constant monitoring.

As there are two previous blog posts about it, this really is something that can’t be stressed enough. While there are the annoyances of cyber vandalism and other related attacks, they do not compare to the destruction that phishing can wreak on a server and a business.

But there is hope. Individual countries are stepping up legislation and defenses again cyber criminals as well as the global community. A while back, Estonia suffered a mass attack on their networks. They and other members of NATO are now backing a collective shield against hacking and malicious activity. Furthermore, there have been high profile cases of cyber criminals being heavily fined and imprisoned. This will, hopefully, reduce the attractiveness of cybercrime. But, naturally, it does not mean, in any way, that personal vigilance is not key to the security of your own server.