How to secure a content management system?
Content management system platforms such as WordPress, Squarespace, etc., have become very popular and necessary to organize and manage secure web and enterprise content. A person without any technical skills can use a content management system to gather his/her thoughts and structure them well on the Internet. A CMS can be used for individual, commercial, as good organizational use. At the same time, a CMS offers multiple opportunities for various threats to target. In this case, how can you secure your CMS?
Targeting popular content management system (CMS) platforms like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and noneCMS rose in 2020. In fact, according to the 2020 Global Threat Intelligence Report from Dimension Data, these CMS platforms alone were the target of approximately 20% of all observed attacks globally. There are three broad types of CMS software: Open Source, Proprietary, and Software-as-a-Service (SAAS)
Here are a few common cyber-attacks that are used to exploit websites that use a CMS platform:
Data Manipulation: SQL injections and changing parameters or settings is a popular hack. Hackers use malicious SQL statements inserted into an entry field for execution.
Accessing Data: Utilizing SQL injections or Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks to compromise user data. A hacker uses a web application to send malicious code, generally in a browser-side script or with negative SQL statements.
Code Injection: This attack can affect the whole server running a website. Code injections can result in lost or corrupted data, lack of accountability, or denial of access.
Spam: Web crawlers scan the Internet for valid email addresses and send spam accordingly. Attackers can also use an application vulnerability to send spam through the application's server, turning it into a spam relay server.
Broken Authentication: This method refers to the incorrect implementation of mechanisms for authentication, while a related term, Session Management, relates to the associated functions such as logging off, session expiry, secret questions, password reset, Etc. If the authentication mechanisms have not been adequately implemented, it is possible to take advantage of this weakness to gain more rights over the application. Some examples of poor implementation of the authentication process include a different return error for a failed authentication, improper method for providing a forgotten password, no existing protection against an excessive number of attempts and reminders, along with authentication questions.
Sensitive Data Exposure: This attack distorts the integrity and confidentiality of data. Many web applications fail to protect sensitive data (e.g., credit card information or authentication information) adequately with the appropriate encryption. For transferring secure data, web applications can use the secure version of HTTP protocol—HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) protocol—which uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to protect messages transmitted via the network. Secure Data should be written in an encrypted form with the help of a web application. They should also remain in that form during transmission via the network to ensure their integrity and confidentiality.
With all these different ways to exploit a CMS, here are a few ways to prevent your CMS from being used by malware or breached:
Strong Passwords: The passwords used by both users and administrators of the CMS need to follow best practices. As with all passwords, they should be hard to guess but easy to remember, so relatively lengthy passphrases based on a random collection of words work best. Alternatively, you can use passwords randomly generated by a good password manager.
Multi-Factor Authentication: Multi-factor authentication, when available, provides much better protection for accounts than passwords/phrases.
Assign Access Roles: Take advantage of the ability to assign roles and permissions. CMS such as WordPress & Squarespace allows you to set different parts for different users, such as Contributor (can draft posts but not publish), Author (can publish his/her posts), Editor (can publish or edit their own and others' posts), and Administrator (can change settings and has complete control of the site). Limit the number of persons who have administrative access.
Layered Security: Opt for a Web Application Firewall (WAF), which adds an extra layer of security to your CMS website to stay protected from attacks.
Check your Plugins: Always keep your plugin updated to the latest version of the release. Although these are often premium, there are quality free themes and plugins as well. In this case, quality should have a good track record, which you can assess by studying their reviews and the number of downloads. The more reviews available, the more accurate the assessment will be. Never use pirated plugins or themes from untrusted sources.
SSL Certificate: Install SSL on your web server, which establishes a secure connection between your server and the client.
Keep Backup at every stage: Always have some incremental backup of your data available. Backups allow you to reset your compromised website back to its previous state. Do this after you have identified and corrected the security weakness that caused your site to get hacked.
With so many CMS platforms out there in today's day and age, it can help an individual or organization handle the creation, publication, and organization of their content and data without much difficulty. Still, it is also essential to ensure that your CMS is as secure as it possibly can be.
