When the main site is hacked, the backup can be compared with the hacked site to find where and what changes were made. Don't leave tools hackers can use. Justice had followed general industry practice and removed most system administration software from the server, but the hacker found and used several tools. The best practice, Boster says, is to build the Web content remotely and transfer only essential files to the active Web server, using encrypted transmission. 10 Don't send unprotected information between servers.
Sniffers are software tools that read all computer traffic.
They can be useful for administrators who must find the cause of network problems, but they can also be used by hackers to find user names, passwords and other critical data. To counter that threat, Boster has implemented encryption of all information transferred among Justice computers used for Web development. 11 Don't participate in networks in which some members are careless about security. Weak sites can be hacked easily and used as entries to other sites. 12 Be tough on crime.