If your website utilizes third party software such as blogs, photo galleries, or forums, it’s a good idea to routinely check to make sure that software is running the latest version. When software is provided free of charge and its source code is visible to anyone who downloads the package, security holes are often easy to find, and hackers or spammers with malicious intent will take advantage of any holes in the software. Sometimes the outcome is nothing more than a defaced web page, but in more severe cases your website can be compromised. Data may be lost, account passwords may be stolen, or your account may be used to collect personal information–such as credit card and back account numbers–through fraudulent means.

Whenever a website is compromised, the owner of the website is held accountable for any illegal activity committed through the site. Thus, running software that is weeks, months, or in some cases years old is never a good idea. Believe it or not, even if your site is not frequented by many users, persons looking for insecure sites will find you and take advantage of whatever they can.

So how do you update your site? Depending on your host and means of installation, there are usually three possible ways to make updates. If you install the software package yourself you may have to install the updates manually. Instructions would be provided on the website of the software’s developer. In some cases the software will come with auto-update utilities, either via download from the site or directly within the software package itself. Lastly, if you installed your software via a utility suite such as Fantastico, you should be able to use that suite to make any updates to your site. This will guarantee you are kept up-to-date and less likely to be taken advantage of by hackers.