Most people who use a CMS/Portal do so because they are very simple to setup. A web site in a box so to speak. What 99% of the users dont know is that there are ways to make it more secure and less likely to be hacked durring the install process! What i am going to explain here is the simple change one can make durring the install to help keep the database secure! I will be using PostNuke CMS/Portal as my example!

Most people take for granted that the information preloaded in the database setup screen is there and should not be changed. Well the example here is the Database Table Prefix. For Postnuke and PHP-Nuke they come with a default setting of "nuke". When setting up these settings you should follow your host's information as far as database host, user name, password, and database name are concerned. On the issue of the database table prefix you can and should change it from "nuke" to anything you like.

An example of a good database table prefix is alpha-numeric. "If for example your first name is Eric and you want to use that as your database table prefix i would use "3r!c", or if it were Amanda and you want to use that "4m4nd4". You can use anything you really want for the prefix but for a more secure database dont use the default "nuke", or whatever default setting comes with the CMS/Portal you decide to use!

As with any CMS / Portal not any are 100% secure! Do research in to what best suits your needs! Check out the resource sites for the respective CMS / Portals! There are several to choose from. PHP-Nuke, Post Nuke, E107, PHP Fusion, EZ Portal, and of course Custom Portal. All of them have different things to offer the user, but all use default settings in the setup!

About author:

Jason Grant is the Lead Developer of Custom Portal. A content management system written in the PHP scripting language!

http://www.custom-portal.net