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Joomla is one of the most commonly used content managements systems (CMS). One of the main reasons why this script is so widely used is because of its ability to create web sites and online applications with greatly varied functionality. Virtually any type of site with any purpose can be developed with Joomla. There are many extensions that can be added that make the possibilities with this software unlimited.

Whatever your site’s needs may be, it is likely that the time will come when you are ready to monetise your Joomla site. This may seem daunting to you, but not to worry. There are many helpful extensions that will help you accomplish your goals.

1. VirtueMart

This is a free shopping cart component for Joomla. It is fully featured which makes it easy to sell your products online. It comes complete with user management, administration features, payment modules, tax modules, shipping address management, order confirmation emails, product availability, categories and many other features. This components functionality can even be extended with other Joomla components and extensions.

2. JcontentSubscription

This another fantastic Joomla component created for subscription based web sites. If you are selling an informational product, this is the component for you. You can create subscriptions for individual users, any category or article, and for any section of any other component in use! That includes forums, web links, image galleries, bookmarks and files. It also comes with the ability to create different subscription types with different price structures. This component is also free!

3. eBay Flash Seller

This is an auction component that is compatible with Joomla 1.5. It can be used on unlimited domains because it is completely free. If you are an eBay seller you can easily display your auctions from your Joomla web site. This is a handy little component that will allow you to build different modules to show different auction listings on each page.

4. PayPal Sales Button

This is a very simple Joomla plug-in. It is compatible with Joomla 1.5. This nifty button allows you to sell one item or multiple items from any page. No complicated configuring is needed for this easy to use button. You can begin selling right away.

5. Donation Thermometer

This is a Joomla module that will assist with fund raising. It will display a red thermometer that will show a dollar amount increase with each donation given.

If you have chosen to use Joomla for your web site, I am sure you are beginning to fully understand what this software package is capable of. Aside from these E-commerce extensions; there are many different types of add-ons that will ensure that you can accomplish anything with your site.

Joomla! is a great CMS that is used worldwide. For this reason, hackers often try to find a way to hack a Joomla! website. Here are 7 tips to optimise Joomla! security, preventing your Joomla! website getting hacked.

Always remember to make a regular backup of your website & database. If you still get hacked, you can always get back to an older version of your website. Make sure you find out which extension caused the vulnerability and un-install it.

More so, check the Joomla! website, and UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE.

Change the default database prefix (jos_)

Most SQL injections that are written to hack a Joomla! website, try to retrieve data from the jos_users table. This way, they can retrieve the username and password from the super administrator of the website. Changing the default prefix into something random, will prevent (most / all) SQL injections.

You can set the database prefix when installing your Joomla! website. If you’ve already installed Joomla! and want to change your prefix, do the following:

1. Log on to your Joomla! back-end.
2. Go to your global configuration and search for the database
3. Change your database prefix (Example: fdasqw_) and press Save.
4. Go to phpMyAdmin to access your database.
5. Go to export, leave all default values and press Start. Exporting the database can take a while.
6. When done, select all code and copy it to notepad (or any other text editor)
7. In phpMyAdmin, select all tables and delete them
8. In notepad, do a Search & replace (Ctrl + H). Set the searchterm to jos_ and change it into your new prefix (Example: fdasqw_). Press “Replace all”.
9. Select everything in your notepad file and copy it. In phpMyAdmin, go to SQL, paste the queries and press Start.

Remove the version number / name of extensions

Most vulnerabilities only occur in a specific release of a specific extension. Showing MyExtension version 2.14 is a really bad thing. You can modify this message to only the name of the extension by doing the following:

1. Retrieve all files of the extension from your server.
2. Open up Dreamweaver.
3. Load any file from the extension that you just downloaded to your local machine.
4. Use the Search function and set the search to Search through specified folder. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the exploit to.
5. Set the search term to “MyExtension version 2.14” and press OK.
6. When found the correct file, remove the version number.
7. Upload the changed file to your server and check if the changes are made.

Use a SEF component

Most hackers use the Google inurl: command to search for a vulnerable exploit. Use Artio, SH404SEF or another SEF component to re-write your URL’s and prevent hackers from finding the exploits.

Additionally, you’ll get a higher rank in Google when using search engine friendly URL’s.

Keep Joomla! and extensions up to date

This one is pretty obvious. Always check for the latest versions of Joomla! and the extensions you’re using. Many vulnerabilities are resolved most of the times in later versions.

Use the correct CHMOD for each folder and file

Setting files or folders to a CHMOD of 777 or 707 is only necessary when a script needs to write to that file or directory. All other files should have the following configuration:

• PHP files: 644
• Config files: 666
• Other folders: 755

Delete leftover files

When you installed an extension that you didn’t like, don’t set the extension to unbublished. If you do, the vulnerable files will still be on your website. So simply use the un-install function to totally get rid of the extension.

Change your .htaccess file

Add the following lines to your .htaccess file to block out some common exploits.

########## Begin - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits
#
# Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|%3D) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*(.*) [OR]
# Block out any script that includes a < script> tag in URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C).*script.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
# Block out any script that tries to set CONFIG_EXT (com_extcal2 issue)
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} CONFIG_EXT([|%20|%5B).*= [NC,OR]
# Block out any script that tries to set sbp or sb_authorname via URL (simpleboard)
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} sbp(=|%20|%3D) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} sb_authorname(=|%20|%3D)
# Send all blocked request to homepage with 403 Forbidden error!
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [F,L]
#
########## End - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits

For more Joomla! security tips, you can read the following:

• Joomla Administrators Security Checklist
• Visit the Joomla! security forums (1.0 and 1.5)

Keep an eye on websites listing Joomla! vulnerabilities:

• Secunia
• FrSIRT
• Milw0rm

If you have more tips to enhance the security of Joomla!, we would really like to hear from you.