You're probably familiar with the phrase, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. " If you've ever been victimized by pesky, covert computer predators, called hackers, no doubt you can attest to that.

You might wonder why a hacker might want to break into your computer system without your permission. Well, there are a number of reasons, dark web  which might include getting access to stored data, the mere challenge of breaking and entering or simply because they know they can. Once inside they can wreak havoc by defacing your website, stealing credit card or other confidential information.

Having your computer system compromised can have a devastating impact on your company's reputation, as we saw with the major hack recently experienced by Target, the discount store, where 40 million credit and debit card accounts were stolen.

Regardless of whether you store classified information on your website or not, once hacked, restoring your computer system to its original state can be an arduous task that you'll want to try avoiding at all cost. Here are 7 steps to safeguard your website from being hacked:

Monitor your website. Check your website daily as hackers have a tendency to deface your site or re-direct the URL to a pornographic or other questionable site. Google Webmaster Tools (GWMT) can also detect if your website has been compromised by sending you a message with detailed information such as samples of harmful Urls.

Change passwords often. Website owners often make it very easy for hackers to break into their sites because their password and usernames are weak and easily accessible. It is critical that you assign strong passwords to your server login, website login and email accounts. Be sure to instill good password practices to all users of their accounts.

Back up your website regularly. Make it a practice to back up your website once a week or more often when updates are made. There are some free and fee-based plugins available such as Ready! Backup, Draft Plus and Backup Buddy for WordPress site.

Keep software updated. It might seem obvious but it bears repeating... if you access a content management system (CMS) from your computer, an anti-virus protection software is a must or you put system at risk. Hackers are quick to attempt to abuse cracks found in computer security software.

Limit login attempts. Hackers use millions of login combinations to break into your website. By installing login safeguard measures you can stop hackers in their tracks... or at least, make it very difficult for them to force their way into your website. WordPress users can installed the plugin, Limit Login Attempts, which keeps banning an IP address after a certain number of failed login attempts.

Use a security certificate. It is a good idea to use a SSL protocol to provide security over the internet when you are passing information between the web server and website. If the communication channel isn't secure hackers could detect and capture this data to gain access to user accounts and personal data.