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EnglishHow does Create a Secure Website approach website security?
Updated
Create a Secure Website treats security as something built into every layer of the site, not a plugin or setting added at the end. The course walks through a fixed stack — a Linux computer, a Debian VPS, the Hestia Control Panel, Joomla, and the Helix Ultimate template — and places a security lesson at each stage, from hardening your own machine to choosing a VPS host and applying "real website security tips" during site setup. It is aimed at people whose sites have already been hacked, first-time builders, and anyone helping others build safer sites.
The stack the course builds on
The course description names four tools, and the lesson list shows how they fit together:
| Layer | Tool | Security role in the course |
|---|---|---|
| Local machine | Linux (including a live USB "computer on a stick") | A hardened daily computer, plus a safe way to work on sites |
| Server | Debian VPS | A host you choose and configure yourself |
| Control panel | Hestia Control Panel | Installs and manages the Joomla site on the VPS |
| Site builder | Joomla | The CMS that runs the website |
| Template | Helix Ultimate | Controls the site's appearance |
All of these are described as free open source web building tools. The course does not present security as a single product; it is the cumulative result of choices made at each layer.
Security lessons by stage
Before the server: the local computer
The first section is about replacing Windows with Linux and creating a secure Linux computer, including a USB-stick version and initial configuration of a Linux laptop. The logic is that the machine you build and administer a site from is part of the site's attack surface, so it gets hardened first.
The server: choosing and setting up the VPS
The second section starts with choosing a secure VPS host, then installing Hestia, using Midnight Commander for file work, and using Hestia to install Joomla. Host selection is treated as a security decision in its own right, not just a price or speed comparison.
During site setup: practical security tips
Within the site setup section, after the Joomla first steps and adding extensions and an editor, the lesson "Real Website Security Tips" applies concrete measures to the live site. This is the point where the earlier infrastructure choices turn into day-to-day site security practice.
Ongoing management
Later sections cover search engine optimization, migrating a cPanel site to Hestia, moving a WordPress or Wix site to Joomla, and updating a Joomla 3 site to Joomla 4. Keeping the CMS current is presented as part of normal site management rather than a separate security topic.
What the approach implies for you
- Security is cumulative. Skipping the local-computer or VPS-host steps removes part of the protection the course is designed to give.
- You administer the stack yourself. Hestia and Joomla are installed and managed by you on your own VPS, so the security outcome depends on following the configuration lessons rather than on a vendor's defaults.
- The course assumes a specific toolchain. If you plan to use a different CMS, panel, or host, the security lessons are tied to this stack and will not map one-to-one.
- It suits recovery as well as first builds. The stated audience includes people whose sites have already been hacked, so the material is written for someone who needs a more defensible way to rebuild.
Where to start
The course is organized as numbered steps on the site, beginning with "Use a Linux Computer" and ending with site management and extra web tips. A reader who only wants the security content can go directly to the VPS host lesson, the Hestia installation lesson, and "Real Website Security Tips," but the course's own sequence treats the earlier steps as prerequisites for those.