Hey, Say you pay someone to fix something on your WordPress or your CMS or your CPanel (or whatever). I refuse to give up my password for obvious security reasons, but this slows down the process a lot if the person for hire has to pass everything through me. So I'm wondering, what do you do in this kind of situation? Is there any way to setup a secondary, temporary password that can be overridden by an Admin (i.e. me) for this sort of thing? Thanks for your help Chris
I always change my cpanel / ftp password then give them access. When the job is done I change it back. Theres always a risk when giving someone your password to your server but if you dont want the hassel then that is what you must do. Personally I wouldnt work on someones site if I didnt have access.
Giving your password to someone working on your site is always a concern, but as aaron_nimocks said, you can and should change it after the work is done.
It really pays to have someone you trust explicitely. Server tweaks can be handled remotely. I even take my hardware to my guru.
Well I would definitely do that, but my main concern is about the risk that the person for hire could change my password making it impossible for me to login.
Sorry my thought process was not clear there. What I was meaning anyone in any locality can install files, scripts, etc on your server if you provide him/her with the info regarding how to access; but, when it comes to installing and removing hardware from your personal computer or server the person installing must have physical access to your computer/server. I am truly paranoid about having Tom, Dick, and Harry to have access to my hard drive. I would never grant remote access to my server without having an up to date back up.
I always change it first, or create a new account for them and give them access to do what they need to do. Then again I do most of my own work so I don't have to hire people very often.
it depends on the person you hire for your work, check his reputation, no one wants to spoil their reputation , and yep u can have your site backed up, also change passwords, nothing can happen to it
Business is always based on trust, and you cannot do everthing yourself. Change your password frequently, that's all you've got to do, anyway.
Well for exemple my coder has acces to my hosting account . And i as a freelancer have acces for exemple to an old's client server and even paypal account to handle some payments .... so you see it's posible
Thanks everyone for your replies I guess I'm just really paranoid. If some hacker were to change my password and take down my site, imagine the visitors I'd miss out on in the time I was trying to get it back. So if someone has no record of their reputation (like iTrader, for example) do you still give out your password?
Yes. Always check the person reputation. If you find the person in a freelance website, make sure that the person has a good feedback. Also, make sure you DO pay the person for his service. Usually, if a programmer screws up your website in revenge, it is because he has not been paid. He would not do this otherwise as he would be keen to keep a good relationship going to get your future projects.
It's never good to give away your password. I'd prefer to be safe even if everything has to pass through me and the process is slower