How Secure is Your Blog?
Written by Deb Dorchak - March 16, 2010 2 Comments
Blog security is a little like buying insurance; you don’t think about it until it’s too late and you don’t have it. Nothing’s worse than going to your site and finding…nothing. It’s happened to me and just about everyone else I know at one time or another. Sooner or later, your site is going to get hacked.
When John Hoff of WordPress Blog Host told me he was writing a book about blog security I couldn’t wait to see what he had to say. John knows his stuff. I’ve gone to him a few times in the past for fixes. What I like about his book WordPress Defender: 30 Ways to Secure Your Blog from Attack Anyone Can Do is it’s easy to follow and written in an easy to follow language that doesn’t require a degree in programming.
The book also includes clear screen shots and a set of DVDs with videos. Whether you’re a person who likes to read instructions or watch a video demo, John has provided an easy way to follow along.
30 Ways
Yes. Thirty.
WordPress Defender takes you beyond the common sense fixes like making regular back ups of your site, limiting the amount of plugins you use or getting rid of ones you don’t use anymore, monitoring any unauthorized changes to your site, and staying current with your upgrades.
John teaches you how to restrict sensitive directories, how to configure or hide certain configuration files, and most importantly – what to do if you’ve already been hacked.
Don’t Take Your Security for Granted
You’ve already invested a lot of time and money into your blog. Now it’s time to invest just a little bit more. Nothing can ever be 100% hack-proof, but at least you can take steps to make it more difficult for hackers to get in. Don’t think it could never happen to you. Do yourself and your blog a favor, pick up WordPress Defender, you’ll be glad you did.
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Read the Comments
2 Outstanding Responses to "How Secure is Your Blog?"
maquis on March 16, 2010 at 10:00 am | Permalink
A couple related notes:
Your blog is only as secure as the computer it lives on. If you run your blog off of your own server (or any server you have control over), be very cautious about what other software you have running on it. Make sure that the Operating System gets all of it’s necessary updates (and check this every month or two). Find some online password / dictionary lists and ensure that your password isn’t in any of those (both for connecting into the blog and for connecting into the machine itself). Make sure when you set your blog software up, you don’t use a default username and password for it to connect to the database. If you are running from a windows machine, make sure that you keep the computer clean from viruses and malware.
~Maquis
John Hoff on March 16, 2010 at 3:34 pm | Permalink
@Deb – Hey thanks for the review. I really appreciate it and I’m glad you liked the book. One thing some people might like to know is that you are the one responsible for helping me brand and characterize WordPress Defender (as well as create some of the images).
I gave you a concept, you brought it to life. Thank you.
@Maquis – Those are some good tips. Also, if you’re running a web server from home, make sure you have Mod Security installed. It’s important to keep your computer firewalled from attacks.
And strong passwords which are not found in dictionaries is another great tip. Just to add to that, there is one problem with the WordPress login page… it’s not encrypted. It’s important that the strong password you created cannot be intercepted and seen in plain view.