Post on 19-Jun-2015
Security isn't scary, and it’s not rocket science
either.Michele Butcher
!CantSpeakGeek.com WPSecurityLock.com
!@Michele_Butcher
!Slides can be found at http://mlb.pw/k1mbf
Michele Butcher• WordPress Consultant, Site
Cleaner, and Trainer for WP Security Lock
• WordPress Manager for Megabytes Inc
• One Woman Wonder at Can’t Speak Geek
@michele_butcher
Why is security important?
@michele_butcher
Every day hackers try to find ways to get your information.
@michele_butcher
Why do hackers hack?• Make bank
• Build a zombie site army
• Share their nasty malware with the world
• Get your information
• They are bored
• They want to see if they can do it@michele_butcher
Why are these people attacking me?
Anymore, it is not people but bots attacking your site. Hackers have programs that do the work for them.
!Rarely is it people doing the hacking unless it is targeted.
Strong opinion sites are a good example.
@michele_butcher
How do they get in?• Guess your login. If you know it so can someone
else. (Brute force attack or man in the middle)
• Denial of Service attack (DDoS) flood your site with more traffic than it can handle
• Through a theme, file or plugin
• Through your FTP or CPanel. (Files set to read, write,execute. Brute force, anonymous login, shared hosting infection)
@michele_butcher
And now for the only thing scary that I am
going to say.
@michele_butcher
You are NEVER 100% secure
@michele_butcher
Even a test site or a knitting site with only 2 visitors can be hacked. It can happen to your
site.@michele_butcher
Don’t let security
make you like this guy.
@michele_butcher
But there are ways to keep the hacker attackers out!
@michele_butcher
WordPress Security Basics
@michele_butcher
Never ever ever use admin as user name or password as password.
Never!
@michele_butcher
ALWAYS change your prefix name from wp_ Let it be anything other
than wp_ fdhsfjkhs_ is always good
I typically do not even look at what I am typing anymore when I make the WP prefix. The random the better.
@michele_butcher
If you do have to let others into your dashboard or FTP…• Use SFTP Always!
• Only give them access to what they NEED not what they want
• If it is only a temporary login, delete their login when they have completed their job.
• Set up a file change detection notification to know what they are changing in your site.
@michele_butcher
What about security plugins?
@michele_butcher
iThemes Security
Great all encompassing best practices WordPress security plugin.
Two versions a free and a premium. !
http://ithemes.com/security
@michele_butcher
Brute ProtectIf you are mainly worried about DDoS attacks, Brute
Protect has you covered. !
http://bruteprotect.com
@michele_butcher
Who can scan my site for malware?
Google Webmaster Tools http://google.com/webmaster !
VirusTotal https://virustotal.com !
iThemes Security Pro htttp://ithemes.com/security
@michele_butcher
Need an extra eye on your site?
CloudFlare has a free and premium version. http://cloudflare.com
@michele_butcher
Update! Update! Update!
Update core, update plugins, update themes, update content, update everything
and update often! !
The biggest source of nearly all hacks as once something is patched, it is trivial to get
into the old stuff.@michele_butcher
Have a minimalist approach to plugins and themes.
• Only have the plugins you are using at that time on your site. You can always upload them again later.
• Only have your theme you are using on your site.
• If something is not active, delete it.
@michele_butcher
Back up your site! !
Somewhere, anywhere, just have a backup copy.
BackupBuddy from iThemes is a great choice. iThemes Security will do a database backup for you.
!
http://ithemes.com/backupbuddy
@michele_butcher
Always back up to someplace OTHER than your server. If the
server gets hacked, so does your backup.
@michele_butcher
Don’t let your site get lonely.
Lonely sites can turn into zombie sites and nobody wants a zombie
@michele_butcher
If your website get hacked it is not the end of the world.
!
It can and will be fixed.@michele_butcher
Who cleans hacked websites?
Well I do over at WP Security Lock ~Smile~ !
http://wpsecuritylock.com
I apologize… had to do one shameful plug.
@michele_butcher
What are other ways I can be more secure?
@michele_butcher
ALWAYS use complex passwords. ALWAYS!
For everything!
“password” is never a good password!
@michele_butcher
Never email passwords to anyone. Including yourself.
!
Use a different password for each and every thing you log into.
!
Use something like LastPass or 1Password to share passwords
with others.@michele_butcher
If the login has a Two-Factor authentication,
use it!
@michele_butcher
Anti-virus Protect your unit!
Yes I even have an anti-virus on my Mac!
AVG and Avast have free versions as well as paid. Kaspersky is great with Windows and Macs.
@michele_butcher
Be conscious when using public WiFi.
@michele_butcher
Use a VPN when connecting out in the wild.
torguard.com
@michele_butcher
Update! Update! Update!
Let me say this again
Back up everything and back it up often.
If you fear you might lose information, save it in more than one
spot. Bitcasa, Carbonite, and external hard drives are great options of backing up data.
@michele_butcher
Questions?
@michele_butcher
Thank you for attending!Slides can be found at http://mlb.pw/k1mbf
Michele Butcher @michele_butcher
http://wpsecuritylock.com http://cantspeakgeek.com