WordPress Security is important! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Learn four critical steps to protect your WordPress web site.

1. WordPress Security
Four Steps to Protect Your Website

2. Why Bother?
• Hackers do illegal stuff with your site, and
you may be liable. Phishing, Spam
• Protect your hard-won SEO reputation
• Protect yourself, your customers, and site
visitors

3. 4 Essential Steps
1. Backup
2. Protect / Tweak
3. Monitor
4. Analyze

4. Backups - No excuses
• Use the cPanel backup wizard weekly
• Automate with DBC Backup
• Backup to the cloud with WP S3 Backups
• Schedule depends on amount of content

5. Protect
✓ Ze’s Admin Update Notification
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/zes-admin-update-notification/
✓ Bulletproof Security
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bulletproof-security/
✓ Hash Checker
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/hashchecker/

6. Protect
✓ TAC - Theme Authenticity Checker
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tac/
✓ Limit Login Attempts
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/login-lockdown/
✓ Secure WordPress
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/secure-wordpress/

7. Tweak
• File Permissions and location
• command line: chmod 640 wp-config.php
• Use cPanel File Manager
• put wp-config.php one level above public_html (so it’s not publicly accessible)
• Delete ‘admin’ user, use your own name
• Change table prefix, something other than
wp_
• Use phpMyAdmin in cPanel and this article: http://bit.ly/wp-prefix

8. Monitor
• You can visually inspect your page every
day, but why not automate it?!
• ChangeDetection.com - FREE
• http://site24x7.com/monitor-webpage-
defacement.html

9. Analyze
• Google Analyticator / Google Webmaster
Tools
• http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analyticator/
• Firefox User Agent Tool
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59/
• Safari: Develop Menu, User Agent: use one from http://www.useragentstring.com/
• Check log files for suspicious activity
• cPanel - awstats

10. Sustainable Websites
• Take responsibility for their presence on
the internet, their affect on people, and on
the earth
• Don’t waste energy with spam
• Don’t waste people’s time with spam links
• Don’t install malware on people’s
computers

11. SustainableWebsites.com
• Secured cPanel servers
• Easy backups
• Automatic WordPress installation via
Fantastico
• Automatic notification of out-of-date
scripts
• Energy Efficient, Green Powered

12. Credits & etc
Photos used with permission by Creative Commons License:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Playmobil: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nedrichards/56919158/
Wind turbines: iStockPhoto.com
Thanks WordPress community!
Ross Chapman, Luke Fretwell, Mani Sheriar, Maiya Holliday, more customers
These slides may go out of date but the four steps have less likelihood of doing so. Even
so, following these steps may not guarantee your site against hacking and there is no
implied warrantee to the fitness of the information in this document for your unique
setup. Stay up to date on security via more sources than just this slideshow.
© Sustainable Websites LLC
Creative Commons License
http://SustainableWebsites.com/contact
+1-888-755-8436
93 S Jackson St #58069
Seattle WA 98103