Don't Let Hackers Temper With Your Blog!
If you have a WordPress Blog, it’s very important to keep it safe and secure at all times, to avoid hackers tempering with it.
You want to make sure that your blog is always upgraded to the latest version of WordPress. This will ensure that your blog is safe and secure and stays that way until the new version comes up.
If your blog is tempered with, hackers will likely direct it to inappropriate websites and do whatever they want with it.
Now, having your blog compromised will require you to rebuild it from scratch, yes ALL your content and rebuilding your relationship with the search engines – not fun! :-( You definitely don’t want that to happen after all your hard work!
Let’s see how you can prevent that from happening to you.
It’s important to remember that some of the WordPess plugins that you have installed, will need to be updated every 3 months. And these include:
* Aksimet *
* All in One SEO Pack *
* Contact Form 7 *
* Google XML SiteMap Generator *
* NextGen *
* ShareThis *
Here’s what you need to do:
IMPORTANT: Before you upgrade to the latest version of WordPress or update the existing plugins, you MUST back your blog. Otherwise you run the risk of losing your entire blog – your whole creation!
1) Double-check that your blog is successfully backed up. You can also set this up to update daily, weekly and so on. Updating daily is the best option.
2) Go to your WordPress Dashboard admin and at the top, you’ll see “WordPress 3.0.1 is available! Please update now.” – This is the newest version.
3) Click on “Please Update Now” and follow the instructions given by WordPress.
4) To update your plugins, go to YourDomain.com/wp-admin/plugins.php (replacing “YourDomain.com“ with your actual blog URL.
5) You will then see a list of the specific plugins that you need to update.
6) After your update your plugins, mark on the calendar to check for updates every 3 months, using your Dashboard and the plugins link given in Step 4.
That’s it. These few updates will keep your blog safe and secure.
Now make sure you get this done straight away, unless you are prepared to lose everything you have worked hard to build!
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To Your Blog Security,
Professional Internet Marketer
Certified Marketing Consultant
Mavis Nong is the creator and author of this blog.
She is passionate about helping others create success online.
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
I look forward to reading the blog and learning more about attraction marketing for my international business. Dr. Troy
Hello Mavis
Yes, it is very important to backup your blog and ensure that WordPressa and all plugins are up to date.
I automatically backup my blog daily and a copy is sent to my email.
I also use a login name different from “admin” and my password is reasonably good.
I also have a plugin called “Login Lockdown” that will freeze out someone after so many failed login attempts.
But in the end your best protection is to have a daily backup.
Great points Mavis!
I have a history of working in the information security field, so it makes me smile when I see people addressing security.
You are absolutely correct. Typically, hackers will use the fact that your software is not up-to-date to get into your site and do something malicious. The sad part is I have seen it happen way too many times because it is typically something people just don't pay attention to.
So, from a security person, thank you for passing on this information to others. It will help save them a bunch of headaches if they follow it.
~ Michael Novak
Hi Dr Troy,
Welcome to my blog!
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
I'm sure you'll find great tips here
All the best,
Mavis
Hi Peter,
I also backup mine daily. It's the best way really.
Login Lockdown plugin sounds good – thanks for sharing.
I appreciate your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Hey Mavis,
I discovered WP-DB backup a while ago. It is so easy to use. I have never heard of login lockdown, but will take a look.
All the sites that were hacked recently, did not upgrade version 3.0, and as Peter said a lot were still using Admin as there user name. Safety first.
Thanks for putting it out there.
Neil
Hi Mavis,
thanks for sharing these important pieces of advice. Without your post, I wouldn't have been able to take some of these plugins into consideration. Great job !
Have a blessed weekend and take care
Oliver
Hi Mavis,
Very interesting! One question … I get regular notifications that I need to update certain plugins. Isn't that enough or do I still need to do update them every 3 months?
Great topic!
Ilka
Hi Mavis,
Thank you for the great tips. I wasn't aware that I needed to update my plugins every three months! I'll be backing up my blog today also! Thanks for this essential information!!!
Heather
Hi Mavis,
Great points as that's the last thing everyone wants, is a blog that is hacked and lost everything.
Backups are key, not only for this reason but for others as well.
Have a great weekend,
Jerome Ratliff
HI Mavis, great post. Really helpful
Haven't come over to the darkside and joined the wordpress community yet! I like the hacker pic tells the story well!!
Cheers Kiaran
Hi Mavis,
Very valuable tips again – sometimes we are all moving forward so quickly we forget about protecting what we have created – there are some unscrupulous marketers out there.
Thanks again
Mike
Hey Mavis,
These are great plugins to have. Don't forget to have a plugin to do backups. This is so important.
Have a great weekend…
Josh
Great Information Mavis! I would like to know where to go to back it up?
Look forward to hearing from you!
Jacklin
Thanks for that handy info Mavis,
I had thought about backing up my articles, but never about security. It's a good idea!
Like Kiaran I think you've picked a great picture for this post!
Cheers,
Jym
Mavis, excellent post, I am actually going to do it just like you wrote it out, then I will connect on BN – I am a member as well. Very, very good blog – from another blogger!
Hi Neil,
Yes, WP-DB backup plugin works like a charm!
Thanks for your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
You're welcome, Oliver.
I'm glad you found this useful.
Have a great weekend too!
All the best,
Mavis
Hi Ilka,
As long as you updating them regularly then you're good.
Thanks for the visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
You're welcome, Heather.
I'm glad you found this helpful.
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Absolutely, Jerome!
I appreciate your visit and comment.
Have a great weekend too!
All the best,
Mavis
I'm glad you found this helpful, Ghyslain.
Thanks for the visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Look forward to you joining us, Kiaran!
I appreciate your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
You're welcome Mike.
Thanks for the visit and input.
All the best,
Mavis
Thanks, Josh.
Yes, the WordPress Database Backup plugin is excellent.
I appreciate your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Hi Jacklin,
Welcome to my blog!
Here's where to go: http://www.attractionmarketingonline.com/bloggi…
I appreciate your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
You're welcome, Jym.
I'm glad you found this helpful.
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Hi Al,
Welcome to my blog!
Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you found this helpful.
I appreciate your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
I agree, Michael. People need to pay attention to keeping their blogs safe and secure.
Thanks for the visit and for stressing the importance of information security.
All the best,
Mavis
I know most of us think that it will never happen to us, but it does happen, so why not us?
Thanks for bringing up this very important issue, Mavis.
I know some people prefer not to ever upgrade to new versions of anything (“why fix something that is not broken?”); however your post should make the answer very clear.
Ana Hoffman
Yes, it does happen, Ana.
Upgrading to new versions is required for security reasons among other things.
I appreciate your visit and input.
All the best,
Mavis
Hi Mavis,
Essential information and well covered by yourself on this post. I do all as you say. The biggest tip I can stress is that people back their blogs up daily. I have had to use mine more than once although not as a result of being hacked into.
~Mavis
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Thanks for the thumbs up, Marcus!
Daily backup is extremely important. I used to do it weekly, then realised that was not good enough.
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Hey Mavis
I find it weird that people don’t secure (as best they can) and back up their blogs.
I know of 7 people who have had their blog “tampered with”. The first question I asked was if they had backed it up. ALL said no. Crazy.
Great advise here.
Dwayne
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Hi Dwayne,
Welcome to my blog!
Yes, it really is strange that people don’t take this seriously until something bad happens.
I appreciate your visit and input.
All the best,
Mavis
Hey Mavis,
I’m backing up on a daily basis too and I have most of these plugins, except NextGen – what does that one do?
Thanks for the tips!
Ileane invites you to check..Power Twitter User In The Making
Hi Ileane,
Backing up daily is the best option.
NextGEN Gallery is for handling multiple photos, galleries, albums, slideshows and the like.
I appreciate your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Nice to know I have 5/6 of your recommendations Mavis
I will look at Contact Form 7 I use Secure Contact Form at the moment. And I agree a Backup is essential. I use the Thesis theme for WordPress and it provides an option to backup your design as well. So double safety I hope.
I had a nasty experience lately where my PC Backup was on a Partition I mistakenly thought was on a 2nd HDD. To my disappointment I lost a drive with all my precious data. Lesson learned the hard way. I now keep a copy of my backed up items on both my PC and my server. Soon to have an Amazon S3 account and might just keep all my data backups there as well.
Glad we connected Mavis, thank you.
Hey Dennis,
Welcome back!
Great to hear that you are taking your blog security very seriously.
It has never happened to me before, but I’m sure losing your data can be disastrous.
I appreciate your visit and comment.
All the best,
Mavis
Yes, backing up your blog is the most important thing. At least with a backup, well, we’re not wishing it but if ever your blog gets hacked you can always start all over again using your backup. So backup, backup, backup. And I like Peter Fuller up there, I also use login lockdown, that is security.
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Great to see you here, Andrew,
Daily backup is the best policy.
Thanks for adding value to the discussion.
All the best,
Mavis
I’d probably add that a good way to reduce the chance of getting hacked is to remove the log in area from your blog’s front, and rename the wp-admin to something unique.
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Hey Richard,
Thanks for that tip – great help.
All the best,
Mavis
Hey Mavis,
Very helpful info. I also use Wp-Malwatch. It scans wordpress nightly or on demand detecting any malware on your blog.
Take Care,
Liz
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Hey Liz! Great to see you here
Thanks for the visit and for sharing that tool.
All the best,
Mavis
This is a really good post. It makes user aware that their are many hackers out their that is doing their dirty deed. This post is really helpful.
Glad you found this helpful, Susan.
Mavis
Thanks for the advice Mavis. I’m new to Wordpress and this is vital information, although I see now updates are automated.
You’re welcome, Thomas.
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