6 Ways to Protect Your Blog from being Hacked

6 Ways to Protect Your Blog from being Hacked
written by Guest Blogger on May 14, 2012 on johnchow.com

You know how it feels…you’ve been writing a blog post every day for the past 2 years now, and you recently checked your dashboard to see that you already have over 600 posts; 600 posts that took an average of an hour to write, proofread and edit, format with images, and publish and share.

You’ve also noticed that you have a little over 10,000 comments; that’s at least 10,000 minutes of yours and you readers’ time, cumulated over the span of several years.

The above scenario seems cool, until something really strange happened.

You no longer own the 600 posts, and the 10,000 comments, and any other part of your blog. It would have been good news if you just sold your blog for five figures, but in this case, it was stolen from you; yes, a malicious hacker just got into your website, and is ready to rip it apart. As if the pain isn’t enough, the hacker that hijacked your blog will probably redirect your blog to an illegal website, or turn it into a website filled with adult content.

What Are You to Do in a Situation Like this?

Do you just sit down and fold your hands, and believe this is your fate? Or do you get your blog back? Or let’s reexamine the question:

What if you can prevent that from every happening?

What if you can make sure that thousands of you and your readers’ hours won’t be wasted eventually? A lot of us are sad at every instance of a particular website being hacked, when we are really doing nothing to protect ours. Here are 6 ways to protect, and save yourself in the case that hackers are targeting your website.

1. Have Strong Passwords, and Change them Regularly

The first step you should take to protect your blog from being hacked is to have a password that is very strong. You’ll be surprised at how simple the password some people use is, and they end up complaining when they’re hacked.

Make sure your password doesn’t contain your name, address, or even date of birth. Use something nobody can ever associate with you, and don’t ever talk about your password to anybody. Also make sure you change your password regularly; like every 3-6 months, and you will be able to protect yourself from being trailed by a hacker.

2. Have More than One Admin Account

It could be 3 or more, and it could be only two. It is very important not to have just one admin account. The reason for this is that the first thing an hacker will do once they hack your blog is to change your details, and you can protect yourself by taking control through your other admin account.

Another thing you should realize is that this technique is just as dangerous as it is helpful, so make sure you prepare yourself for this; the more admin accounts you have on your blog, the more routes an hacker can take to get to you. To protect yourself from this, make sure the username and passwords for all your admin accounts are so unique and different, so that it will be difficult for any hacker to take control upon getting to your blog.

3. Install Plugin that Monitors Your Files and Notify You of Changes Immediately

You can also tell your hosting to help you configure your server to notify you in case there is any change in any of your files at any time, or you can look for a plugin that makes this easy.

A lot of little changes happen to our blog every day, but the reality is that some of them shouldn’t be. It is important for you to make sure you don’t come to know about any of these changes lately, so make sure you regularly monitor your sever and wordpress installation for any changes.

4. Scan Every Theme and Plugin You Want to Install

This is especially important if you download your themes and plugins from other websites online, or if you’re using cracked plugins and themes. You never know when a sleazy programmer will put a little code in your theme or plugin, or when that cracked software you’re downloading will be virus infected.

Don‘t just wait to get hacked before you realize this, so make sure you scan every theme and plugin you want to install on a regular basis; scan them with your own antivirus before you install them.

5. Back up Your Blog Regularly

Don’t ever miss a day, because you never know when your blog will be hacked. One thing I have noticed in the hacking world is that, no matter how secure, there is nothing that cannot be hacked. Of course, you can invest time and effort into making your blog very secure, and you can even hire an expert to take care of this aspect. But the reality is, if a group of hackers dedicate their efforts to bring down your blog, it will only last a few hours at best.

The best thing to do in a situation like this is to back up your blog regularly. Have at least 2 plugins/software that backs up your entire blog, and make sure you check regularly to ensure your files are properly backed up.

6. Use Different Passwords for Every Aspect of Your Website

For every webmaster you can have up to 3 different username and passwords for your hosting, and these 3 passwords can make it easy for you to recover your website in the case that you’re hacked.

• The first password is for your hosting account; where you can see tickets, pay for hosting, and change your Cpanel details.
• The second password is for your Cpanel; where you can access various parts of your website and make changes directly to your blog.
• The third password is for your wordpress installation in itself; where you can add new posts, reply to comments, create new accounts, and update your blog directly.

The deadliest mistake any blogger can make is to make all 3 passwords the same, and you can protect yourself to an extent by making these passwords different.

You should also make sure all 3 usernames are different, and try getting your web host to help you change your details from the default one to something more secure.

Paul is a freelance writer and broadband expert that help people find satellite TV providers.

Source: Johnchow.com

Anonymous says attack put CIA website offline

Anonymous says attack put CIA website offline

Hackers have claimed responsibility for making the CIA website inaccessible on Friday - the latest attack on a US federal agency.

Anonymous

A Twitter post on a feed used by hackers' collective Anonymous said "CIA Tango down", a phrase used by the US Special Forces after killing an enemy.

Anonymous said in another tweet that just because it reported a hack, that did not mean it carried out the attack.

This would not be the first time the CIA website has been put offline.

In June 2011, a group affiliated with Anonymous, Lulz Security, temporarily brought down the agency's homepage.

The CIA site remained offline on Friday evening after several hours, and a spokeswoman said the agency was looking into the reports.

Hackers usually target such websites through a denial-of-service attack, which involves bombarding the site with traffic until its servers are overwhelmed.

There is no suggestion that the security of the CIA's actual computer systems have been compromised.

Earlier this month, Anonymous managed to intercept a conference call between the FBI and British police as they discussed legal action against hackers.

And following the shutdown of the Megaupload file-sharing website last month, a statement attributed to Anonymous claimed responsibility for shutting down the websites of the Department of Justice and FBI, among others.


Source: BBC

Acta protests: Thousands take to streets across Europe

Acta protests: Thousands take to streets across Europe
By Dave Lee
Technology Reporter

Marchers in London

Thousands of people have taken part in co-ordinated protests across Europe in opposition to a controversial anti-piracy agreement.

Significant marches were held in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta).

Around 200 protesters gathered in central London outside the offices of several major rights holders.

Demonstrators argued that Acta will limit freedom of speech online.

However the agreement's supporters insist it will not alter existing laws, and will instead provide protection for content creators in the face of increasing levels of online piracy.

The treaty has to date been signed by 22 EU members, including the UK, but has yet to be ratified by the European Parliament. A debate is due to take place in June.

On Friday, Germany delayed signing the agreement in order to, a spokesman said, "give us time to carry out further discussions".

'In secret'
Saturday's London demonstration was supported by the Open Rights Group, a vocal opponent to the treaty. The group's executive director, Jim Killock, argued that Germany's stance shows Acta negotiations were carried out "in secret" by EU "bureaucrats".

Continue reading the main story
What is Acta?

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is an international treaty aiming to standardise copyright protection measures.
It seeks to curb trade of counterfeited physical goods, including copyrighted material online.
Preventative measures include possible imprisonment and fines.
Critics argue that it will stifle freedom of expression on the internet, and it has been likened to the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa).
Acta has been signed by 22 EU members, including the UK, but is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament.
"Three member states in Europe are now looking like they don't want to sign," he told the BBC.

"That shows that politicians are only really starting to look at this now. All of a sudden, the whole thing is breaking down."

Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have already delayed the process after significant pressure from mostly young people.

"The point today is to say Acta is undemocratic," Mr Killock added.

"It's lacked scrutiny, it's setting up dangerous new pressures to censor the internet to remove users and put pressure on [Internet Service Providers] to start policing for copyright."

More demonstrations were held in other UK cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Anonymous hackers
The anti-Acta movement has also been widely adopted by members of the Anonymous activist collective, which has claimed responsibility for putting high-profile government websites out of action, including that of the Polish prime minister.

Speaking at the London protest Loz Kaye, leader of the Pirate Party UK, dismissed worries that aligning closely with Anonymous - whose members carry out various illegal activities online - was harmful to their cause.

"What we've seen is a whole wave of people coming out on the streets right across Europe," he told the BBC.

"Some people have been called extreme, but equally, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières have spoken out. Even The Economist, which is hardly radical, has described the treaty as potentially draconian."

'Greater transparency'
The BBC contacted several key rights holders prior to the demonstration - all of which declined to comment.

The UK's Intellectual Property Office has maintained that Acta "should not" mean new laws relating to internet use.

In a statement, Baroness Wilcox, parliamentary under-secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills, told the BBC: "It was important for the UK to be a signatory of Acta as it will set an international standard for tackling large-scale infringements of [intellectual property rights], through the creation of common enforcement standards and more effective international cooperation.

"During the negotiations, we continually pushed for greater transparency as we believed that this would have led to a better understanding of the agreement by the public."

Source: BBC