Book Image

WordPress 3 Ultimate Security

Book Image

WordPress 3 Ultimate Security

Overview of this book

Most likely – today – some hacker tried to crack your WordPress site, its data and content – maybe once but, with automated tools, very likely dozens or hundreds of times. There's no silver bullet but if you want to cut the odds of a successful attack from practically inevitable to practically zero, read this book. WordPress 3 Ultimate Security shows you how to hack your site before someone else does. You'll uncover its weaknesses before sealing them off, securing your content and your day-to-day local-to-remote editorial process. This is more than some "10 Tips ..." guide. It's ultimate protection – because that's what you need. Survey your network, using the insight from this book to scan for and seal the holes before galvanizing the network with a rack of cool tools. Solid! The WordPress platform is only as safe as the weakest network link, administrator discipline, and your security knowledge. We'll cover the bases, underpinning your working process from any location, containing content, locking down the platform, your web files, the database, and the server. With that done, your ongoing security is infinitely more manageable. Covering deep-set security yet enjoyable to read, WordPress 3 Ultimate Security will multiply your understanding and fortify your site.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
WordPress 3 Ultimate Security
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Neutering the admin account


It's a good idea to understand the power structure of the WordPress roles and capabilities and we'll address this but, first, let's interrogate the admin user.

Before WordPress 3, when you installed the platform, a primary admin account was created by default. WordPress 3 shook things up and new installations now allow the installer to specify the initial username:

Updates from previous versions, however, retain old accounts, including admin.

The problem with admin

The problem with the admin account is that hackers know that it very likely exists, together with its sweeping powers. They also know people often don't change default settings. So ... their brute force bots merrily do the WordPress rounds trying to chance a login where the user is admin. To put it another way, if you use the admin account you are halfway to becoming a victim of a potentially successful brute force attack.

Deleting admin

If you have a user called admin, do this. In the Dashboard, create another...