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

(D)DoS protection with mod_evasive


mod_evasive snuffs out brute force attacks as well as (D)DoS onslaughts:

Assume root to install it:

sudo aptitude install libapache2-mod-evasive
sudo a2enmod mod-evasive

That enables the tool, restarts Apache, and sets a generic configuration that blocks IPs when a page is requested more than a few times per second, given over 50 simultaneous requests or when the requesting IP is blacklisted. Read the docs and have a tweak.

Note

Do I need (D)DoS protection?

Probably not. If you do receive an unwelcome network traffic spike, then Snort and OSSEC will clue you in as to what's going on. That's the time to enable a module like this, else if you're expecting trouble, but it makes sense to have it readily configured, although disabled, for an emergency situation.

A bit like with the rootkit scenario, DoS or (D)DoS attacks sometimes evade a tool, so it's best to have another in reserve as well: