WordCamp Mid-Atlantic WordPress Security

Props @tweetsfromchris

Who Am I? Brad Williams Co-Founder of WebDevStudios.com Organizer NJ/Philly WordPress Meetup Co-Host SitePoint Podcast Co-Author of Professional WordPress (http://bit.ly/pro-wp)

The Goal of this Presentation…

The Goal of this Presentation… …Is to scare the crap out of you!

The Goal of this Presentation… …and then make everything better with the best security tips!

Topics  Example WordPress Hacks  Securing Your WordPress Website  How to Clean Up a Hacked Site  Hosting Considerations  Recommended Plugins

Who Do Hackers Target?

Who Do Hackers Target? YOU

Who Is Safe?

Who Is Safe? NO ONE

Scared Yet?

Example Hacker bot finds a security hole on your website WordPress

Example Hacker bot hides a file in your WordPress installation WordPress Akismet.cache.php is NOT an Akismet file

Example Hacker bot can now trigger this file/code remotely WordPress Hacker Bot

Example Common Hacker bot script jobs • Add spam content and links to your websites theme files • Create posts and pages with spam content and links • Delete posts/pages/settings wreaking havoc on your site • etc, etc, bad stuff, etc, etc WordPress Hacker Bot

CSS Hides the Spam <b style=“display:none”>Any text you want to hide</b>

Hidden Spam Links

Only Noobs Get Hacked

WRONG! Only Noobs Get Hacked

Scobleizer.com: HACKED

Pearsonified.com: HACKED

FeaturedContentGallery.com: HACKED

Make it Stop!

Palette Cleanser

Securing WordPress

Don‟t use the admin account If you are using the admin account you are wrong! Either change the username in MySQL: UPDATE wp_users SET user_login='newuser' WHERE user_login='admin'; Or create a new/unique account with administrator privileges. 1. Create a new account. Make the username very unique 2. Assign account to Administrator role 3. Log out and log back in with new account 4. Delete admin account Make it hard on the hacker! If they already know your username that‟s half the battle

Don‟t use the admin account WordPress 3.0 lets you set the administrator username during the installation process!

The Great Permission Debate What folder permissions should you use? Good Rule of Thumb: • Files should be set to 644 • Folders should be set to 755 Start with the default settings above If your host requires 777…SWITCH HOSTS! Permission levels vary depending on server configuration

The Great Permission Debate Permissions can be set via FTP Or via SSH with the following commands find [your path here] -type d -exec chmod 755 {} ; find [your path here] -type f -exec chmod 644 {} ;

Move the wp-config.php file WordPress 2.6 added the ability to move the wp-config.php file one directory above your WordPress root If WordPress is located here: public_html/wordpress/wp-config.php You can move your wp-config.php file to here public_html/wp-config.php WordPress automatically checks the parent directory if a wp-config.php file is not found in your root directory This makes it nearly impossible for anyone to access your wp-config.php file as it now resides outside of your website‟s root directory

Move the wp-content Directory WordPress 2.6 added the ability to move the wp-content directory 1. Move your wp-content directory 2. Make two additions to wp-config.php define( 'WP_CONTENT_DIR', $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/blog/wp-content' ); define( 'WP_CONTENT_URL', 'http://domain.com/blog/wp-content'); If you have compatibility issues with plugins there are two optional settings define( 'WP_PLUGIN_DIR', $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/blog/wp-content/plugins' ); define( 'WP_PLUGIN_URL', 'http://domain.com/blog/wp-content/plugins'); If hackers can‟t find your wp-content folder, they can‟t hack it!

Stay Current on Updates Keep WordPress core, plugins, and theme files up to date Recent WordPress hack only affected outdated WordPress installs The plugin Changelog tab makes it very easy to view what has changed in a new plugin version

Use Secure Passwords Use strong passwords to protect your website from dictionary attacks Not just for WordPress, but also FTP, MySQL, etc BAD PASSWORD: bradrocks GOOD PASSWORD: S-gnop2D[6@8 WordPress will tell you when you have it right Great resource: toughpassword.com Creates random passwords

Use Secret Keys A secret key is a hashing salt which makes your site harder to hack by adding random elements to the password. 1. Edit wp-config.php 2. Visit this URL to get your secret keys: https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt BEFORE define('AUTH_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('LOGGED_IN_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('NONCE_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('AUTH_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('SECURE_AUTH_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('LOGGED_IN_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); define('NONCE_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here'); AFTER define('AUTH_KEY', '*8`:Balq!`,-j.JTl~sP%&>@ON,t(}S6)IG|nG1JIfY(,y=][-3$!N6be]-af|BD'); define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY', 'q+i-|3S~d?];6$[$!ZOXbw6c]0 !k/,UxOod>fqV!sWCkvBihF2#hI=CDt_}WaH1'); define('LOGGED_IN_KEY', 'D/QoRf{=&OC=CrT/^Zq}M9MPT&49^O}G+m2L{ItpX_jh(-I&-?pkeC_SaF0nw;m+'); define('NONCE_KEY', 'oJo8C&sc+ C7Yc,W1v o5}.FR,Zk!J<]vaCa%2D9nj8otj5z8UnJ_q.Q!hgpQ*-H'); define('AUTH_SALT', 'r>O/;U|xg~I5v.u(Nq+JMfYHk.*[p8!baAsb1DKa8.0}q/@V5snU1hV2eR!|whmt'); define('SECURE_AUTH_SALT', '3s1|cIj d7y<?]Z1n# i1^FQ *L(Kax)Y%r(mp[DUX.1a3!jv(;P_H6Q7|y.!7|-'); define('LOGGED_IN_SALT', '`@>+QdZhD!|AKk09*mr~-F]/F39Sxjl31FX8uw+wxUYI;U{NWx|y|+bKJ*4`uF`*'); define('NONCE_SALT', 'O+#iqcPw#]O4TcC%Kz_DAf:mK!Zy@Zt*Kmm^C25U|T!|?ldOf/l1TZ6Tw$9y[M/6'); You can add/change secret keys at anytime. This will invalidate all existing cookies and require your users to login again

Change WordPress Table Prefix 1. Edit wp-config.php before installing WordPress 2. Change the prefix wp_ to something unique: /** * WordPress Database Table prefix. * * You can have multiple installations in one database if you give each a unique * prefix. Only numbers, letters, and underscores please! */ $table_prefix = „wtf_'; All database tables will now have a unique prefix (ie wtf_posts)

Force SSL Login and Admin Access Set the below option in wp-config.php to force SSL (https) on login define('FORCE_SSL_LOGIN', true); Set the below option in wp-config.php to force SSL (https) on all admin pages define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true);

.htaccess lockdown 1. Create a .htaccess file in your wp-admin directory 2. Add the following lines of code: AuthUserFile /dev/null AuthGroupFile /dev/null AuthName "Access Control" AuthType Basic order deny,allow deny from all #IP address to Whitelist allow from 67.123.83.59 allow from 123.123.123.123 Only a user with the IP 67.123.83.59 or 123.123.123.123 can access wp-admin

Hosting Considerations

You Get What You Pay For

Shared Hosting Shared Hosting Server Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website

Shared Hosting What‟s wrong with that guy? Shared Hosting Server Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website

Shared Hosting Oh frack! Shared Hosting Server Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website

Shared Hosting braaaaains Shared Hosting Server Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website Website

#protip

Invest In Your Website Go VPS or Dedicated

Clean Up a Hacked Site

Step 1: Delete Everything and Start Over!

Step 1: Do a Fresh Install of WordPress • Delete, don‟t overwrite, all original WordPress files • Upload fresh copies of all WordPress core files Be sure to backup your theme, plugins, media, etc

Step 2: Re-install All Plugins • Install fresh copies of all WP plugins need • DON‟T use the same plugin files from the hacked site

Step 3: Re-install Your Theme • If possible install a fresh copy of your theme • If using the old theme be sure to inspect every file for hack code

Step 4: Change all Passwords and Keys • Change your passwords: WordPress, FTP, MySQL • Verify the hacker didn‟t create another user, if so delete it • Update your secret keys in wp-config.php (as shown earlier)

Step 5: Scan Database for Malicious Code • Look for common hack keywords: • eval, base64, strrev, iframe, noscript, display • Use WordPress Exploit Scanner plugin (discussed later) Example SQL: SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%eval%'

Step 6: Verify folder/file permissions • Check all folder and file permissions are correct • Reset to 755 on folders and 644 on files if needed

Step 7: Pray

Recommended Security Plugins

WP Security Scan http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-security-scan/

ServerBuddy http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/serverbuddy-by-pluginbuddy/

WordPress Exploit Scanner http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/exploit-scanner/

WordPress File Monitor http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-file-monitor/

Login Lockdown http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/login-lockdown/

WordPress Security Resources  Security Related Codex Articles › http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress › http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions › http://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php › http://codex.wordpress.org/htaccess_for_subdirectories  Blog Security Articles › http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/11-vital-tips-and-hacks-to-protect-your- wordpress-admin-area/ › http://www.growmap.com/wordpress-exploits/ › http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/firewalling-and-hack-proofing-your-wordpress- blog/ › http://semlabs.co.uk/journal/how-to-stop-your-wordpress-blog-getting-hacked/ › http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/18-useful-plugins-and-hacks-to-protect-your-wordpress- blog/ › http://www.catswhocode.com/blog/10-easy-ways-to-secure-your-wordpress-blog  Clean A Hacked Site › http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked › http://ottodestruct.com/blog/2009/hacked-wordpress-backdoors/ › http://ocaoimh.ie/did-your-wordpress-site-get-hacked/ › http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked- wordpress-installation/ › http://blog.sucuri.net/2010/02/removing-malware-from-wordpress-blog.html

Contact Brad Williams brad@webdevstudios.com Blog: strangework.com Twitter: @williamsba IRC: WDS-Brad http://www.slideshare.net/williamsba

Tweet: @williamsba WordPress Security Rocks! #wcma Win a copy of Professional WordPress!

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WordCamp Mid-Atlantic WordPress Security

by Brad Williams

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WordCamp Mid-Atlantic WordPress Security Presentation Transcript