Keeping Your Sex Blog Safe – Securing Your WordPress Blog Part 1

If you use WordPress and host it yourself you may be aware that there are from time to time security issues with the WordPress software. As these are identified the WordPress team fixes them and releases a new version of the code. It’s all too easy to let your WordPress version slip behind but if you do you become vulnerable to attack by hackers.

If you have a blog hosted on wordpress.com – i.e. with a url like mysexblog.wordpress.com then you don’t have to worry – WordPress look after all of the updating for you. However if like us you pay for your blog to be hosted on a server with its own domain name etc read on …

DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in good faith and without warranty of any kind. I cannot be responsible for any detrimental effects any of these changes may have on your site/blog/domain because all server, WordPress and domain setups are different. If you are unsure as to what you are doing, don’t go any further, STOP! And ask an expert – e.g. tame techy or your hosting provider’s helpdesk. Furthermore if you do decide to make some or all of the changes to your WordPress blog/server then DO A COMPLETE BACKUP FIRST! Only when you are sure you have a copy of your site’s files and data should you continue. Finally, making these changes will not guarantee that you are 100% safe against hackers, nothing can do that. Keep an eye on your site, take very regular backups and keep your software up to date.

1. BACKUP ALL OF YOUR FILES AND DATABASES
2. Have you backed up?
3. Are you sure?
4. OK, carry on …
5. If at any point you don’t understand exactly what you are about to do, STOP!
6. Update your WordPress version to the latest available. Today 5th December 2011 that is 3.0.4. All recent versions allow you to do this from the Dashboard, check any plugins you have are compatible with 3.0.4 – if not you’ll need to get disable them, upgrade WordPress, then upgrade them in the next step.
7. Delete any plugins you do not use, via the Dashboard.
8. Upgrade all the plugins that are in use.
9. Consider your templates, delete any you do not use. Some templates do all sorts of clever tricks, the code they use can be less than secure if they are not from a competent developer.
10. Now that you have only the useful templates installed, upgrade them. WARNING: if you have customised the template’s .PHP files you will have to make a note of those vhanges and re-apply them to the new version of the template after upgrade.

I don’t normally do public service announcement type posts but this is quite important so I thought I’d let everyone know about this. I’ve carried out the above changes on a number of blogs already without any problems but as I mentioned in the disclaimer I can’t guarantee it will work in all cases or that what’s regarded as safe today will be safe and secure tomorrow.

More to follow shortly