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Video How-to: 10 Tips To Make WordPress Hack-Proof

Video How-to: 10 Tips To Make WordPress Hack-Proof

24 Feb
Olly 'the_guv' Connelly's book cover: WordPress 3 Ultimate Security

UPDATE: June 2011.

Inspired by this popular post, guv’s WordPress 3 Ultimate Security, the first-ever book explaining in detail how to secure the popular blogging and content management platform, has been released. Here’s the detail:-

Having your blog hacked isn’t fun, and the standard WordPress installation is not impermeable. Not only does a hacked blog result in downtime, while you work with your ISP to track the problem and ensure it doesn’t happen again, it can also mean you spend time, for instance, getting your email client resolving properly once more. All in all, valuable time wasted.

Prevention is better than cure. Here are 10 Tips To Make WordPress Hack-Proof.

What You Need

Before You Begin

  • backup your files, using your ftp client
  • backup your database, using wp-phpmyadmin. If you don’t know how to do that, check this out this video tutorial, here at Guvnr.

Video: [cf]videoTitle[/cf]

Watch the, er, guvideo for a better idea of how to do this.

Check out the_guv's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/guvnrDOTcom

...or if you can't be bothered with that, or even if you can, here's the detail...

1. Upgrade WordPress. To the latest version. If you’re using 2.7 or later, this can be done from your admin dashboard, at the click of a button, automatically. Just look for the “upgrade” button. If you’re using an earlier version, read this.

2. Update Plugins. Make sure all are upgraded to their latest versions. If they’re not, you are notified on your plugins admin page. Old versions can present a security risk.

10 Tips To Make WordPress Hack-Proof image

3. Change “wp_” Database Table Prefix. I used to use wp-security-scan, from Semper Fi Web Design but I DO NOT CURRENTLY RECOMMEND IT because it throws errors with WordPress 3+. I cannot find a reliable alternative plugin but here’s a method that works every time (just be careful, don’t do this when you’ve had a beer!):-

  • i. Deactivate all WordPress plugins, as a precaution.
  • ii. Backup the database, as explained in Guvnr’s video tutorial.
  • iii. Open the downloaded *.sql file with a text editor (where * is the name of your database.)
  • iv. Find and replace all instances of your “wp_” prefix with your new prefix.
  • v. Within your WordPress database, drop all the tables. DO NOT DROP THE DATABASE itself, only the tables. wp-phpmyadmin is a great plugin to use.
  • vi. Still within your WordPress database, import your newly-amended *.sql file, the one you edited by changing the prefix. wp-phpmyadmin or similar again.
  • vii. Open and edit your wp-config.php file, in the root blog folder, changing the “$table_prefix = ‘wp_’;” to “$table_prefix = ’yourNewPrefix_’;”.
  • viii. Reactivate your plugins.

4. Delete “Admin” User. Just to make hackers work harder, bin this. Create a new user with administration rights, and give the user a nickname (for public display) that is not the same as the username. Then log out, log back in as the new user, and delete the original “admin” user.

5. Use a Stronger Password. Bit obvious, this one. Mix it up with letters, digits and special characters, upper and lower case. I use RoboForm to remember (and encrypt) my passwords, and that’s free.

6. Hide your WordPress version. From your theme’s folder, open “header.php”, search for the line…

<meta name=”generator” 
content=”WordPress ” />

…and delete it. It has no useful purpose.

7. Ensure WordPress Database Errors Are Turned Off. In recent WordPress versions, they are turned off by default. So upgrade.

8. Remove WP ID META Tag. Delete this tag from the WordPress core. After you activate and run wp-security-scan, this is done automatically.

9. Create an .htaccess File in “wp-admin/” Open a new text file and paste this… 

    # BEGIN WordPress
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
    # END WordPress

… Save the file as .htaccess and upload it to your “wp-admin/” folder, ie, to http://myblog.com/wp-admin/

10. Hide Your Plugins. If you’re not sure whether they’re hidden or not, navigate to http://myblog.com/wp-content/plugins. If you see a 404 error page, they’re hidden. Otherwise, you’ll see them listed. In that case, copy the following into a new .htaccess file, adding the file to your wp-content/ folder…

    # BEGIN WordPress
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
    # Prevents directory listing
    IndexIgnore *
    # END WordPress

Some web hosts don’t allow you to administer .htaccess files. If that’s the case, instead of using an .htaccess file to hide the list of plugins, create an index.html file. You can write something about restricted access in there, if you like. Either way, this file will prevent a plugin listing.

Now navigate to http://myblog.com/wp-content/plugins. They should be hidden.

After You’re Done

Just to be thorough, and because a few things have changed…

  • Backup your files again, using your ftp client.
  • Backup your database again, using wp-phpmyadmin.

That’s it. Your blog is more secure, and way less hackable. Go make content!

Related posts:

  1. Video How-to: Backup & Restore a Database with phpMyAdmin
  2. Video How-to: Install & Configure a WordPress Plugin
Posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
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thank you, thanx, tx, ta, t, tsst, twaddle, cheek, cheers, cheerio



  1. LunarPages suspended.page February 26th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

    [...] you work with your ISP to track the problem and ensure it doesn’t happen again, it… More Categories: [...]

  2. Sarah March 3rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    Excellent tutorial. Blog security is one of the main concerns every blogger should know.

  3. JC de Villa March 3rd, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    I read your post, and found item 9 interesting (.htaccess) and its location. You should really put it in your blog root directory (or even your site root), so that indexes wont be visible… I suggest you look at your own directories for indexes, because some are a bit more exposed than they should.

  4. RAzik March 3rd, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    In the tip # 10, u told it will show “404 error page”.

    But i think if you disabled directory it will show “403 error page”.

  5. http://grautiger.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/datensicherung-fur-wp-blogs/ March 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 pm

    [...] Wenn ich das mal habe *augenroll* wird DAS hier wohl mal Thema: Blog ein wenig gegen Hacks absichern: http://guvnr.com/web/blogging/10-tips-to-make-wordpress-hack-proof/ [...]

  6. Herrin March 4th, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    Thank you so much for this compact and easy to implement guide to WP security.

    I use 2 plugins that help with security that you did not mention in this article.

    The first is called WP-Optimize – allows you to delete post/page revisions, optimize the database and change the username from admin to anything you like.

    The second is called Secure wordpress and it does some of the things that you mention above. Probably good for clients etc.

    Thanks again and hope this adds something useful to the mix.

    regards

    Herrin

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  9. George Serradinho March 8th, 2009 at 8:43 am

    Thanks for the tips, the list will definately help us users out there.

  10. [Wordpress] 10 Steps to a Secure WordPress Installation | Technofriends March 8th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

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  11. Lonnie A March 9th, 2009 at 2:11 am

    Dear Mr Guvnr,

    Thank you so much for sharing your security blog video. I especially appreciated your tutorial on backing up a database using wp-phpmyadmin. The database is very frightening place to modify if one has no knowledge of navigating phpmyadmin.

    Just to add a little bit of information regarding .htaccess on hosting web servers that enable safe mode on php. Some of us are unable to create and use .htaccess because of their server security policies.

    Therefore here’s something that I do to get around this problem. I create a cloaked web page of an affiliate site. If the so called hacker wants to spy my wp-content/plugins directory, they will be surprised to what they will find.

    I simply upload a cloaked index.html page to hide the content of these important folders. So instead of viewing the contents of the folder they might be puzzled as to what they see. A live web site… Huh…?

    I do to same for my themes folder as well. It works well for me and this is generally what I do to hide all my download products I buy and sell online too.

    Again… thanks for your tutorial, it was very well explained and and hugely helpful.

  12. the_guv March 8th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    @Herrin – WP-Optimize I like too. Need to use it, hmmn, must do that! Secure WordPress I’ll take a look at. Big cheers, appreciate the comment. Mix away m8.
    @Lorrelle – wow, flattery indeed :) getting loved up by Lorelle. Hey, how cool is that, big cheers girl.
    @George – good to hear. mighty pleased.
    @Techno, PaulMyatt & http://planet.wordpress.org/, you have great taste in content, keep it up.
    //the_guv
    @Sarah – tx tx tx … sorry, I almost forgot you! tssh.

  13. Koichi Paxton March 9th, 2009 at 7:25 am

    This is an amazing resource for anyone who is trying to secure your wordpress. I learned many tips for making my WP better protected from hackers. I will now make sure that all of my plugins are well hidden so that they can’t access them.

  14. Risorse per migliorare la sicurezza di WordPress | Bloggare March 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm

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  16. purosangue March 23rd, 2009 at 6:52 pm

    great job with the video, thank you for taking the time and to post it for everyone!!

  17. the_guv March 24th, 2009 at 4:32 am

    cheers Purosangue, lovely to hear. and you Koichi, top notch m8.

    Lonnie, big tx for that. you throw up some cracking ideas there…hmmn, i feel another tutorial coming on!

    **************************************

    UPDATE TO THIS POST: I’ve had a few interesting emails about this tutorial, with yet more ways to secure a wordpress blog. Right now I’m working on a few other things but, in a couple of weeks, I’ll update this post and the video to accomodate even more security tips.

    If you’ve got something to throw into the mix, let me know and it’ll help me to create the most comprehensive, cross-web server guide possible.

    the_guv

  18. papa April 8th, 2009 at 10:39 am

    Thanks very much for the tutorial, it’s been really informative for a newbie like myself.

    I’m having trouble with the .htaccess file though and I’m wondering if it relates to what Lonnie A was having trouble with? When I upload the .htaccess file to the correct directory and then refresh my security scan plugin I get an error page reading ‘Internal Server Error – The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.’ and I can’t access my WP site at all unless I delete the file.

    Thanks for any help you can give!

  19. bob April 9th, 2009 at 2:19 am

    Hi Need help i made a .htaccess page and it is uploaded to the wp-admin area and it is not stopping my plug-ins from showing up.
    How can i fix this.
    Thanks

    # BEGIN WordPress

    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

    # Prevents directory listing
    Options -Indexes
    # END WordPress

  20. E-TARD April 11th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    thanks for the tips

  21. the_guv April 11th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    @papa & @bob
    - hey guys, tx for that. i’ve UPDATED “10. Hide Your Plugins” to reflect some problems a few folks have had, and hope that helps.

    If you’ve still got problems, pls let me know.

    @E-TARD. You’re welcome :)

  22. Grigoriy April 23rd, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    Dear author,
    Thank you very much for these useful tips collected in one place.

  23. the_guv April 24th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    @Grigoriy – you are most splendidly welcome, and a big tx :)

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  25. Sara May 6th, 2009 at 12:23 am

    Thanks for this. I just spent $22.00 lastnight on an eBook that was probably a waste of money since the information is easily available online and less hassle with some of these wordpress plug-ins.

  26. the_guv May 7th, 2009 at 6:29 am

    @Sara – you’re welcome. Damn, you actually spent money on an ebook! :P

  27. Jessicalip May 10th, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    I will leave a reply as soon as I try it Thank you

  28. the_guv May 11th, 2009 at 1:46 am

    @Jessicalip – hope it helps out. thanks to you.

  29. ArianaBels May 13th, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my blog something like that. Can I take part of your post to my site? Of course, I will add backlink?

  30. the_guv May 13th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    @ArianaBels – pleased you like. Sure you can summarise and link to this post, and embed the video if you wish. Thank you for asking.

  31. Cris May 18th, 2009 at 7:25 pm

    I change from blogger to word press a week ago , since then i had to malware attacks. One was the famous gumblar dot cn and another that I didn’t even tried to figure out.

    So Google banned me from the listings and I’m setting up all security measures this time.

    Because I’m new at blogging, your tutorial (specially the video) was very useful.

    Thank you!

  32. the_guv May 19th, 2009 at 11:48 am

    @Cris – sorry to hear that – sounds like a right nightmare you’ve had. Pleased to help and all the best with Pinche Pelicula.

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  35. akis June 14th, 2009 at 1:51 am

    One of the best guides to create our wordpress hack proof…Bravo!!!Thumbs up!!

  36. the_guv June 14th, 2009 at 6:45 am

    big cheers akis – much appreciated

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  38. johnstevens June 22nd, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    п»ї
    Hello,
    Can I put this article to my site?
    Thanks for the information

  39. the_guv June 26th, 2009 at 6:25 am

    @john – you’re welcome to embed the video, intro the piece and link to the bulk, else buy me a fine single malt whiskey and I’ll doubtless change my mind and you can have the lot. tx to you.

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  41. Y094 July 15th, 2009 at 8:06 am

    Thanks :D

  42. the_guv July 15th, 2009 at 11:53 am

    @Y094 hey, thank yo .. thank yo! .. geddit .. sorry, many thanks, Y094, appreciated.

  43. john.conner July 16th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

    Mostly I have Seen Only articles Its Good That you have included Video,
    I would even Like To See Some SEO Guides

  44. Méldodie July 18th, 2009 at 3:56 pm

    Hello,

    I join lots of thanks to all the preceeding ones.

    I’ll add a question you may find interesting, because all of my blogs aren’t using Apachee as a server, but Lighttpd, so the .htaccess there has no effect (unless I install empty ones, thus making the plugin wp-security-scan content to see there is one where it seeks for it, otherwise comes the red warnings sent by the plugin).

    Lighttpd not using .htaccess, as far as the blogs I have under this server are concerned, I followed thoses of your advices that were relevant. My question would be : is there anything else that’s relevant, that could be done or checked when using Lighty ?

    Thanks again :D

  45. the_guv July 19th, 2009 at 11:16 am

    @ Méldodie .. Good question. No idea ‘cos I don’t use Lighty with WP. I do use Nginx though and it’s the same deal with that .. htaccess is irrelevant, so don’t bother.

    ?? Anyone using non-Apache web servers that know of other tips ??

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  47. Brian July 21st, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    After doing Step 9, my blogs got Internal Server Error 500. Deleting the .htaccess file fixed the problem. Is there something I’m missing?

    I copied that text, pasted it into Notepad++, made sure there were no extra characters at the beginning or ends of all lines, saved as a normal text file. Uploaded to the wp-admin directory, and then renamed to .htaccess

    At that point, I started getting the Internal Server Errors. When I deleted the .htaccess file from the wp-admin directory everything worked fine again.

    I had 644 permissions which is the same as the .htaccess file already in the directory above.

    Thoughts?

  48. the_guv July 22nd, 2009 at 10:04 pm

    @Brian .. hmmn, could be an issue with your httpd.conf, on the server. What does that say?

  49. LauraManick July 23rd, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    I cannot believe this will work!

  50. the_guv July 25th, 2009 at 11:27 am

    @LauraManick .. ye have little faith ;)

  51. FH August 7th, 2009 at 5:17 am

    Great post.. I hope my blog never gets hacked.. thanks for the info :)

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  53. mugger August 15th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

    I think there is still an exposure to malware, namely injection of at the bottom of root index.*, a file which even WP needs to start.

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  55. debbie T September 1st, 2009 at 12:04 am

    Hello! Thank you for this wonderful article.

    I think I might have found the answer to Brian’s problem, as I had the same issues with accessing my admin area after I created the new .htaccess file.

    Anyway, I took another look at the code in the file, and I realized I copied the text from your article, but the code had line numbers in it.

    ie: 7.# END WordPress

    I deleted all the line numbers and now it works fine! Thanks!

    Hope that helps Brian too!

  56. the_guv September 1st, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    @Debbie .. hey girl, good to hear.

    Now look everyone, don’t copy the ruddy line numbers! Top right of the code boxes there’s an option to open the plain text .. so do, then copy from there. I know, easy when you know how.

    Hey, Debbie, on your site .. beaut pic of that frog and the key. What a thing. Quite humbling.

  57. joejonns September 2nd, 2009 at 3:29 am

    txxx – keep up the good work.

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  63. Bill Bennett September 6th, 2009 at 5:41 am

    I was going to work through this, but I fell at the first hurdle.

    wp-phpmyadmin is only compatible up to WordPress version 2.2.2

    I’m running 2.8.4. Is there a workaround?

  64. Bill Bartmann September 7th, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    Cool site, love the info.

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  66. the_guv September 16th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    @joejonns & @Bill Bartman .. many tx

    @Bill Bennett .. sorry for delay, was on hols.

    As I understand it, wp-phpmyadmin does work with WP, up to 2.8.4, despite saying it’s compatible only up to 2.2.2.

    Seems that the developers haven’t upgraded the stylesheet yet, so it may look a bit odd, is all. When they do that, I guess they’ll update the compatibility officially.

    Alternatively, I’ve heard some good things about Adminer .. http://www.adminer.org/en/, which entails uploading a single file to your server before having a php tool very like phpmyadmin. OK, yes, I know, that’s not *quite* so handy as having a WP plugin version, as is the case with wp-phpwhatnot.

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  74. Edward Jerome January 2nd, 2010 at 2:46 am

    Hi Olly

    Unless it is a trade secret, in which case I would understand, could you possibly share with me which plugin you are using to show off your code following this step

    9. Create an .htaccess File in “wp-admin/” Open a new text file and paste this…

    on this page

    http://guvnr.com/web/blogging/10-tips-to-make-wordpress-hack-proof/

    I really enjoyed reading your post and watching your YouTube video on the 10 tips. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Edward

  75. danx January 7th, 2010 at 5:10 pm

    I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

  76. the_guv January 9th, 2010 at 7:05 pm

    @Edward, thank you. .. for code I use Syntax Highlighter Plus, which having explored all similar plugins I find to be the best of the bunch, for this site anyhow. Of course, I hacked the style to complement the site.

    @Danx .. thank you, Sir.

  77. Nilimesh January 23rd, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    This is a best station for such kind of articles,your site is a inspiration for me.
    i got so much benefits and good results after visiting here and the grace is increasing
    day by day in your posts”
    the above information is extremly essential……

  78. the_guv January 25th, 2010 at 8:58 am

    @Nilimesh .. mighty kind words, Sir .. thank you.

  79. Ritu January 25th, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Thanks alot for the valuable tips to protect the blog from the injection. I had injection 2 days ago. Now its cleaned and I did the same suggested by you in the post.

  80. the_guv January 26th, 2010 at 12:51 am

    @Ritu .. you’re welcome, thank you

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  82. HDDE February 17th, 2010 at 3:01 am

    Thanks a lots for your tips, The best blog I ‘ve seen so far! Keep up the good work!

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  84. Tony Topping March 2nd, 2010 at 3:33 pm

    Great stuff which Ive applied successfully to two of my three wordpress sites. All of which were hacked over the past three weeks. But Ive been unable to change the wp_ prefix on the last site. I had to edit the text, which was no problem. But when I installed the back up twice WordPress immediately defaulted to reinstall and on reinstall added a new set of wp_ tables to the new tables I had created. So somehow its not recognising the newly named prefixes.

  85. the_guv March 3rd, 2010 at 4:34 am

    @Tony .. very odd, can’t say I know the reason for that, possibly a corrupt db, else back up and clean it then try again .. have you tried using wp security scan to do the job?

    and try this:-

    • backup db (say w’ phpmyadmin to a db.sql file
    • copy that file, then edit it with some editor .. find/replace all wp_ prefixes to whatever_
    • drop all db tables .. not the db tho
    • import edited db.sql
    • change prefix in your wp-config.php
    • re-activate plugins

  86. Ma e vero che Aruba e’ un “colabrodo”? « Utilitypc April 2nd, 2010 at 3:46 pm

    [...] COSETTE… con pazienza e nemmeno tanta perizia, basta seguire le isturizioni per esempio su http://guvnr.com. Suggerisco di lasciar perdere entrambi i plugin consigliati, tutto sommato nons ervono a nulla ed [...]

  87. tony April 9th, 2010 at 7:03 pm

    Great stuff man truly appreciate it!

  88. the_guv April 19th, 2010 at 8:34 am

    @Tony .. cheers to you

  89. jimi April 27th, 2010 at 4:08 am

    i don’t have a plugins tab on our wordpress blog dashboard…. is there something wrong here?

  90. the_guv April 29th, 2010 at 2:15 pm

    hey jimi, that may be just with the One Click Plugin Updater, so take a look for that.

  91. Alexandria Michel May 30th, 2010 at 6:40 am

    If only I had a greenback for every time I came here… Incredible post.

  92. the_guv May 30th, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    @Alexandria .. thank you, lovely to hear

  93. Charlie Street July 6th, 2010 at 2:33 am

    Thanks for the article. I used parts of it when writing an article of a similar nature about website hackers and hosting accounts being “hacker proof”

  94. SteveW928 August 12th, 2010 at 4:04 pm

    Thanks so much for this article, it is full of great tips.

    However, I just wanted to warn people of my experience with WP Security Scan and the DB prefix renaming. I’m running WP 3.0.1, and things didn’t go well at that point. After running, I was unable to log into my site. I’ve been able to fix that by reading related posts and editing my SQL DB (finding things it missed), but I fear there are still lots of other things it missed lurking about as some of my plugins don’t work (I’ve been able to fix a few by combing through fields where the plugins store their settings).

    I’m trying to decide whether to go forward with it or to restore at this point… but just wanted to warn people. I should have noticed that WP Security Scan hasn’t been updated since like 2008… Doh! And, if you read the support sections there, others are having the same problem. I hope this all gets updated, because it is important and seems to be an awesome plugin otherwise (it’s just out of date).

  95. I feel violated. {hackers suck} | Riding With No Hands August 15th, 2010 at 3:28 am

    [...] the version stated in your source (delete that!) and the various files that use WP prefixes. 10 Tips to Make WordPress Hack-Proof shows you how to change [...]

  96. Sharon August 16th, 2010 at 7:19 am

    I added a .htaccess file to wp-admin as described above. When I refreshed the WP security scan page it went to an error page on my blog. I deleted the content of the file (left it blank) and that works fine,but when I try to add the script as it is above it doesn’t work.

  97. Vincent Furlong August 23rd, 2010 at 4:24 pm

    Im just wondering if I need to change the prefix for other php files. Since changing the prefix in the wp-config.php I’ve got an error on my sidebar widget Warning: array_key_exists() [function.array-key-exists]: The second argument should be either an array or an object in public_html/my.site/wp-includes/widgets.php on line 858
    After I checked this the functions are wp_get_sidebar etc.. Not sure if I did something wrong.
    Also, When I added a .htacess file I was no longer able to access the admin panel

    Any help on this would be great.
    Thanks

    -Vin

  98. Jethro Solomon September 11th, 2010 at 5:11 am

    Good article. Will implement changes immediately. I recently had to fix a hacked wordpress installation of my friends…ugh!

  99. marc October 12th, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    Thanks for the tutorial, great info.

  100. the_guv October 24th, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    thank you Marc, good to hear

  101. the_guv October 24th, 2010 at 10:19 pm

    cheers Jethro, appreciated and good luck

  102. the_guv October 24th, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    @Steve .. you’re right and thank you for reminding me!! WP Security Scan is not working these days. I’ve updated the post and the workaround works fine.

  103. HDe October 24th, 2010 at 11:40 pm

    I agree with Steve – notice the same – with WP Security Scan – best advice- we will all have to wait for the new update! Thanks Guvnr – for this great Support Blog.

  104. SteveW928 October 25th, 2010 at 7:04 pm

    @the_guv – Hi. Just wanted to note that it might be more complicated than that for some installs. I now have my blog working fine, but when combing through the DB, I noticed wp_ instances used as both references to tables, but a few also used as variable names. Doing a universal search/replace for wp_ might break variables. Note: I didn’t follow your fix method and maybe those instances belonged to specific plugins in my install, but it seems that is what you are doing in your fix. I had to pick more carefully and make some educated guesses… but certainly not something to do after a couple beers. You might need a few after though. ;o) Thanks again for the helpful blog.

  105. dt November 4th, 2010 at 8:51 pm

    great advice WP security scan. waiting for the updates as well.

  106. the_guv November 7th, 2010 at 8:57 pm

    @Steve .. you may have found some poorly named and conflicting plugin variables, quiote rare I daresay .. definitely have a backup first for such cases! this method has never let me down but one day it just might :P

  107. 10 Tips de seguridad para WordPress - Alberto Rodriguez Molina March 2nd, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    [...] parcial (le actualicé ciertas cosas) de 10 Tips para convertir WordPress a prueba de hackers (10-tips-to-make-wordpress-hack-proof/) que espero que le sea de utilidad. Para mi lo fue. Que [...]

  108. oneristy March 21st, 2011 at 1:39 pm

    this is a great. i waiting for updates

  109. Jon Maybrook April 16th, 2011 at 11:43 pm

    Excellent info about securing WordPress. I’ve always used offense as the best defense, which for me means advocating multiple back-ups of the Database and all files/folders. Most sites get hacked because of not “locking the front and back door” and poor passwords. Nothing will stop the professional hacker, but this will keep them away from your site and force them to look for other low-hanging fruit instead! Keep up the great work!

  110. the_guv May 2nd, 2011 at 2:30 am

    @oneristy .. thank you.

    @Jon .. agreed .. and thank you.

    @all .. you may be interested in my new book, publishing by Packt in the second week of May:-

    WordPress 3.0 Ultimate Security

    I’ll blog about it soon but, essentially, it covers the A-Z of how to protect the platform, both indirectly and indirectly, so that includes local/wireless/online/WordPress-immediate/server – every known way that a WP blog can be compromised.

    Anyhow .. I’d best finish the damn thing! Just a few pages of third drafting to go plus, I guess, a dedication to the missus, bless ‘er cottons :)

    EDIT: It’s out! Be safe :) .. guv.

  111. “WordPress 3 Ultimate SECURITY”: My Hack-Proof Book’s OUT! - vpsBible June 23rd, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    [...] Some of the old-timers round here who first knew me from Guvnr may remember a pretty well-known WordPress security blog post over there, Video How-to: 10 Tips To Make WordPress Hack-Proof. [...]

  112. WordPress 3 Ultimate Security | Digital Splash Media July 2nd, 2011 at 4:08 am

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  113. WordPress 3 Ultimate Security - Maui WP July 2nd, 2011 at 4:15 am

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  114. Rick August 12th, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    Not sure if anybody else has the same problem but I put ( .htaccess ) in my-admin folder and now I cant get into my dashboard or anywhere in the back end for that matter. it says page not found. ???

  115. Emily Grace August 16th, 2011 at 10:59 am

    very good post man. It is very helpful to many peoples who are searching for securing their wordpress websites.
    I have enabled all the security features which you have mentioned. I am feeling good now.
    Thanks

  116. the_guv August 16th, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    @Rick … some typo most likely.

    To regain access, just remove the htaccess file using your file manager, your SFTP client or a terminal, and your site is back. Then try again :)

    @Emily … nice to hear but, frankly, this post barely scratches the surface.

    … Indeed, it took me nearly 400 pages and literally 100′s of tutorials to set out precisely how to secure WordPress:-

    http://guv.li/wpguv

    That may sound like a sales pitch for my book. Truly, in the Wild Wild West that is the dub dub dub, it’s best advice.

  117. BDC August 29th, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    Excellent info about securing WordPress. I’ve always used offense as the best defense, which for me means advocating multiple back-ups of the Database and all files/folders.
    Thank you

  118. Prabin September 1st, 2011 at 10:57 am

    Hi, does all the above security stuff work on wordpress 3.x?

    Thanks

  119. Prabin September 1st, 2011 at 10:58 am

    Hi, does all the above security stuff work on wordpress 3.x? Some also say that the wp security scan doesn’t work properly on wp 3.x.

    Thanks

  120. Georgia September 6th, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    Have had 2 of my WordPress sites hacked twice. Thanks for this. Never had any problems with WP installations until recently. Glad someone like you is posting walk throughs like this. very helpful. Thank you.

  121. parw September 26th, 2011 at 11:40 am

    Hi,
    I have already done everything that you suggest, but last day my blog has been hacked. I don’t know what to do ? Have u something else to suggest me.
    Thanks for reply

  122. Pat November 6th, 2011 at 12:11 am

    I’ve got the .htaccess file with all the Begin WordPress…End WordPress stuff in it. The file is in the /public folder and when I move it to wp-admin, my site conks out, moving it back agin fixes things. Not sure how I can have the file into wp-admin without the site breaking. Is it possible to have 2 copies?
    Thanks

  123. Sennik November 14th, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    Is it possible to protect WordPress only via .htaccess file ?

  124. Hack-Proofing Wordpress Site | Estudyante November 24th, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    [...] Credits to Guvnr.com [...]

  125. Dess February 6th, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Is there no one click plugin that will secure my WP blog? I was hacked 2 times within a weeks interval. Some guy from fiverr.com helped me recover it. The second hack was probably by an Islamist fanatic because my page and all the redirect links from my domain show their message. Now if you know any 1 click secure plugin please.

  126. ShelleyN March 7th, 2012 at 7:34 pm

    Guv, Enjoyed this post. Some of it is a bit over my head. Seems a bit technical. Never thought about hiding the WordPress Version…this is one I’ll definitely be looking in to. Thanks for sharing!

  127. the_guv March 18th, 2012 at 8:58 am

    @Dess. No way, buddy! Security requires a multi-faceted approach – secure local PC, secure web connection, secure web server, each with various configurations. Some plugins merely assist.

    @Sennik. Ditto above. Ie, no!

    @Pat. You can have 1 .htaccess per directory.

    @parw. Yes, buy my book, which contains hundreds of pages worth of fixes.

    … even better, wait and I’ll be launching a new edition very soon, plus a website alongside … the existing book’s already out of date – typical!

    @Prabin. Yes, and it didn’t but it does work now. (Good point … )

    UPDATE: WP SECURITY SCAN IS AGAIN WORKING FINE … it wasn’t being maintained for a long time but is again now, and provides the easiest way to change that db prefix (once the platform has already been installed)

  128. M May 10th, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    Point 5. starts out well, more secure passwords are better, but “Mix it up with letters, digits and special characters, upper and lower case.” is not a good way to do this. A longer password is far far better.

    http://xkcd.com/936/

    Explains this much better than I can.

  129. the_guv September 10th, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    M. Blimey, your comment kinda slipped thru the net, sorry for delay.

    But!

    ““Mix it up with letters, digits and special characters, upper and lower case.” is not a good way to do this. A longer password is far far better.”

    No. You need both. And if that sounds hard to remember, *just use LastPass*. And as for the length, using a decent password manager there’s no excuse not to have a 16, 20 or even 24bit (character-length) password.

    (I use 24bit on all my passwords … call me paranoid But why not?)

    … Nice cartoon though, thank you :)

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