WordPress powers a large part of today's web and as such, is a popular target for exploits. Find out why you as an SEO should care and what you can do to ensure your Wordpress site's security and minimise the risks. Talk recap here: http://www.irishwonder.com/blog/2019/04/30/wordpress-security-my-pint-sized-marketing-talk-recap/

1. Pint Sized Marketing, April 2019

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WHY SECURITY MATTERS?

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NOT JUST BECAUSE OF GDPR

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NOT JUST FOR INTERNET
SECURITY PROFESSIONALS

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SEO NIGHTMARES

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HACKED SITES,
NO WARNINGS

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BY THE TIME YOU SEE
A WARNING HERE,
IT MIGHT BE TOO LATE

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GOOGLE WEBMASTER
GUIDELINES:

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YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON
RESPONSIBLE
FOR YOUR SITE’S SECURITY

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Vulnerabilities by Type and Year

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Who’s Attempting to Hack Your Site?

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BUILD YOUR SITE…

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…OR CHOOSE YOUR POISON

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The larger the system,
the greater the
probability of
unexpected failure
- One of the systemantics laws

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https://medium.com/@Gadgetoid/analyzing-the-pipdig-wordpress
-plugin-ddos-code-and-their-explanation-for-why-it-exists-
87f12edf5f9f
Additional Reading:

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https://blog.sucuri.net/2014/12/revslider-vulnerability-leads-to-
massive-wordpress-soaksoak-compromise.html
Additional Reading:

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 Once approved for Plugins Directory
inclusion, they are not checked any
more

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 Updates are not checked

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 Developers are not required to
maintain and update them

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 Nobody bears responsibility for what
they do to your site

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 While you can update standalone
plugins, you cannot update plugins
included into themes

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 Only use plugins you
ABSOLUTELY NEED

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 If you have to search to know
if you are using a certain
plugin, you’ve got a problem

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REMOVE UNUSED PLUGINS

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Only use themes from
reliable sources

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Know what plugins a theme uses

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Demand updates

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Keep a clean backup of your
theme somewhere secure

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REVOKE UNNEEDED ACCESS

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UPDATE wp_users SET ID= '111' WHERE ID= 1;
UPDATE wp_usermeta SET user_id = '111' WHERE user_id = 1;
UPDATE wp_posts SET post_author='111’ WHERE post_author=1
*Keep in mind your actual database name,
your desired ID and your SQL version syntax

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CHECK IF EVERYTHING
IS LATEST VERSION
(AND IF THE LATEST
VERSION IS SECURE)

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CHECK FOR KNOWN
VULNERABILITIES

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A WORD OF WARNING
ABOUT SUCURI:
IT’S AN EXCELLENT FIREWALL
BUT CAN ONLY SEE SO MUCH
FROM THE OUTSIDE

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MYTH:
SSL = SECURE SITE

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“buy tramadol” SERPs:
All 3 hacked sites are HTTPS

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One site has SSL implemented incorrectly

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CHECK YOUR SSL CERTIFICATE

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YOUR SSL IMPLEMENTATION
IS ONLY SECURE
IF YOU CONSISTENTLY LINK
TO SECURE RESOURCES

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HAVE A CLEAN BACKUP

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FIRE ALARM SCENARIO:
WHEN YOU ARE HACKED/
SUSPECT A HACK

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 Check your server logs to see any unusual
URLs being requested
 Check Majestic for your indexed/linked to
pages
 Check Google Search Console for unusual
queries, URLs and crawl errors

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