WordPresssecurityfundamentals
aboutmeSomething
Joseph Herbrandson
Web design and infosec Committed to WordPress and website security since 2008
sucuri security Security Analyst - Cleaning up malware and protecting websites from infection everyday
Website sucuri.net
twitter.com/sucuri_security
facebook.com/SucuriSec
sucuri.net
sucuri.net
Sucurisecurity• Website security Company
• Operate internationally
• platform agnostic (wordpress, joomla, drupal, etc…)
• scan 2 million websites per month
• block 4 million attacks per month
• remediate 400-500 sites per day
• 24/7 operations
The state of…
theInternet
sucuri.net
2.9 Billion Internet Users world wide
About 950 million active sites
internetlivestats.com
!
20% are wordpress…
No 0% Threat Rule No such thing as perfect security. If someone REALLY wants in, they will find a way.
0- Day Attacks Brand new attacks using different methods make these impossible to plan for. 0-Day attacks are resolved once it has been studied, and fix has been published.
Not just Wordpress! Security starts with everyday practices. All the wrong moves made off of your website, will still affect things on your website!
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securewpNotes On
Who Are They?
Hackersidentities
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Who are these Guys? - It can be anyone good with computers.
- Intelligent and Mischievous; Enterprising and Effective.
Where are they from? Most attacks come from Turkey, Syria, Tunisia, Brazil, Russia, China, and even the United States.
!
Brute Force sql injection ddos social engineering
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what’s going on here…
commonattacktypes
Hacked?
WhyyouIt’s nothing Personal Most attacks are automated and done on many websites at a time
You're on the list Once you’re a target, you stay a target. Increasing your security is the best way to ask them to LEAVE YOU ALONE
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The
$Billionspam!
Pharma and spam attacks Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra ads, make marketers over 2 BILLION dollars every year from blackhat methods of infecting websites, and redirecting users to websites selling prescription drugs.
!
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Sending a Message
Hacktivists!
The hacktivists Turning your site into a billboard for anarchy and mayhem
PillarsofsecurityYour Security
Frontline Disaster Preventionbackups
Basic Website MaintenanceStaying current
Common Sense PoliciesAccess control
WordPress Intrusion Preparation
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securedbackupsDisaster Prevention
Have a backup plan Playing defensively from the back is your best first line defense.
Stored Remotely Away from your live server, and the clutches of an intruder.
…more than one if possible! The more layers of your backup plan, the less likely it is to fail.
Scheduled and Automated Don’t rely on yourself.
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backupSolutionsOptions for
Vault PressWeb hosting Sucuri Backups
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wordpressUpdatesThe Importance of
Your version is your level of security !
Major versus Maintenance releases !
Worried About upgrading? fear not! downgrading is a simple task !
Have an upgrade path
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As of June 2014: http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress/3/all
36%
29%
6%
7%
11%
11%
3.0-3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9
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allinoneSEo
recent vulnerability disclosure: Update!! !
no plugin is SAFE! !
educate yourself http://blog.sucuri.net/2014/05/vulnerability-found-in-the-all-in-one-seo-pack-wordpress-plugin.html
Public Service Announcemnt…
A little bit about
passwordsecurityThe tactics Sophisticated Password Guessing
easier to crack than you think… !
Password Crack Times:
- 8 letters = 52 seconds
- 8 nums/letters = 11 minutes
- with caps/!@#$… = 3 hours
- 12 letters/nums/caps/!@#$ =
2 Thousand years
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mostusedpassWordsThe web’s
No. Title Ranking Last Year
1 123456 2
2 password 1
3 12345678 3
4 qwerty 5
5 abc123 4
6 123456789 New
7 111111 9
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The following are statistics showing the most used passwords in 2013, documented from lists stolen in major organization security breaches.
(SplashData.com)
passwordmanagersTools of the trade:
Lastpass keePass DashLane
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1Password
Case study
cleanupFtp/sftp File Management Basic file cleanup with FileZilla
WordPress Version Archives https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Versions (Google “WordPress versions”)
Theme Backups Always know where to find a clean copy of your theme
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Infectedsiteinfection: blackhat seo spam injection
Spam is displayed with Javascript turned off. Otherwise it’s hidden!
Infection confirmed at the free Sucuri website scanner: http://sitecheck.sucuri.net
Cleanup
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Cleanup
removeandreplacewp-admin and wp-includes These directories are replaceable for cleanup and downgrading versions
Replace other core files The other core files outside of these two directories can be uploaded to directly replace their counterparts
do not delete wp-config.php or wp-content! These are vital to the functionality of your blog, and cannot be replaced easily, or without a backup.
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Cleanup
removeandreplace pt.2
find your theme Your theme is replaceable if youhaven’t made customchanges
delete your old theme This is the most common placefor infected WordPress files
replace with clean copy Good as new!
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Cleanup
cleansite
cleanup accomplished: Your WordPress site is now spam free!
!
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A healthy dose of…
paranoia
worry about the right things: - Passwords versus Usernames
- Web hosting
- Plugin/Theme origin
- Patching/Updating
- Who your friends are
anyquestions?