Guess who didn’t have back-ups? Stupid I know, especially when I discovered how easy it is. Now I have automated back ups and once a week I back up the entire hosting account. Takes 2 minutes.

Like you say, virtually impossible to stop but now if it happens I can be back to normal in an hour instead of wondering how to recover a years worth of posts.

Oh, and I like (mt) for my web hosting. :)

Our guys have spent alot of hours putting together security resources for bloggers and social networks.

Great work Darren, keep it up.

Thank god I run even non-wordpress sites
http://www.pimplabs.com

Blogging tips on how to keep your blog hacker free…

so many times, you say, i will do it later, then you relaize, when you lose things, its so heart breaking…

key word; backup! even now..

john
http://www.justworkhome.com

Considering security issues, general tips as these ones wroten by Darren are common, so are they interesting and so is it necessary to follow them. But each of these choices that I pointed, need particular check-list to be followed, and some can be time-consumming.

The Ian Anderson’s comment is not so bad, I have to say it’s an important one, and isn’t off-topic: if you disable comments, you -can- improve security. But don’t forget that most hackers and crackers are… hackers! I mean: coders, programmers or whatever you call it. So, if they know your blog system/software, they know which files does manage comments on the server, and their path, and can find a way to exploit them anyway! Disabling comments (or any other functionality) can’t be the ultimate solution, as it depends of the hacker/cracker ability, and of the blog system programmer. If you can rename or remove these files from the server, yeah you’re safe! But depending of the software and of your knowledges, this solution can be risky (disclaimer, here ;-)). But it worked for me, even if the bad boys try to hack my main blog… everyday!

That’s why the first point in the Darren’s list is important: ‘Update your Blog Software’: even if you can’t rename or delete files, hackers/developers secure them… day by day, really!

Unlike a set of emails or database files, the backups created by SuperBot can be viewed as web pages inside your browser (including theme style and comments).

Some may think it is funny to destroy someone’s blog. In fact, they would get a huge kick out of knowing that you were so devastated over your site being killed.

Others are doing it because they are bored and it gives them something to do. Just like kids who go out and toilet paper people’s lawns at night.

And still others may do it for the challenge. They get a sense of accomplishment out of breaking your sites security.

There are many other reasons, but it is important to know why people may hack you blog. The more you know how people think, they better off you’ll be.

As long as you do the automatic database backup I mentioned in my comment above, you should be able to easily restore all posts (perhaps with a little help from your host) should your blog get taken out.

It’s worth noting that a database backup doesn’t include the files physically on your (FTP) hosting account, so it’s a good habit to occasionally download the contents of your /wp-content/ folder. Then, when reinstalling your blog after a hack you can simply download/install the latest WordPress, then replace the included /wp-content/ folder with your own.

The last tip isn’t quite as important to do as the database backup though since all the /wp-content/ folder contains is plugins, themes, and uploaded images. Sure, they’re good to keep safe, but nowhere near as much as your posts. ;)

I’d been hacked a number of times on other blogs. A couple of them was beyond salvage. I cried for a few nights and couldn’t concentrate on writing for weeks.

As bloggers, you know the amount of time/energy (blood) pour into the writing. No matter how prolific the blogger is, it’s very difficult to get in the ‘zone’ after an attack.

I’m not a revengeful person by nature, but I always believe in one thing – What goes around comes around! It just a matter of time for it to happen.