Wordpress Security and Alternatives

[CMTM]

No matter how secure we try to make our wordpress blogs they still got hacked. We recently got hacked(server level hacking, javascript insertion that took our server down, through the askimet plugin), anyway there was nothing really showing in the front end, no inserted links and nothing suspicious looking code.

Oh well we are changing the passwords now and going through and deleting the javascript.

The problem im facing is that i am handling over 100 blogs, so its very time consuming to do this. I know that once or twice a year everyone goes through a wordpress crisis but we really cant afford nor have the resources to fix it all the time.

Are there any alternatives to wordpress blogs(as good as wordpress). Wordpress has been showing good results so far so it works as far as SEO goes, but we are trying to figure out what to do in order to not get hacked. Besides alternatives id like to know if there are any work arrounds to not get hacked with little maintenance needed. Any tips?

[MichaelGWaters]

I'm interested in this topic also. I wonder if Drupal is a better option in terms of security.

I have installed the Website Defender plugin in one of my Wordpress websites and it notifies me of security related issues. Since you are managing 100 sites, this might be a service that could streamline that process, I don't know. Anyway, perhaps worth a look:

http://www.websitedefender.com/

[smstv]

My hosting administrator Chad has some good Ideas. chad@cisaz.net - He has been having me remove the administrator profile, and installed an Administrative plug in as well. I am forwarding your questions, and concerns and see if he can give me more information on Server side securities he added on his end.

Have you tried deactivating the administrator profile, and adding more securities for the new content management contributes?

[CMTM]

From our experience we noticed that Drupal does not work as well for SEO as wordpress does so since we tested it Drupal wont be an option for us...Joomla either...but thank you for the tip ill try the website defender url for now...im looking for something that i wont have to manage every couple of months for technical purposes...so if there are any methods i hope we will both find out

[CMTM]

we have actualy changed the admin profile...all our blogs had very secure paswords and did not use the admin profile thats why i am kind of bummed too

[RyanKent]

Website security is a very deep topic. I will jump to the end and share if someone wants to break into your website they can do so and there is nothing you can do about it. There is a balance between accessibility (all your site's users need to access the site) and security (keeping the bad guys out).

The largest companies in the world such as Sony have experienced break-ins. The official websites of various countries experience security issues. If a hacker wakes up one day and decides to focus your site and is willing to focus on doing such as a full-time job, he will likely succeed.

With the above understood, there are many steps you can take to maximize your security:

• ensure you always use the latest version of your CMS software

• when a new software update is released ensure your site is promptly updated. Waiting 60+ days to update your software is too long.

• the same applies to any extensions used on your site. Any extension is a possible security issue.

• have your htaccess file professionally reviewed by a security expert. There are numerous modifications which can be made to the file which prevents various types of security holes.

• have your server setup reviewed by a security expert. There are literally hundreds of possible security holes which can be left open due to various settings.

WordPress is the #1 blog software in the world. It is a big step down to #2 in terms of popularity. If you change software you will be making sacrifices.

There are tools like McAfee which scan your site daily for a very wide range of issues, and alerts you to vulnerabilities. Otherwise you can Google "Website security testing" and begin learning more about your site's vulnerabilities.

[sandlappercreative]

What kind of hosting plan are you on (shared, dedicated, etc)? There are a lot of annoying hacks going around affecting WP based sites on shared servers.