Got Bugs? Scan Your URL

January 18, 2011 — Mrs. Mecomber
urlv98147

I discovered a great site that will scan your website or blog for malware, exploits, and other nasty vermin: URL Void. It’s great! It’s free to use and it works well.

In this age of profligate hacking, something like this is almost a requirement for any webmaster. I have heard numerous horror stories from my blogging peers that their website had been hacked. Usually, it’s a prank and the webpage displays a “Hacked By” sign with foul language. Sometimes, it’s a little more malicious– a webmaster or blogger may install a plugin or theme or widget that has malicious code in it. This code may spew juice-drying links from your domain, or assault your visitors with filthy popups.

Now you can fight back. :D I’m so grateful to the dudes at URL Void. Thanks for doing this!

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Posted in blogs, crime, security programs, web design, websites, Wordpress. Tags: , , , . Comments Off »

Hacking… For a Living?

April 21, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

This probably comes as no surprise in this day and age: could you or would you be able to make a living, hacking software?

I think it would be COOL!

I do a little “hacking” from time to time. Now, I’m not trying to access bank records or anything like that at all- but I’ve looked into cracking passwords, intercepting and filtering data, and I’m certainly interested in computer software, security news and database work Today, as the world and all its data is being digitalized, IT Security is more important than ever. There is a great need for computer experts and people who understand data and its languages. This is really great news for the moral computer geeks out there (the new term is “Ethical Hacking“) who more interested in using their computer skills to help mankind than to steal, kill, and destroy mankind. “Hacking,” for lack of a better term, can be very beneficial in today’s digital world.

And would you believe that there is a school, with instructors, who will help hackers-to-be learn skills and techniques? One such place is EC-Council. They offer online and live instruction in:

    -Security Fundamentals
    -Ethical Hacking
    -Penetration Testing
    -Computer Forensics
    -Disaster Recovery
    -Secure Programming

This looks fascinating to me! I would love to do something like this. I love learning about data and organization and how stuff works. And being a moral person, this kind of work is right up my alley. So how do you think “Ethical Hacker” would look on a resume? How about you? Would you ever get into a career as an Ethical Hacker, helping companies with computer security, discovering and finding weaknesses, or playing detective for leaking information or criminals? If you’re interested in becoming a Certified Ethical Hacker, or are the least bit curious about this new and growing kind of work, check out the website for more information.

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Posted in crime, security news. Tags: , , , , . Comments Off »

How To Prevent Your WordPress From Being Hacked

January 27, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

There’s a very good post I found by Ruhani Rabin about How To Prevent Your WordPress From Being Hacked. It’s got excellent information that every blog writer should know. Here are a few relevant things:

  • Rename the administrative account: You can do this in the MySQL command-line client with a command like

    View Code SQLupdate tableprefix_users
    set user_login=’anothername’
    where
    user_login=’admin’;

    or by using a MySQL frontend like phpMyAdmin.

  • Use strong password: Creating a strong password that is also memorable is one of the easiest defenses against being hacked. There are a lot of online password strength checker that you could check. Here is Lorelle’s article on blog herald called Protect Your Blog With a Solid Password, offering tips and tricks to help create a strong password that is also memorable.
  • Disable directory browsing: An attacker can reveal your files because they have been indexed by search engines, so you can use a simple one line code inside your .htaccess file

    also use a robots.txt file to disallow the search engine robots to index the subfolder contents. Here is an example of a robots.txt file
    View Code TEXT User-agent: *
    Disallow: /cgi-bin/
    Disallow: /wp-content/
    Disallow: /wp-admin/
    Disallow: /wp-includes/

A lot of the process involves changing the default settings and removing your directly files and such from search engines, bots, and curious nosy people. I wrote a post about hiding your plugins directory here. It’s another easy way to conceal your directory data but still enable your blog to function flawlessly.

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Posted in blogs, security how-to, Wordpress. Tags: , , . Comments Off »

How Are Your Passwords?

October 30, 2008 — Mrs. Mecomber

I’ve been hearing about more hacking attempts these days. The most notable was the attack on Sarah Palin and her Yahoo email account. That was disgusting, but it goes to show you how quickly and easily some things can be hacked.

I try to make my passwords with a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols. Nothing annoys me more than a banking website that only allows you numbers and letters. Are they idiots? Numbers and letters can be hacked in a flash. Hackers use special software that runs combinations at a very high speed. If your password has only numbers and letters, you’re making it easier for your account to be hacked.

Microsoft has a great page that will check the strength of your password for you. It’s here. They’ve also got a page of tips on creating strong passwords, here. I suggest you read it! Don’t give those hackers any more ammunition!

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Posted in free stuff, security how-to, tips. Tags: , , . Comments Off »
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