With the ease of use, also comes responsibility with any type of web application or third party installation. Security. For example, “Hardening” (keeping secure) your WordPress install includes some of the following:

• Keeping your WordPress install updated
  • Since version 2.7, WP features automatic updates
• Admin and FTP passwords kept strong / difficult mix of letters, numbers, symbols
• Change your main administrator account username “admin” to another username. With defaults of CMS, many bots will search out to these defaults and will search for ways in
• File Permissions on the server set for your folders to now allow other users to overwrite your files
• Keeping plugins updated
• More info at “Hardening WordPress” on WordPress.org

Your system is always is as strong as your weakest point. If you install third party plugins, make sure those plugins are reviewed and don’t compromise your security too.

We have used WordPress with many clients and one security plugin we suggest is “Bulletproof Security”

Keep your web sites updated and have fun!

Apache2 makes use of a special file (.htaccess) that can be placed in the root of your site or in individual folders.  .htaccess has a multitude of options to help combat the darker side of the web we live with.  We highly recommend reading this http://perishablepress.com/stupid-htaccess-tricks/#sec9 .

.htacces has the ability to weed out what types of user-agents are requesting your website and redirect them to another url or to a 403, 500 etc. This requires that the Apache2 module mod_rewrite is enabled.

Add the following to your .htaccess file to enable this feature

#Enable RewriteEngine
RewriteEngine On 

# Stop the Nasties!!!
 RewriteBase /
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Anarchie [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ASPSeek [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^attach [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^autoemailspider [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xenu [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus.*Webster [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus
 RewriteRule ^.* - [F,L]

To get a better idea of what user-agents might be affecting your site hosted with Xtreme Services, open your browser to http://yoursite/stats  scroll down to the section that looks like this :

We can clearly see that a user-agent named ZmEu has been bombarding this site followed by the Baidu spyder.

To learn more about the ZmEu user-agent, do a search on google to see what others are saying, or go to www.botsvsbrowsers.com and search to see if it has been classified.

The ZmEu user-agent can be added to the block list as follows :

#Enable RewriteEngine
RewriteEngine On 

# Stop the Nasties!!!
 RewriteBase /
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Anarchie [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ASPSeek [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^attach [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^autoemailspider [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xenu [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus.*Webster [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ZmEu [NC]
 RewriteRule ^.* - [F,L]

To test that this additional condition is effective, visit http://www.botsvsbrowsers.com/SimulateUserAgent.asp and paste ZmEu into the User Agent text box, add your website address into the URL below it and then click GO. If the new condition worked, you should see a Forbidden message :

A comprehensive example :

#Enable RewriteEngine
RewriteEngine On

# Stop the Nasties!!
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Anarchie [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ASPSeek [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^attach [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^autoemailspider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlackWidow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bot\ mailto:craftbot@yahoo.com [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ChinaClaw [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Custo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DISCo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download\ Demon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^eCatch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EirGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailSiphon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailWolf [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Express\ WebPictures [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ExtractorPro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EyeNetIE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FlashGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetRight [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetWeb! [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go!Zilla [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go-Ahead-Got-It [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GrabNet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Grafula [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^HMView [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} HTTrack [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Stripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Indy\ Library [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InterGET [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Internet\ Ninja [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JetCar [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JOC\ Web\ Spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^larbin [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LeechFTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mass\ Downloader [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MIDown\ tool [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mister\ PiX [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Navroad [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NearSite [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetAnts [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Net\ Vampire [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Octopus [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Explorer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Navigator [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PageGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Papa\ Foto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pavuk [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pcBrowser [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^RealDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ReGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SiteSnagger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SmartDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperHTTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Surfbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^tAkeOut [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport\ Pro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VoidEYE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Image\ Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebAuto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebCopier [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebFetch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebGo\ IS [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebLeacher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebReaper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebSauger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ eXtractor [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ Quester [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebStripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebWhacker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Wget [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Widow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWWOFFLE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xenu [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus.*Webster [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ZmEu [NC]
RewriteRule ^.* - [F,L]

If you would rather not be so friendly, you can re-direct specific user-agents to a website of your choice.

# Redirect to a site that gets the message across
RewriteRule ^.*$ https://www.google.com/search?q=getlost [R,L]

If you know a user-agent is a Spam Bot / Mail Scraper, you can use the following to keep them busy :

# Redirect to a Spam Poison site : )
RewriteRule ^.*$ http://english-1335903213.spampoison.com [R,L]

Disclaimer – this article is a helpful how to only.  Implement the content at your own risk.  Be sure to test all changes you make to .htaccess thoroughly to prevent any unwanted messages for valid user-agents.

Learn more about CISPA

Who else opposes CISPA?

If interested in the latest trend of .CO domains, we offer them at the standard price of $12.99 a year

This bill in its current form might have good intentions to fight Piracy, but as the Web Industry unanimously agrees, we can do better.

H.R. 3261 was Introduced on October 26th, 2011 by Lamar smith (R-TX) to the House of Representatives. It will be debated in the Senate January 23rd, 2012.

You can read it for yourself :

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3261:

Xtreme Services stands with Google, Facebook, Foursquare, Wikipedia, eBay, Paypal, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo!, Zynga and many others in opposing this bill.

You can look up your State Senators to see where they stand on the bill.

http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/

Sincerely,

~XTS Team