BlogAid Today – VaultPress, XML-RPC Attacks, Internet Goofiness, CloudFlare

ByMaAnna Stephenson

See this quick overview of issues I’ve been seeing all week all across the internet. Plus the latest update on the new VaultPress and JetPack bundle. And, something you need to check on your site right now to prevent a new encrypted DDoS attack.

UPDATE: 12/16/16 There’s been a sudden sharp increase in brute force attacks. That explains the goofiness I’ve been seeing. Read: Protect Your Site from a Rise in Brute Force Attacks for more

Transcript below the video

Like this video?
Subscribe to the BlogAid YouTube Channel and never miss a thing

VaultPress

Read: Why I’ve Yanked VaultPress Off My Recommended List

I’ve been in constant contact with them since they announced integration with JetPack.

They are very interested in hearing feedback, especially from current users.

I’ve made clear my unwillingness to open my site to the security risk of XML-RPC and they are taking that seriously.

I’ll keep you updated via the post above.

New Encrypted DDoS Attacks

Read: DDoS Attacks via WordPress Now Come with Encryption

Attacks via XML-RPC have been escalating since 2014. The particular attack mentioned in this post is via the pingback/trackback intranet communication system built into WordPress.

This is just one more reason to turn XML-RPC fully off.

Read: Disable XML-RPC in WordPress to Prevent DDoS Attack

I advise turning it all the way off.

But, if you are already using JetPack, there is a way to turn it half way off, which you’ll see in that post.

Watch the video above to see how to turn off trackbacks/pingbacks to help protect your site right now.

Caching Plugins

Read: Top WordPress Caching Plugins Head-to-Head Tests

I really enjoyed W3TC, but it has just become too unstable for me to stick with for my sites. See the post above for the best plugin for your type of hosting account.

CloudFlare

Both me and my webmasters have been experiencing glitches with CloudFlare. Either changes don’t hold or are taking forever to actuate. I bet it’s related to the other goofiness we’ve been seeing all over the web this week and not just a CloudFlare issue.

blank

MaAnna is a geek who can still speak in plain English. She helps DIY site owners plus webmasters and designers create sites that are secure, perform well, and get noticed by search engines and readers.