It was not going to be a good day. Last Tuesday started with a terrifying message to a client, "You've Been Hacked". Somehow a bad guy had obtained the admin password and taken control of the site. It doesn't really matter how it happened. What's important is it's going to happen to you, not that other business owner, you. So let's all take a deep breath and create a simple 5 step disaster recovery plan. Back in the day, you would simply kill a site, upload your current backup and be back in business. But this was a WordPress site. Simple was not going to be part of the solution. All the power and simplicity gained by adopting the WordPress platform creates a unique recovery challenge. In the world of WordPress, the content lives in a database, while the look and feel is stored in the theme and upload folder. One cannot live without the other. I'll spare you the gory details, other to say it took 4 hours to identify the source of the intrusion, block any further damage, restore the database backup and rebuild the site. The effort wasn't a total loss, it forced me to develop a WordPress Disaster Recovery Plan.

Ounce of Prevention

Microsoft believes the first line of defense is strong passwords, and the keys to password strength include length and complexity. If you're feeling lucky, use the Microsoft Password Checker to see how well your passwords meet the test. If they earn the "Weak" rating, visit Microsoft's How-to on Creating Strong Passwords to create an ounce of prevention.

Virtual Insurance Policy

Recovering from a WordPress disaster is more than "Can I get it back". The real challenge is, "How quickly?" and "How much?" A recent Auto Insurance commercial shows a driver simply tearing off crumpled body parts to reveal a new vehicle underneath. My research indicates the WordPress equivalent could be Kyplex Snapshot. Their services include a WordPress plugin that creates a complete daily site and database backup which you can restore with one click. The account package also includes a website malware scanner and unlimited manual malware and virus cleanup. Compared with the time and trouble I encountered recovering my client's site, their pricing is a bargain.

5 Steps to Painless Recovery

• Strong Passwords, compartmentalized
• Secure your computing devices - If your device fell into the wrong hands, have you handed them the keys to your digital domain?
• Initial Archive - When you launch a new site, create a digital archive of your site to a CD, thumbdrive or online backup service.
• Use a disaster prevention/recovery service like Kyplex for piece of mind and painless recovery
• Develop systems that allow you to document and recover key information including passwords, logins, resources,  and serial numbers. Make sure it's both device and location independent so it will be available when disaster strikes.

Resources

• Microsoft Strong Passwords
• Kyplex Snapshot
• Carbonite - real-time backup/recovery of your priceless files
• SplashID - Password Vault
• Dropbox - Location/device independent file storage and access