John Hoff is a guy who knows way more about WordPress security than most people could ever hope to. He offers a security upgrade service that I’ve recommended before, but now he has an option for people who want to save money by doing the work themselves.

His new ebook is called WordPress Defender: 30 Ways to Secure Your Blog From Attack Anyone Can Do. Do you see the double meaning in that title? John meant:

(30 Ways to Secure Your Blog From Attack) Anyone Can Do

That is, you don’t need to be a techie to implement these steps. You just need some basic skills, such as installing plugins, editing files, etc., and he spells out what you need to do to secure your blog.

But the title could also mean:

30 Ways to Secure Your Blog From (Attack Anyone Can Do)

You see, hacking a blog isn’t all that difficult. The problem is that almost all WordPress installations have the same out-of-the-box security configuration. So when a new vulnerability is discovered in WordPress, a hacker knows that he can exploit it on most blogs. He can even set up a bot to automatically carry out attacks on huge numbers of blogs while he sleeps.

Don’t think that you’re not a target because your blog is too small, or it’s not making that much money, or you’re too nice. It’s almost inevitable that you will be targeted at some point. I’ve been hacked at least once, maybe twice, and every now and then someone else will try. Fortunately, John’s system has made me much safer, and I get notifications when someone is trying to hack me.

I get a little more paranoid about hackers each year. Last week, the head security guy where I work gave a presentation about how big the threat is. He thinks that antivirus software is basically useless, because it only protects you from the hackers who aren’t trying very hard.

He told us about companies that sell viruses to people who want to hijack other computers. Many of them offer live support – if you buy a virus from them that gets caught by antivirus software, just call their toll-free number and they guarantee they’ll fix the virus to put the bad guys back in business.

He told us about how the hackers we catch in the U.S. are at the very lowest levels of their organizations. The big guys operate from certain countries in eastern Europe, where they’re safe from prosecution, and free to recruit people to carry out their evil deeds.

In other words, hackers are a very big threat, and one you can’t afford to ignore. John found that out the hard way when his wife’s online jewelry business was completely shut down by a hacker. And millions of other people have learned this lesson after it was too late.

WordPress Defender is 150 pages of solid information about how hackers think and how you can thwart them. It also comes with 14 videos (nearly 2 hours worth) to make things crystal clear and easy to follow along.

Unfortunately, people often make the mistake of waiting to get hacked before they start thinking about security. It’s far better to get prepared now, so you can relax knowing that you’re not an easy target. While nothing is completely secure, the system in this ebook will make your blog far more secure than it is now.

• How To Protect Your Blog From Hackers
• How To Run A Profitable Freelance Business Through Your Blog
• The Blogger’s Guide To Effective Writing
• Stop Sucking And Live A Life Of Abundance
• How To Get More Blog Subscribers
• Cloud Living: Freedom, Expression, And Financial Abundance
• Top 10 Reasons List Posts Suck
• Blogging Blueprint
• Make Money Blogging (No, Seriously!)
• Blogging Tips