valerie forrestal

code4libNYC

2013.10.08

the anatomy of a crash

aw, hell. that‘s not supposed to do that.

step 1: check your main index file

turkish escorts, anyone?

why would someone hack a library website?

(it‘s not personal)

step 2: send out an email

i‘m serious. this is a step. because you will get about a thousand emails and phone calls telling you the site is down.

step 3: put up a temp homepage

i used a free css template, but you canuse a framework if you’re feeling fancy

• html5boilerplate: http://html5boilerplate.com/

• bootstrap: http://getbootstrap.com/

• foundation: http://foundation.zurb.com/

step 4: check server logs

• replace any files that were recently changed (not by you) with backups

• the internet tells me this will find files edited in the past 2 days:

find . -mtime -2 -type f

step 5: do a clean install

• if none of the above fixes work, you’re probably going to need to reinstall your cms software

• this is a problem if you’ve made a mess of your file structure and have undocumented customizations, so, in the future…

be prepared!

• set up your site so that you are able to restore it from scratch with the newest version of the software. don’t get tied to a particular version!

• some best practices…

best practices?

• always keep your software up-to-date• keep your customizations modular• keep your site root organized and your

subdirectories clean• have clear documentation on how to

restore the site from scratch• back up your backups• minimize your use of plugins• have a simple backup site ready to go

versioning

more tips

• google “secure … site” and “common … hacks”

• http://www.marcofolio.net/joomla/7_tips_to_optimize_joomla_security.html

• http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/02/securing-your-website-a-tough-job-but-someones-got-to-do-it/

• Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP): https://www.owasp.org/

contact

valerie forrestalweb services librariancollege of staten island/CUNY• vforrestal@gmail.com• vforrestal.com• @vforrestal• slides available at:

slideshare.net/vforrestal