Calling all Word Press Ninjas – Recover Your Word Press Site!!

Getting back into your website’s back end…

Ever get locked out? After being unlucky enough to have being hacked recently, my Jet Pack plugin kicked in with a full lock down, where I apparently was locked out of my own site and did not know what to do?? So as all good techies would do, Google.ie was my first stop and then JetPack customer support where a helpful chap called Ryan worked with me on a trouble shooting regime to try and resolve my lockout issue.

My IP address was not “whitelisted”, which allows your home IP address to be accepted by Jetpack if it uses the “Protect” element to lock down your site against a particular IP address that is trying to gain unauthorised access to the site’s back end. I never “whitelisted” my IP address which is a big mistake people! You can whitelist your IP address by doing the following:

1. ·      Set up and/or log into wordpress.com (different to wordpress.org). Select “My Sites” then change site to the affected site. Remember you need to have JetPack installed and centralised management activated for your word press “remote” access to work.
2. ·      Go-to “My Sites” and then “Security” tab to select the tag for whitelisting IP addresses, inputting your IP address, then clicking ok.
3. ·      Once done, you should be able to get back in and administer your site should you have a brute force attack in the future.

If you are unlucky like me and didn’t have a whitelisted IP address PRE hack attack, you need to do the following as a recommended approach to resolving the issue:

Check your email smtp (outbound) email server details on your email (if patched into your computer) to make sure they are not deleted as part of the lock down.

Then…

Goto wordpress.com and log into “My Sites” and then “Change Site” to the affected site. Go to the security tab and whitelist your IP address.

Then…

FTP into your site back end on your hosting server or find your ftp hyperlink on your cloud provider’s Web App page. Remember your login and password will be different to your front end details so click on “download publish profile” (on Web App Dashboard page) to see your “ftp” details for login, which is usually the first part of your email address and a very long password.

Go to wp-config and if you have JetPack installed, define your whitelisted IP address by inserting “define(‘MY_IP_ADDRESS_OK’, ‘123.22.343.76’)” under the other definitions that define the connection string (database connection, etc). Click ok, and restart your site to allow the changes to take affect on the frontend and then try logging in.

Another way (pre hack) to protect against brute force attack is to modify (or create) via FTP login a “.htaccess” file for the back end login page where the attack will likely be focused. The hack in my case seemed to corrupt word press with view taking control of the back end resources. I noticed data spikes (outbound) on Azure when I was not using the back end due to being locked out.

Another learnt lesson is to get a clean set of site backup files and copy them from the Updraft (offline) directory to a safe location in the event of a catastrophic site attack where operational back up file sets are corrupted. Repeating this at every development milestone is a good idea also so you have a clean backup file set should a hacker do catastrophic damage to your site without you even knowing it, thus substituting tainted backups for earlier versions that are clean.

I guess the lesson is the same as the unofficial motto of the boy scouts, which is “always be prepared”. Some main take away points are as follows:

• a)    Whitelist your home IP address via Jetpack OR Word Fence for your Word Press Website
• b)   Use a backup plugin like Updraft to back up your website and store a clean copy at all developmental milestones in a secondary “offline” back up folder that is not linked to the one used by Updraft. That way, if you get hacked, you have a clean file set should the Updraft folder contain only tainted file sets, which will most likely be the case.
• c)    You can whitelist your IP address via Jetpack directly whilst you have access to your site’s back end or if denied access; via FTP altering the wp-config file.
• d)   A good idea is to copy your webpages onto .rtf documents (flat files) so your content is copied off line for the same reasons (corrupt back ups) as in point b.

For Word Press and Plugin developers, I would advise the following:

• a)    Develop two-step authentication for the login page as a core feature of word press. The core is vulnerable via theme and plugin weaknesses, which needs a core security feature such as two-step authentication.
• b)   Testing cooperation between providers hosted by Word Press to iron out any vulnerability from plugins, which do the same thing on a site.
• c)    Have a Word Press feature that allows Word Press Support to decouple all plug ins, test the site core and every plug in for bugs as they recouple them to Word Press’s site core, whilst keeping the site running. Using the site Admin credentials to download the site into a test environment for this purpose may hold the key.

What the experience has thought me is a valuable lesson in preparedness, backups and contingency plans for keeping a word press site running as intended. The need to restore from primary backups via the likes of Updraft is as important as catastrophic site recovery from secondary backups like independent backup folders and then site rebuilds from page templates (including a plugin and associated file lists). They all matter equally, so don’t get caught after the fact like I did, start your site’s contingency planning today!

Sources/Credits:

Pics:

www.restaurantengine.com

www.serif.com

www.codakexpresscamden.com

Credits;

http://wpfreesetup.com/fix-your-ip-has-been-flagged-for-potential-security-violations/

http://wptavern.com/jetpack-3-4-adds-protection-against-brute-force-attacks

http://jetpack.me/2015/03/17/jetpack-3-4-protect-secure-and-simplify/

http://azure.microsoft.com/blog/2014/08/20/wordpress-troubleshooting-techniques-on-azure-websites/

Email Server Details – Article with all major services:

http://en.kioskea.net/faq/9166-smtp-imap-and-pop-server-settings-for-major-isps

In and Out of Love...

How commitment and passion equal success

Entering my 3^rd career over a relatively short amount of years has thought me many things. From a gut feeling of “where is this going?” to finding out about industry specifics that clash with deep-seated aspirations, there are wide ranges of experience that are encapsulated in ‘my life’. Despite so much content, it was always being my internalised reasons and not the external ones beyond my control that have led to my decisions to leave jobs, industries and even careers.

The journey in life has being many things for me and “boring” could never describe any of them given the experience thus far, which is why I am amazed at where change comes from in my case. When reflecting on career and where to next, the usual attributes such as money, title and function are set aside for a piercing kernel truth. I was successful before and will be again when my passion is engaged that embraces who I am as a person as much as a professional making a commitment to positively impact the world by what I do in my job!” This is where our true power comes from which could be summarised by “success = passion + commitment;”

So not to undo the established idiom of ‘results = pay more money;’ I submit that understanding what motives a person at the core rather then superficially is what we should all aspire to. To explore the above idiom further, some folks relegate employment to a numbers game in the pay cheque and give to the company exactly what they get paid for. They will never innovate a new tomorrow for a company, but that’s ok, chances are the company doesn’t expect it. So, if money and employment has relegated the employer employee relationship to a market transaction, does passion and commitment exist? My view is yes, its part of our DNA, it just doesn’t exist in the employee employer relationship in that particular scenario.

That scenario is classic Market Culture mentality and it kills companies that loose the ability to compensate for the lack of R&D/Innovation capability by having aggressive and well-funded M&A structures.  Such structures depend on relatively cheap capital and continuing access to a network of M&A critical attributes such as market intelligence, contacts and capital funds that specialise in M&A. The casualty in all of this structure is sustainable progress by growing spectacularly in the shorter term at the expense of longer-term sustainability. The larger something is that does not have sustainable structure at ground floor level, the bigger the risk of collapse when it reaches a certain size and height! As my dearly departed Uncle often told me when working hard on his farm as a child, “Start as you mean to finish!”

The fact remains that we when we leave a company for reasons other then diminished passion and commitment by forces outside of our control; we leave a company for the wrong reasons! When we do, we trade our happiness for the perceived benefit that awaits us in the next job, career, industry or all of the above, which if not comprising of renewed passion and commitment, it is guaranteed to disappoint over the short and/or longer term. In my view this is unfair to the employee as much as to the employer.

I have written previously about happiness indexes and how a passionate relationship with work brings higher performance, lower stress levels and better results on an on-going basis. What comes with passionate and committed professionals is a quality that cannot be replicated by money, title or salutations of grandeur. The qualitative performance and chemistry not only gets the job done but it also opens up a world of possibilities such as innovation and cross functional development opportunities. This all comes with successful employees living their dream in the job, which builds their company’s reputation to new heights by finding the working solution which fits success = passion & commitment; the details may vary but people in general remain constant. 

In harnessing their passion and commitment, a company is harnessing the key to their own future. It may take them down a different road, but a path less travelled may lead to better things over the longer term. In fact, getting the balance right in the success formula above practically guarantees the opportunity to do so. The rest are just details, known for many years and will be used for many years to come. Looking back on it is a great thing when you know your future is yours to make! As Jim Rohn said “What ever good things we build end up building us”, so in building a better tomorrow, we can only build a better today, starting from our own character to the unfolding of new marvels, which together will define our days!

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.gratisography.com

www.ynzl.wordpress.com

www.thefreewoman.com

www.arizonapartners.net

www.clinfoxintl.com

Credits;

My Uncle - Tommy Reilly RIP 1933-1996, gone but never forgotten! 

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jimrohn379224.html?src=t_build

2015 UK Election Victory and International Trade…

Are new risks delivering value or warning for International trade?

As a Sustainable Capitalist, I have always marvelled at how short term gains are celebrated at the expense of the longer-term view, which transfers with interest, the unresolved issues to someone else, whilst enjoying the “big win” of the day. Politics, like business is marred by such short termism and with the UK celebrating a decisive victory for the conservative party, what does David Cameron’s majority conservative government present to the international trading community in terms of relevant positive and/or negative risk?

Europe and the UK have had a turbulent relationship over the years. The increase in posturing is seen in the UK as an acceptable response to an overbearing EU, which is perceived to have too much say in what path the UK charts for itself in the present and into the future.

This grass roots shift more to the centre right in the UK as evidenced by the recent election results showing that the conservative party message resonates with the voting public in the UK, which on Europe is one of confrontation with the EU. The “in/out” referendum pledge to be held and included in the 2017 British renegotiation of EU membership gives a clear indication that an exit from the EU is possible, which the EU must be prepared for given the grass roots sentiment in the UK presently.

From a risk perspective, companies who have large EU/Euro trading exposures within the UK need to plan how they would cope with the following:

• 1)   Manufacturing provision and what extra costs would be associated with manufacturing and supply chain to EU nations in the event of a UK EU exit?
• 2)   Tax and regulatory import tariffs on UK produce to EU nations noting Ireland is within the EU Eurozone and is the UK’s largest export trading partner?
• 3)   Restructuring requirements for multi nationals settled in the UK. What contingency plans and/or risk assessment do they have should the UK leave the EU??

• 4)   Political risk, if the UK does leave the EU, what is the possibility of a return to the EU within 10 years given shifting public sentiment especially if the UK economy is adversely affected? Is political and economic risk understood on a direct and contingency/scenario basis?
• 5)   FX risk is a section in it’s own but the UK’s firm commitment to the sterling point should feature in any UK country risk assessment especially for companies situated there with large Euro exposures and plans to grow their business in the Eurozone.
• 6)   UK determination to set their own definition of ‘regulation’ for financial markets based in the UK if they split from Europe. This could have worldwide ramifications depending on what the UK would consider to be acceptable governance of the financial markets. Companies need to understand the UK position on non EU Financial Market Regulation and its interaction with the markets in such a scenario.

These are some of the risks companies of all sizes should consider in the matrix of a larger risk assessment on shifting UK policy positions with regards to the EU. It may all lead to no actual movement, which often happens in politics. However, if the Cameron administration in the UK decides to action an “out” from the EU, business should be ready.

As for risk V opportunity, there are plenty of promises in the pledges by the Conservative government under David Cameron, which may or may not come through in his forthcoming tenure as UK Prime Minister. If conservative pledges become government policy, there appears in their substance to be a focus on creating a good working UK for its inhabitants, which bodes well for employee welfare and thus for companies who can rely on a stable UK for its employees to live and work in. The UK’s position on Europe and Financial Markets should be borne against the positive intentions heralded by David Cameron’s government on wider governance pledges. Do they turn into actual policy actions, I guess we will have to wait and see…

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.dw.de

www.indepedent.ie

www.finanical-news-co.uk

www.theguardian.com

Credits;

http://www.bbc.com/news/election/2015/manifesto-guide

Passion in the workplace

Passion in your work… embracing your future

There is nothing more sexy then getting up in the morning and feeling joyful at the thought of going to work, meeting kindred spirits at the morning coffee pot and embracing a day’s challenges ahead!

I know it!! You know it!!... So why does nearly every survey done on workplace engagement show a less then 40% engagement rate for high functioning employees? For example, in the United States, Employee engagement overall is at 31.5% (*2014 Gallup poll, see credits section of this article), which represents the best overall rate of employee engagement since 2000. Why are so many leaders and managers getting so little engagement from their staff?? Is it money, power, prestige or something a little closer to home??? As the old saying goes “when you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life!” So what can be done as employees rather then as leaders to get into that sweet space where you love what you do?

Firstly and from experience, don’t wait until you are at a cross roads in your life to evaluate your happiness, do it now and be honest with yourself based on the following questions and a happy rating scale of 1 (unhappiest) to 10 (happiest):

What do you do in detail for a living? List them; then rate the following questions from 1 to 10:

•  What elements of your work make you happy stirring passion for what you do (1)?
•  What elements of your work don’t stir passion or actively make you sad, suppressed, angry and/or disengaged (2)??? [i.e. very unhappy should gain a near 1 score.]
•  What role does your working environment (3); company culture (4), team (5) and immediate leader/supervisor (6) play in your happiness level within the workplace???
• Does your current salary make you happy (7)?
• What would be your salary if you stripped away the unhappy elements (below a score of 4)? Would you still be unhappy (8)?
• Would you be happy if you ‘up skilled’ in other areas that made you happy in addition to your existing happy elements (9)?

Add all nine 1 to 10 scores and divide them by 9 to see what you overall score is as a simple average. If you are above a score of 7, you are happy but need to work on keeping that happiness indicator up given that the above variables change with time.

So for the rest of us who are disengaged and/or just ‘happy’ to draw a paycheque, we can continue like this if we wish until we retire but what do we miss out on when our passion is not stirred for what we do in the workplace? It’s an opportunity cost that will lead to regrets in our old age when we have nothing but the ghosts of our past to keep us company, which is why the time is now to be brave and move into the happiest possible job/role for us. We may take a temporary or permanent pay cut, we may not be a billionaire nor a famed member of society, but isn’t being happy in what we do the goal in life? I think so, maybe you will do when you think of that last time when you were passionate about a project, how you engaged with it, achieved a successful outcome and felt immense pride in the accomplishment.

Steve Jobs once said “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” It matters to me too! So how do you change even with financial dependencies on your employer? I would say that if you can get your employer to support you, you should do so but make sure the mismatch felt in the work place is fixable by the employer (e.g. Moving from Finance into IT where there is a different sub culture vibe and a role that excites passion). If after careful consideration your employer cannot help, then leave them out of it, plan your life your way! 

I would recommend the following as a good general direction to head in when thinking career change and the goal of becoming happy in your work:

• a)    Self reflect, understand exactly what is not making you happy (see above)
• b)   Develop an understanding of what stirs passion in you, write them down, research them, rank them in the happiness scale of 1(unhappy) to 10(happy)
• c)    Bring your existing happy elements (see above) into the list with your new happy elements and map them out into a new career description
• d)   Rate each happiness ranking and give them a happy impact weighting of 1 (least impacting) to 10 (most impacting)
• e)    Rate the new career description in terms of overall impact weighting score. Play with alternatives where each element has one or more alternate choice (e.g. I was caught in my career move between software development and data science)
• f)     Review from highest weighting score to highest ranking down seeing what “feels right” for you.
• g)    Choose that one and research industry, educational requirements and job opportunities
• h)   Research pay averages for junior to senior level, industry culture and company culture in the leading industry companies
• i)     Research the ability to transition in a timeframe you can afford based on your financial position, incremental finance available through a transition (staying on at your job, part time job, living of savings, etc) and time to job in experience years where you can sustain yourself without additional financial support. This break even point (V finishing up a college course) is what you should budget for in a transition
• j)     Develop a digital brand using social media, get your real self out there and network through your new industry meet ups on meetup.com and other networking tools.
• k)    Be prepared for setbacks, difficulties leaving your comfort zone and stay focused on what matters through exercise, meditation, balanced healthy living and regular sleeping patterns 

When times get tough, as they sometimes will, remember the old saying “all good things comes to those who never give up!” I have also come to appreciate another old saying, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”; so if a new dawn in my third career can take place for me this very year, it can also happen for you. If you never stop searching for that place where you belong and never give up, you will never stop being happy if only on the updraft of hope for a better day to come!

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.gratisography.com

www.bswift.com

www.time.com

www.forbes.com

www.entrepreneur.com

www.cashmoneylife.com

Credits;

http://www.gallup.com/poll/181289/majority-employees-not-engaged-despite-gains-2014.aspx

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/445606-being-the-richest-man-in-the-cemetery-doesn-t-matter-to