Last week was rather quiet. But we're starting with a topic that's not at all quiet: brute force attacks, probably the biggest threat to your WordPress projects (which is fortunately very easy to counter). We also take a look at the role of WordPress in the Internet of Things and a campaign by Automattic, which yesterday in the USA was about nothing less than the future of the free internet.
Brute force attacks: One of the biggest and most primitive threats to WordPress
In May 2017 alone, WordPress sites fell victim to so-called brute force attacks 900 million times. And as the number of WordPress-based websites increases, so does the risk of your WordPress projects falling victim to such an attack. While the sheer numbers make brute force attacks a real danger, you can defend yourself against automated attacks relatively easily in practice. We have the most important facts for you.
WordPress and the Internet of Things
The so-called Internet of Things (IoT) describes the development towards networking internet-enabled devices with each other, for example in the home or in industry. As around 28.3 percent of the 10 million largest websites currently run on WordPress, Nick Schäferhoff explores the exciting question of what role WordPress will play in this and what dangers the IoT entails.
Simple gimmicks, such as a lamp lighting up with every new sale or comment, can already be implemented with various tools in WordPress. With the help of the WP REST API, which was specially developed to integrate WordPress into external services, even more complex IoT applications will probably be possible in the future.
Automattic in the fight for net neutrality
A protest for the preservation of net neutrality took place in the USA on Wednesday. This is because the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to abolish net neutrality again, even though it was only protected by law by the Democrats in 2015. For example, internet providers are currently not allowed to favor services or content over others by providing them with more bandwidth. If the FCC is successful with its plan, this could mean that a kind of two-tier internet emerges in the USA. WordPress users were able to join the digital protest yesterday with the "Fight for Net Neutrality Plugin" developed by Automattic specifically for the protest.
More news at a glance
Call from the WCEU 2018 organizing team
The organizers of WordCamp Europe 2018 are still looking for organizers for the areas of Communications, Community, Design, Local, Public Relations, Photography, Speakers, Sponsors and Volunteers.
WPCampus 2017: free livestream
From July 14-15, the second WPCampus event will take place in Buffalo, USA. The vision of the annual conference is "to advance higher education by providing a support structure and wealth of knowledge for anyone who uses, or is interested in using, WordPress in the world of higher education". You can follow the sessions free of charge in the livestream. Due to the time difference, the first session will start at 3:30 pm instead of 9:30 am.
