I mentioned last night some server level firewalls that I use on my own server here:

ConfigServer Security & Firewall - csf v5.13

Is the server Firewall I use. It has been very useful since I've installed it on the dedicated host.

Looking at all the log files of blocked IP addresses cause by brute force and IP sniffing is scary.


Also make sure all of these functions are disabled on your server:

show_source, system, shell_exec, passthru, exec, phpinfo, popen, proc_open

Peter

Seems like a good idea.
But what would you recommend for those of us who are on shared hosting?

Go to a host that has it in their shared environment.

I learnt this stuff from my host. bit.ly/gzhphH

I owe them so much for saving my ass over and over again.

We we're talking about this at the dinner, first line of defense in a Joomla site is good hosting.

Secure hosting environment and good back up procedures.