Plugins created by me, in which personal or confidential data is entered, always contain a method to store this data in a secure manner. Let me briefly describe this in more detail.

An extremely important and justified question! Plugins created by me, in which personal or confidential data is entered, always contain a method for securely storing this data in encrypted form. Let me briefly describe this in more detail. Preliminary remark This is not about creating backups. The topic of this article is a description of how plugins developed by me handle data worthy of protection. As the website operator, you are responsible for backing up your website's data. Basic ideas There are various methods of implementing encryption. The German Federal Ministry for Security has provided an article on this here: https://www.bsi.bund.de/DE/Themen/Verbraucherinnen-und-Verbraucher/Informationen-und-Empfehlungen/Cyber-Sicherheitsempfehlungen/Daten-sichern-verschluesseln-und-loeschen/Datenverschluesselung/datenverschluesselung_node.html They recommend the use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which according to current knowledge is the way to go. However, this alone is not enough, as you should not only think about the encryption method but also about where the necessary key is stored. Use in my plugins Each of my plugins that require this therefore contains a component that provides AES encryption based on PHP's own functions. In hosting where OpenSSL is available, this is also used. If OpenSSL is not available, Sodium is used. The encrypted data is stored in WordPress' own database. Keys are required for both methods. These are neither stored in the files of my plugins nor in the project's database, but in the project's wp-config.php. If the wp-config.php cannot be written to, a must-use plugin is created that contains the key. This means that the encrypted data and the key for decryption are logically separated. According to my research, this corresponds to the ISO/IEC 27002 standard. Advantages of this method Unlike other solutions, the user of the plugin does not have to worry about this protection. My plugins do this fully automatically in the background. This means that there is literally no effort required to set it up. Disadvantages Of course, there are also disadvantages. If the key is lost, the encrypted data can no longer be decrypted. The website operator should therefore make sure to include the wp-config.php and/or the must-use plugin in his data backup. This is the only way to restore the key used and access your data in the event of unexpected problems with one of the files. Interested? The code for the above is included as a GPL license in the respective free plugins. An example can be found here: https://github.com/threadi/wp-personio-integration-light/blob/master/app/Plugin/Crypt.php If you have any questions, please contact me :-)

External files in the media library

WordPress plugin

free of charge

media library

Add one or more files, including their URLs, under „Media → Add New Media File.“ This allows you to use external files anywhere the media library is available.

Plugin page:

https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/external-files-in-media-library/

Support forum: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/external-files-in-media-library/

GitHub repository: https://github.com/threadi/external-files-in-media-library

Articles

How is the data I enter backed up?
Plugins created by me, in which personal or confidential data is entered, always contain a method to store this data in a secure manner. Let me briefly describe this in more detail. Read more
Frequently Asked Questions
Offer external files for download in WooCommerce
The plugin „External files in the media library“ also makes it possible to offer digital products in WooCommerce whose files are not located in your own hosting. Read here how to use external sources for this. Read more
use case
Why can't I unpack a ZIP?
The „External files in the media library“ plugin makes it possible to unpack ZIP files in the media library. The requirements for this are described here. Read more
Frequently Asked Questions
Use login-protected files
The „External files in media library“ plugin makes it possible to integrate files from many sources into your WordPress. However, if the sources are provided with access protection, please note the following. Read more
feature
How can I import photos from https://wordpress.org/photos/?
At https://wordpress.org/photos/, there is an ever-growing collection of photos that you can use in your own projects without having to worry about licenses. With the „External Files for the Media Library“ plugin, you can also import these into your own project. Read more
Frequently Asked Questions
Use files from your Dropbox
With „External files in the media library“ you can also integrate files from your Dropbox into your website. Read more
feature
Embed videos from YouTube in the media library
The „External Files in the Media Library“ plugin allows you to use files from various external sources, including videos from YouTube. Read more
feature
Use files from your Google Drive
With „External files in the media library“ you can also integrate files from your Google Drive. Read more
feature
Synchronize URLs in the media library
The „External Files in the Media Library“ plugin allows you to use files from various external sources. It also enables you to synchronize these files—even automatically. Read more
feature
The plugin concept
How did the plugin come about? Here I describe the background and the concept. Read more