As hacks and security breaches become more of a concern for anyone running a WordPress website, it’s important to know you can drastically improve your security by using a few WORDPRESS SECURITY BEST PRACTICES.
Unfortunately, there are people & systems actively working to hack websites. There are many types of hacking from low to high end but they’re unlikely to target your personal WordPress website.
General perception about the hacking incidents are like these incidents may be kind of personify attacks, but the reality is, a “hacker” is more like a mindless robot. By robots, we mean “bots,” or automated code that has a connection to the internet. Just like a robotic arm at a manufacturing plant is programmed to do specific tasks, these bots work every second of every day to perform their programmed tasks as often as they can, on as many sites as they can. The tasks can range from attacking other sites to sending spam or phishing emails. In other words, these bots don’t know what your site is about nor do they care. To the creator of the bot, each compromised site gives them access to more resources to create a revenue stream in one way or another.
WordPress security is very important to shield our website from malware, data breaches, and performance issues. It protects your brand reputation, safeguards customer information, keeps your site functional, and can even improve search rankings and legal compliance.
Here are quick 5 Security Tips to Secure Your WordPress Website.
1. Keep WordPress, Themes, and Plugins Updated
Running outdated software is the number one reason a WordPress website gets compromised. Keeping your WordPress website up to date should be utmost top priority.
WordPress core and any theme or plugin you have installed on your website should always be running with the latest version. Version updates are not just for new features or bug fixes; they can also include security patches for known exploits. Bots will scour the internet looking for WordPress sites running outdated software with known WordPress vulnerabilities. When you leave software out of date, you are giving a would-be hacker the blueprint to bypass all other security measures you have added to the site.
One of the most critical steps is to keep your WordPress core, themes, and plugins updated. It is very important as Updates often include security patches that fix vulnerabilities.
Regularly update your WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Consider using automatic updates for minor releases.
2. Use Strong Passwords and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Using strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) can significantly enhance security by making it harder for attackers to gain unauthorized access. It is an additional layer of security which strengthen the login process. Weak passwords are a common entry point for attackers and to avoid that we must ensure all user accounts use strong, unique passwords.
With WordPress Two-factor authentication (2FA), users are required to enter both a password AND a secondary code sent to a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Both the password and the code are required to successfully log in to a user account. Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of WordPress security to verify it’s actually you who are logging in.
Different Methods of Two-Factor Authentication
- Email: With the email method of two-factor authentication, you will be supplied the code via an email notification. You’ll used the code delivered to your inbox as your secondary code to login.
- SMS Text Message: The SMS method of two factor authentication delivers a code via an SMS text message to your mobile device.
- Mobile App: The mobile app option for two-factor authentication delivers a time-based one-time password or TOTP code to your mobile device using a two-factor authentication mobile app such as Authy or Google Authenticator.
3. Install Security Plugins
Thousands of websites are hacked every day. WordPress sites are easy target for attacks because of many obvious reasons like plugin and theme vulnerabilities, weak passwords and outdated version of the framework itself.
Most of the WordPress admins don’t even realize that they’re vulnerable and leave their websites without giving it the security measures and tools that it requires.
Installing reputable security plugins like Wordfence, Sucuri, or iThemes Security provides additional protection and monitoring capabilities, such as malware scanning and firewall protection.
Always have reliable and best security plugins offer features like malware scanning, firewall protection, error logs and login attempt monitoring.
4. Secure Your Login Page
Securing your login page by changing the default URL and limiting login attempts can prevent brute-force attacks as the login page is a frequent target for brute-force attacks.
The idea behind hiding the wp-admin is that hackers can’t hack what they can’t find. The truth is that most Hide Backend features are simply security through obscurity, which can be considered for diversion of attention. Hiding your backend wp-admin URL can definitely help to mitigate some of the attacks on your login.
Change the default login URL from /wp-admin to something unique. Limit login attempts to prevent brute-force attacks. You can use plugins to achieve this.
5. Regular Backups
When it comes to security, we should be prepared for the worst. In worst scenario, your site can be hacked even if you follow the WordPress security best practices. If an attacker successfully compromises your site, having a backup will allow you to restore your site to a clean state. Since WordPress doesn’t have a built-in backup tool, having a solid backup strategy is your disaster insurance.
Regular backups of your website files and database are crucial, ensuring you can restore your site in case of an attack.
Schedule regular backups of your website files and database. Store backups in a secure, offsite location. Plugins like UpdraftPlus, Snapshot Pro, BackupBuddy can help automate this process.
Wrapping up
Most of the WordPress admins don’t even realize that they’re vulnerable and leave their websites without giving it the security measures and tools that it requires. While WordPress security issues do exist, most can be avoided with WordPress security best practices and an awareness of the potential security risks.
Armed with knowledge and strategies to protect your WordPress site, you can greatly minimize your vulnerability to hacks and keep your WordPress site safe and secure
Website security is a complicated subject and you don’t want to go at it alone, especially if you’re not quite sure how everything works. As hacks and security breaches become more of a concern for anyone running a WordPress website, it’s important to have someone who can take care of your website security and maintenance.
We at WordPromise provides instant support for all your website security needs. It’s like becoming your technical website support partner. You can reach out to WordPromise for more detailed information & consultation.
