August 23, 2021
WordPress could deservingly be known as one of the more well-known content management systems worldwide, if not thee most popular one. The simpleness for clients, associated with great flexibility as well as availability, everything contributes to its large popularity. Nevertheless, on the other hand, such popularity also tends to make WordPress vulnerable, attracting a variety of attacks.
Let’s look at the solutions to keep your WordPress website safe and secure.
Exactly How Secure is WordPress ?
Since WordPress is 100 % free and open-source application that everyone can download, modify and share, this could make it vulnerable to people who would like to abuse it. Nevertheless, WordPress is really more secure than you may believe.
The WordPress main product includes a staff of dedicated developers who focus on keeping the platform as secure as possible. They will routinely monitor WordPress for security vulnerabilities and install patches as well as updates towards the software, the moment they are launched. Therefore the first line of protection is there, however, the rest depends on the users.
Cybersecurity is really a popular topic these days, as it ought to be: 30,000 new web sites are successfully hacked on a daily basis, and investing to protect against online threats is in the hundreds of billions. And no web site is immune – these types of attacks have an affect on individuals, small businesses, along with large corporations.
Websites that use WordPress as their CMS undoubtedly are a preferred target for hackers. In 2019, 94% of successful cyberattacks against CMS-powered websites targeted WordPress sites. Even though considering WordPress’ 60% share of the CMS industry, nine out of 10 attacks is still extremely high.
Are WordPress Plugins Secure?
The quick answer: Not necessarily. Only use reputable, legitimate plugins, and update all of them when it is necessary.
The longer answer: In cases where core files are the heart of WordPress, plugins are…well, basically everything else. They make WordPress greatly customizable and versatile.
The problem is that plugins are designed by third parties, and not all are guaranteed to become correctly managed, or even safe and sound to begin with. Consequently, plugins are among the most favored gateways hackers use to get into WordPress-powered web sites.
Don’t misunderstand me, plugins are essential for everything beyond the functionality of WordPress core. However, just like you wouldn’t download a questionable file from a shady website, always be cautious where you source your plugins.
We recommend sticking with the WordPress plugin directory and evaluating popularity, routine maintenance frequency, and user ratings with your plugin decisions.
Furthermore, even a highly regarded plugin remains risky if not kept up-to-date. Install updates for your plugins at the earliest opportunity, and keep well informed as to what developers are fixing and improving.
Are WordPress Themes Secure?
Short answer: Not necessarily. Work with a theme that meets WordPress’ standards, and update it when it is necessary.
Longer answer: Numerous WordPress themes are produced by 3rd parties, and therefore not regulated or approved by WordPress. Do not simply install a theme because you prefer that appearance, as essential as that is.
Your theme should also fulfill the WordPress standards for code. To be sure, select your own theme from the official WordPress theme directory or try out one that we recommend.
You can even check the safeness of just about any WordPress website by pasting the site web address into W3C’s validator.
Lastly, I will say this once more. Update! If you ignore updating themes and plugins, you are likely to experience set-backs and grief.
1. Use a Strong Password
Passwords are an extremely important element of website security and sadly, quite often overlooked. If you use an ordinary password i.e. “123, abc123, password”, you should immediately update your password.
Since this password could be easy to remember, it is additionally extremely easy to guess. A sophisticated user can simply compromise your password and get in with little hassle.
It is very important you choose a complex security password, or even better, one which is an auto-generated variety linked to numbers, nonsensical letter combos and special characters such as # or %.
2. Install a WordPress Security Plugin
It’s a time consuming job to frequently check your website security for malware/viruses and if you don’t regularly update your understanding of coding practices, you may possibly not actually realize you’re viewing a piece of malware injected into the code.
Fortunately, many others have realized that not all people are developers and have created WordPress security plugins that will help. A security plugin takes care of your website security, scans for malware as well as monitors your website daily to routinely check out what is happening with your website.
Below is a list of popular security plugins you may want to consider:
- Sucuri – Sucuri is one of the best security plugins for WordPress. It’s used by big websites like WPBeginner, so that’s a great indication of the kind of traffic it can handle.
- iThemes Security – iThemes Security is a well-known WordPress security plugin developed by the folks behind BackupBuddy.
- Wordfence – Wordfence is a powerful WordPress security plugin that comes with many useful features to keep hackers away from your website.
- Jetpack Security – Jetpack is an all-in-one plugin that’s active on more than 5 million websites.
- WP Cerber Security – WP Cerber Security is another freemium plugin that has extensive features just like Wordfence.
3. Don’t Use Nulled Themes
WordPress premium themes look more professional and have more customizable options than a free theme. But one could argue you get what you pay for.
Premium themes are coded by highly skilled developers and are tested to pass multiple WordPress checks right out of the box. There are no restrictions on customizing your theme, and you will get full support if something does go wrong on your site. Most of all you will get regular theme updates.
But, there are a few sites that provide nulled or cracked themes. A nulled or cracked theme is a hacked version of a premium theme, available via illegal means. They are also very dangerous for your site. Those themes contain hidden malicious codes, which could destroy your website and database or log your admin credentials.
While it may be tempting to save a few bucks, always avoid nulled themes.
4. Update your WordPress version
Keeping your WordPress up-to-date is an excellent practice in order to keep your website secure. Along with each and every update, programmers make a couple of modifications, quite often including updates to security features.
By keeping updated with the most recent version you’re helping safeguard yourself against becoming a target for pre-identified loopholes and exploits hackers may use to reach your site.
Additionally it is imperative that you update your themes and plugins for the similar reasons.
By default, WordPress automatically downloads minor updates. As for major updates, on the other hand, you will have to update it straight from your WordPress administrative dashboard.
5. Change your WP-login URL
By default, to login to WordPress admin area, the web-address is “yourdomain.com/wp-admin”. By leaving it as default you could be targeted for a brute force attack to crack your current username/password. In the event you allow customers to register for subscription accounts you may even receive a lot of spammy registrations. To avoid this, you could change the administrative login URL or add a security question to the registration and also login page.
Tip 1: It is possible to further safeguard your login page by having a 2-factor authentication wordpress plugin in your WordPress. Whenever you attempt to login, you will have to provide an further authentication to gain access to your website – one example is, it could be your own password and an email. This is an improved security feature to stop online hackers from being able to access your website.
Tip 2: You may also check out which IPs have the most unsuccessful login attempts, then you can definitely block those IP addresses.
6. Disable File Editing
When you’re creating your WordPress website, there is also a code editor feature within your dashboard allowing you you to modify your theme and plugin. It could be accessed by going to Appearance>Editor. One other way you could find the plugin editor is by going under Plugins>Editor.
As soon as your website is live, we advise that you disable this particular feature. In the event any hackers access your WordPress admin panel, they could inject subtle, malicious program code to your theme and plugin.
In many cases the code is going to be so subtle you might not notice anything is wrong until it’s eventually too late.
In order to disable the ability to edit plugins and the theme file, simply paste the following code into your wp-config.php file.
define(‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true);
7. SSL Certificate will not help against hacking attempts
We just want to be clear and state the facts regarding an SSL Certificate in case there are any misconceptions.
1. The SSL certificate will not make your website more secure against hacking attempts.
2. Unless you have an ecommerce website or a user database incorporated on your site (meaning users have an account and share any time of personal information on your site, especially credit card or financial details), you don’t really need a SSL certificate.
An SSL Certificate ensures a secure encrypted connection between a browser and a server, therefore safeguarding important information exchanged throughout every session – for example a credit card or passport details, etc. Thus, if your users/customers do not share any kind of sensitive data with your website – the requirement of utilizing HTTPS is quite minimal.