Being the most developer-friendly Content Management System (CMS), WordPress is a popular target for hackers and spammers. It is terribly vulnerable to attacks.
There are several factors like plugin vulnerabilities, permission issues and an outdated version that contributes to the likelihood of your website from being hacked. No matter how hard you try keeping all the stuff up to date, there is still some risk of hackers hacking into your site.
Listed below are some useful tips that make your website less attractive to hackers
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Updating WordPress Themes and Plugins Constantly
A quick update to the latest version is what you need to do. Outdated plugins and themes installed on WordPress site is one of the core reasons due to which thousand of websites get hacked on a daily basis.
It is equally essential to update a WordPress site as soon as the latest plugin or theme becomes available. Hacking, these days has become an entirely automated process while bots searching Google Dorks often find vulnerable sites, thereby discovering opportunities for exploitation.
It is not wise to update very frequently because bots are likely to find a vulnerability before it gets patched.
It is also important to check if your WordPress theme is well coded or not. The quality of coding can be checked in your theme using a plugin named Theme-Check.
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Using secured hosting
Looking for a hosting provider that puts security as the top priority is the wisest decision one could take in order to prevent WordPress site from being hacked.
An economical hosting plan works great if it easily overcomes all your security measures at ease. Look for hosting that has powerful and scalable servers.
This is because servers provide WordPress users with great performance and security. Using a secured server protects the privacy, integrity and availability of your site’s resources.
Preferably, you must choose a web host that offers the recent version of server software, as well as reliable methods for backup and recovery.
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Strong Passwords
Simple passwords which do not have any alphanumeric character will give hackers an easy way to access your website. Therefore, it is advised to select a password which is complicated enough and hard to remember.
Additionally, you should try changing a password every 3 months at the minimal. The primary motive here is to make it difficult for a brute force attack on your website. It is often advisable to create a long password that consists numeric and alphanumeric character which keeps your site protected from malicious content.
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Saying “NO” to out-of-date software versions
A software update or patch simply includes enhancements to your software. In order to prevent others from exploiting software loophole, users should update relevant software and download the patch program.
Running the out-of-date versions of software on the website turns it into an insecure state. The updated software version mostly contains the latest fix for bugs and other security issues.
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Backups of your data
Backing up data is the safety net. Backup acts as the best defense and if you are hacked, you can restart your security, change all access passwords and re-load your website data.
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Securing WordPress File Permission
There are different ways you can do this. When using IIS server, the best thing you can do is, install and enable IIS Forms authentication and URL authorization modules. Upon installation, make sure to configure its settings to secure WordPress IIS admin folder.
It is important to limit the file permission for various files and folders that makes your site as much possible while still being able to function properly. You can change the permissions to read, write and execute. The lesser the permissions you allow, the more secure your site will be.
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Changing the admin user login name
The default WordPress login is “admin” and hackers focus only on that username when attempting to guess the password for your site. The best thing you can do is changing the default admin username and create a new custom login which prevents hackers from stealing information of your site.
Conclusion:
Keeping WordPress site secure is one of the most important priorities you need to have for your site. WordPress website security is an ongoing and never-ending process.
These tips will definitely help you significantly improve the security of your site. These tips create a groundwork for a secure, trustworthy and well-protected store in the rare event of an attack.