The following is a straightforward set of guidelines that will help WordPress site owners keep their websites secure. WordPress is without doubt one of the most popular website platforms due to the ease of use nevertheless, it has its issues, and it’s due to its reputation that hackers use this platform to try to inject their malware and malicious code. WordPress Security has grown to be an important factor in keeping your website online and preserving your business’ reputation online..
It’s Not Always Obvious That A WordPress website has been hacked.
Usually WordPress website owners are unaware that their web site has been hacked. Simply because a web site has been hacked it does not necessarily imply that you will notice it when visiting your website. Hackers usually disguise the very fact they’ve hacked your website as their malicious code executes tasks in the background away from the public eye.
Guidelines for keeping your WordPress site secure
1. Make sure your computer is spyware and malware free before accessing your WordPress administrator area
2. Backup your web site database and files before and after performing any updates
3. Never ever use admin or usernames with admin in them (e.g. yoursitenameadmin) as a username
4. Ensure your password is strong and secure.
5. Keep your WordPress version, themes and plugins up to date – security vulnerabilities are discovered every day and patches are made available to combat this.
6. Limit login attempts by preventing hackers from overwhelming your database with incorrect password attempts
7. Clean your file system – Many WordPress site installs contain older default themes and plugins. Deleting these or at the very least, keeping them updated will keep you secure.
8. Ensure the files and folders on your server contain the correct permissions. This will prevent people adding code to them
9. Never ever install pirated or nulled themes or plugins. These plugins and themes have been known to contain hidden code which gives hackers access and control of your site.
10. Install a firewall plugin such as Wordfence which will monitor, scan and protect your website.
Summary
While the guidelines above will not be an exhaustive checklist, it’s a good foundation to build upon. Monitoring your website for changes every day combined with taking regular backups will help your WordPress avoid disaster.
