Is your WordPress secure? It would be greater if it were.
In fact, now more than ever, WordPress security is paramount.
In this article, you’ll learn why security is vital and what you can do to protect your WordPress site.
Hackers and malicious actors relentlessly seek access to internet sites and their sensitive data. The result? Lately, we are witnessing an unprecedented number of cybersecurity attacks.
To put things in perspective, Wordfence blocked more than a hundred billion password spraying attacks in 2023, and it’s estimated that an average of 30,000 new internet sites are hacked every day.
It’s a challenge that affects businesses of all sizes. Many ransomware attacks target giant corporations for higher profits, but small and medium-sized businesses are targeted by hackers due to their lack of resources and security expertise.
In fact, 43% of online attacks now target small businesses, and the worst component is that 14% of those corporations are willing to protect themselves.
Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to get to your WordPress website.
When setting up the security of your WordPress site, there are a few fundamental steps you can take for your protection.
Below, we will take a look at some of the first things you should do to help protect your website.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates are a popular generation that establishes an encrypted connection between an Internet server (host) and an Internet browser (client). This connection ensures that all the knowledge passed down between the two remains personal and intrinsic.
SSL certificates are a popular industry that’s used on millions of internet sites to protect your online transactions with your customers, and getting one deserves to be one of the first steps you should take to secure your website.
In addition to getting an SSL certificate, one of the first things you can do on your site is to use strong passwords for all your logins.
It can be tempting to create or reuse a familiar or easy-to-remember password, but this puts you and yourself at risk. Improving the security and security of your password decreases your chances of being hacked. The stronger your password, the less likely you are to be the victim of a cyberattack.
When creating a password, there are some more productive general practices you should follow.
If you’re not sure if you have a strong enough password, you can verify it through a free tool like this handy password strength checker.
WordPress plugins are wonderful for temporarily loading useful features onto your website, and there are several wonderful security plugins available.
Installing a security plugin can load additional layers of coverage without requiring much effort.
To get started, check out this list of WordPress security plugins.
In 2024, there are about 1. 09 billion total on the web, of which more than 810 million use WordPress.
Due to their popularity, WordPress internet sites are targeted by hackers, malware attacks, and knowledge stealers.
Keeping your WordPress installation up-to-date at all times is to maintain the security and stability of your site.
Whenever a WordPress security vulnerability is reported, the core team starts looking for an update that fixes the issue.
If you’re not updating your WordPress website, you probably have a WordPress edition with known vulnerabilities.
There’s no excuse for using a WordPress edition since the advent of automatic updates.
Don’t expose yourself to attacks by using an older edition of WordPress. Turn on automatic and on-the-fly updates.
If you need an even simpler way to manage updates, a controlled WordPress solution that incorporates automatic updates.
Keeping WordPress up-to-date ensures that your core files are under control; however, there are other spaces where WordPress is vulnerable and not protected by major updates, such as its themes and plugins.
To get started, install only plugins and themes from trusted developers. If a plugin or theme hasn’t evolved through a credible source, it’s probably safer not to use it.
On top of that, make sure to update WordPress plugins and themes. Just like a superseded edition of WordPress, replaced plugins and themes make your online page more vulnerable to attacks.
One way to protect your WordPress online page is to have an up-to-date backup of your site and vital files.
The last thing you need is for something to happen to you and you don’t have a backup.
Make a backup and do it often. This way, if something happens to your website, you can temporarily repair a previous edit and get back up and running temporarily.
If you’ve followed all the basics but still need to do more to protect your website, you can take more complex steps for your security.
Let’s take a look at what you’ll do next.
Never use the username “admin”. This leaves you open to brute force attacks and social engineering scams.
Since “admin” is a very common username, it’s easy to guess and makes it easier for scammers to trick other people into providing their login information.
Just like having a strong password, a unique username for your logins is a smart concept because it makes it much harder for hackers to hack into your login details.
If you’ve been using your “admin” username lately, replace your WordPress admin username.
In addition to a unique username, you can also protect your login details by hiding your WordPress admin login page with a plugin like WPS Hide Login.
By default, most WordPress login pages can be edited by adding “/wp-admin” or “/wp-login. php” to the end of a URL. Once a hacker or scammer knows your login page, they can try to guess your username and password to access your admin panel.
Hiding your WordPress login page is one way to make it a less simple goal.
WordPress uses an implementation of the XML-RPC protocol to offer greater capacity to customers.
Most users don’t need WordPress’ XML-RPC feature, and it’s one of the most common vulnerabilities that opens the door to exploits.
That’s why it’s a good idea to turn it off. Thanks to the Wordfence Security plugin, it’s undeniable that you can.
The procedure of adding extra security features to your WordPress site is known as “hardening” because you are necessarily giving your site extra protection from hackers.
You can “harden” your online page by protecting your wp-config. php record through your Arrayhtaccess registry. Your WordPress wp-config. php records very sensitive data about your WordPress installation, adding your WordPress security keys and WordPress database login details, which is precisely why it doesn’t need to be easily accessible.
Sometimes, your WordPress may have a vulnerability that you didn’t know existed. That’s why it’s a smart idea to use tools that can find vulnerabilities and even fix them for you.
The WPScan plugin scans for known vulnerabilities in core WordPress files, plugins, and themes. The plugin also notifies you via email when new security vulnerabilities are detected.
You’ve already taken all the steps above to protect your website, but you still need to know if you can do more to make it as secure as possible.
The remaining moves you can make for your safety will need to be made on the server side of your website.
One of the most productive things you can do with your site from the start is to choose the right hosting company to host your WordPress website.
When you work for a hosting company, you need to find one that is fast, reliable, and secure, and that backs you up with the right visitor service.
This means they’ll need to have effective and resilient resources, maintain at least 99. 5% uptime, and employ server-level security tactics.
If a host can’t tick those critical boxes, it’s not worth their time or money.
Like previous versions of WordPress, the replaced versions of PHP are no longer used.
If you don’t have the latest version of PHP, update your PHP edition to protect against attacks.
Fully remote virtual servers have many advantages and add added security.
The physical isolation that comes with a cloud-based VPS is inherently secure and protects your online page from cross-infections from other customers. Combined with physically powerful firewalls and DDoS protection, your knowledge remains secure from potential threats and vulnerabilities.
Are you looking for the best cloud environment for your WordPress website?Look no further.
With InMotion Hosting’s i platform, you get unparalleled security features, adding controlled server updates, real-time security patches, internet application firewalls, and DDoS prevention, as well as specially designed and optimized high-availability servers for fast and reliable WordPress sites.
One of the last things you can do to add load security measures to your WordPress website is to use an Internet Application Firewall (WAF).
A WAF is a cloud-based security formula that provides another layer of coverage around your site. Think of it as a gateway to your site. It blocks all hacking attempts and filters out other types of malicious traffic, such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks or spammers.
WAFs require a monthly subscription fee, but adding one is worth it if you prioritize the security of your WordPress website.
If you’re not sure, you may be exposing yourself to a cyberattack.
Fortunately, securing a WordPress doesn’t require too much technical savvy as long as you have the right equipment and hosting plan for your needs.
Instead of waiting to respond to threats once they occur, you deserve to proactively protect your online page to avoid security issues.
This way, if someone targets your website, they’ll be in a position to mitigate the threat and pass off your business as usual instead of having to scramble to locate a recent backup.
Get WordPress controlled with physically powerful security measures on high-performance servers, with free SSL, a compromised IP address, automatic server updates, DDoS and WAF protection included.
Learn more about how controlled WordPress hosting can help your page online and gain valuable insights from exposure to hackers and scammers.
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