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A recent 2020 statistics by hostingtribunal, shows that WordPress powers about 35 percent of the Internet’s total websites, and more than 400 million Internet users visit WordPress websites every month. WordPress is one of the world’s most popular content management systems and it’s used by many sites worldwide.
Two factors that contributed to WordPress’ extensive usability is its affordability and security. WordPress is an excellent and secure platform for content management. Sadly, WordPress websites are becoming prone to intrusive attacks. WordPress Whitesecurity analyzed a statistic showing that more than 70 percent of WordPress installations are vulnerable.
In the same vein, a report by we live security also asserts that a million WordPress websites are targeted in massive hacking campaigns by unidentified threat actors. This intrusion into many WordPress websites is becoming more prevalent.
As such, never toy with the security of your WordPress website, make it as secure as possible. Though you can’t achieve 100% security from hackers and malware perpetrators, you can increase the chances of your WordPress website safety. Why subject your website to chances malicious activities by vicious hackers when you can follow some steps to prevent them? Here are ten steps to enable you secure your WordPress website.
Contents
- 1 Install a WordPress Backup
- 2 Use a Security Plugin
- 3 Choose a Good Hosting Company
- 4 Update Your WordPress Website Regularly
- 5 Use a Strong Password
- 6 Limit Login Attempts
- 7 Change the Default “Admin” Username
- 8 Enable an SSL Service
- 9 Add Two-Step Authentication
- 10 Use a Secure Internet Connection
- 11 Conclusion
Install a WordPress Backup
Why should you consider backing up your WordPress website when there’s a hosting company backup? The thing is hosting company backups aren’t explicitly designed for WordPress and might not help when there’s a problem with your WordPress website.
Also, website host backups aren’t regularly scheduled and might not be available for you in case of a disaster with the WordPress website. If you ever need to recover from backup, your hosting company primarily determines such, and that isn’t always efficient enough. Therefore, consider maintaining your own set of backups using software specially designed for WordPress. Doing so puts you in the driving seat of when and how frequent your backups should be, and where they are stored. If there’s any negative occurrence, backups allow you to restore your WordPress website promptly. There are many free and paid backup plug-ins that you can use for your WordPress website. However, a significant factor to consider when it comes to backups is to regularly and frequently save your full-website backup to a remote location that’s not your hosting account.
Use a Security Plugin
After backing up your site, the next step to consider is to set up an auditing and monitoring system that keeps track of everything that happens on your site. An auditing and management system, popularly known as security plug-in, will help you ensure your files’ integrity, malware scanning, core scanning, and more.
Another reason why you’ll need a quality security plug-in is due to the installation of themes on your website, which creates the chances of having a bug that can cause damage to your site if exploited. Thankfully, this can be well taken care of, with the best WordPress security plug-in available, WordPress Security Ninja. Security ninja, an excellent security plug-in, will provide plug-in scans for over fifty different known issues and block malicious activities on your WordPress website. Security ninja also offers core scanning through a complete scan of all your WordPress files. It also checks themes and plug-ins one after the other with a powerful heuristic scanner that can detect patterns and code samples in your plug-in and theme, thereby alerting you of any suspicious files.
Choose a Good Hosting Company
Your WordPress hosting service has a very significant role to play in the security of your WordPress website. An excellent hosting company works meticulously in the background to protect your WordPress website and data. Every good hosting company is well-equipped to prevent large scale DDOS attacks and continuously monitors its network for any suspicious activity.
You can either choose a shared WordPress hosting plan or go for a managed WordPress hosting service. With a managed hosting service provider, your WordPress website is more secure through automatic backups, frequent updates, and more advanced security configurations.
Update Your WordPress Website Regularly
WordPress, as open-source software, is regularly updated and maintained independently. By default, there’s a periodic installation of minor updates into every WordPress website that’s solely controlled by the WordPress management system.
However, there are also regular major updates that you’ll need to initiate manually to ensure your website functions optimally. Likewise, third-party developers who maintain thousands of themes and plug-ins for WordPress websites release updates regularly. Therefore, keep your WordPress core, plug-ins, and themes up to date to ensure its security and stability.
Use a Strong Password
The most popular WordPress websites’ hackers attempt to access users’ passwords. Likewise, malicious individuals use password generators to subtly identify weak passwords to gain unauthorized access into WordPress websites.
Therefore, consider using a unique and robust password, especially on the administrator, editor, and author pages of your site. Don’t use simple passwords such as “password 123,” which can easily be gotten, instead use complex ones consisting of upper and lower cases with numbers. Likewise, use strong passwords for your FTP account, database, WordPress hosting account, and custom email address.
Limit Login Attempts
By default, WordPress allows unlimited login attempts. However, this can be unsafe, as it makes your site vulnerable to brute force attacks from hackers and scammers. Consider limiting the number of logins that can be made on your site to prevent unauthorized access.
Change the Default “Admin” Username
Formerly, the default WordPress administrator’s username was “admin.” However, hackers got easy access since most login credentials require a username. Fortunately, WordPress now requires users to choose a custom username during their WordPress installation. Consider creating a new username and delete the initial one to reduce the risk of attack.
Enable an SSL Service
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a software protocol that encrypts the data transfer between WordPress websites and users’ browsers. The encryptions make it extremely hard for any unwanted individual to sniff around and steal information, thus giving WordPress websites high security. Once you enable SSL, your website’s URL will change to HTTPS, and a padlock sign will appear next to your website address in the browser, which shows that all your data are encrypted.
Add Two-Step Authentication
Two-step authentication, otherwise known as two-factor authentication, requires users to log in to their website’s accounts using a two-step authentication method. The first step is to use a username and password, while the second procedure requires them to authenticate using a separate device or application. Doing so will prevent hacking into your accounts.
Use a Secure Internet Connection
A secure Internet connection is also an essential step security-wise. A reliable Internet connection allows you to send wireless data from one device to another, secured with a strong password and encryption. Consider employing the services of Internet service providers such as Excede Internet for affordable, and high-speed service that will enable you to run your WordPress website efficiently.
Conclusion
There are lots of other options available for securing your website, but the above steps are very vital in ensuring top-notch safety of your site. Even though you can’t protect your WordPress website totally, you can reduce its vulnerability to attacks to a remarkable level.
