What is WordPress?
Technically speaking, WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database.
Now, in simpler words, WordPress is the easiest, most well-liked way to generate your own website or blog. In fact, 40% of the websites on the Internet are powered by WordPress.
WordPress in addition to powering a huge number of business sites and blogs, also is the most well liked way to create an eCommerce store WordPress sanctions:
- Business websites
- Social networks
- Blogs
- Resumes
- eCommerce
- stores
- Membership sites
- Forums
- Portfolios
- And a lot more…
Also Read : How to Install WordPress in 3 Simple Steps
What is website security?
Web security is also referred as “Cybersecurity”. It fundamentally means protecting your website or web application by detecting, preventing and responding to cyber threats.
Websites and web applications are just as prone to security holes as physical homes, stores, and government locations.
Regrettably, cybercrime happens on a daily basis, and great web security measures are needed to protect websites and web applications from becoming compromised.
That’s exactly what web security does – it is an arrangement of protection measures and protocols that protect your website or web application from being hacked or entered by unlicensed personnel.
This integral division of Information Security is essential for the defence of websites, web applications, and web services.
Anything that is functional over the Internet should have some form of web security to protect it.
Why would you want to Improve your WordPress security?
Many Folks think their sites are safe from attacks since they don’t contain treasured and sensitive business information. However, that might not be true. There are plenty of reasons why internet sites get hacked, like:
- To spread malware
- Black-hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Addition of bandwidth to bot networks, which are often used for Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
- Activism / Hacktivism
- Just for practice and fun
Also Read : What is a Domain Name?
Why WordPress websites get targeted more?
⦁ Many WordPress websites lack basic security
⦁ No two-factor authentication
⦁ No records and activity logs
⦁ No security hardening and protection
⦁ Weak password use is endemic
⦁ WordPress is the most widespread CMS (Content Management System)
⦁ Use of outdated WordPress core, plugins & other software.
As per a study by Sucuri, a multi-platform security company, WordPress continues to lead the infected websites they worked on (at 90%).
13 ways to improve WordPress Website Security
1. Install a WordPress Security Plugin
It’s a time-consuming work to habitually check your website security for malware and unless you frequently update your knowledge of coding practices you may not even comprehend you’re looking at a piece of malware written into the code.
Luckily others have realized that not every person is a developer and have put out WordPress security plugins to support.
- A security plugin takes care your site security, scans for malware and monitors your site 24/7 to repeatedly check what’s happening on your site.
- Sucuri.net is an excellent WordPress security plugin. They offer remote malware scanning, security activity auditing, file integrity monitoring, post-hack security actions, blacklist monitoring, effective security hardening, security notifications, and even website firewall.
2. Build a Safe Foundation with a Trustworthy Host
Your hosting company is typically the first wall hackers have to disrupt through to access your site
- Secure your WordPress website by capitalizing in a hosting company that gears proper security measures.
- This contains support for the up-to-date version of PHP, MySQL, and Apache as well as a firewall and 24/7 security monitoring.
- Also, look that they propose SFTP or SSH connections instead of the less secure FTP.
Choose a hosting company that accomplishes daily backups and steady malware scans. - Find hosting companies that employ numerous DDoS prevention measures.
- Always check what your hosting company offers in terms of help to recover compromised websites. If unsure, ask your host what security measures they have in place.
Also Read : How to Factory Reset Windows 10
3. Use Strong Passwords to Close Off Points of Entry
Passwords proves to be one of the frail points of every website. Luckily, they’re also something you have control over. In order to keep your WordPress website protected, be sure to use strong passwords for:
- Your user accounts
- The WordPress database
- Email address
- FTP accounts
- Your hosting accounts
- Everything else that is related with your site
Also, change your passwords often. If you can’t come up with a durable password yourself, you can let a password generator create one for you.
4. Restrict File Editing
When you are setting up your WordPress site there’s a code editor function in your dashboard which permits you to edit your theme and plugin.
- Access it by going to Appearance>Editor. You can also find the plugin editor by going under Plugins>Editor.
- Once your site is live, we suggest that you disable this feature. If hackers gain access to your WordPress admin panel, they can insert subtle, malicious code to your theme and plugin. Often times the code will be so indirect you may not notice anything is mistaken until it is too late.
- To disable the skill to edit plugins and the theme file, just paste the below code in your wp-config.php file.
define(‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true);
Also Read : How to Reset Forgotten Password in Windows 10
5. Guard Your Computer, Avoid Being a Risk Factor
If your computer is infected with a virus and yet you contact your site or upload files to it, those files can pollute your website as well. To evade that, make sure to:
- Install antivirus software and a firewall and keep them updated.
- Run virus and malware checks on your software regularly.
- Refrain from using free Wi-Fi networks to access your site or use a VPN
- Update your operating system and other vital software (such as your web browser).
6. Log Out Idle Users and Avoid Third-Party Screwups
- Log out idle users after a period of inoperativeness. It prevents you and others from compromising your site by accidentally staying logged in on a public computer or when they walk away from the screen for a while.
- It is essential because your session can be hijacked and hackers can manipulate the situation for their profit.
- It’s even more vital to dismiss inactive sessions if you have several users on your website.
- You can also use a plugin like Inactive Logout to automatically do that.
7. Vague Your Administrator Account: Post as a Editor or Contributor
- WordPress automatically creates an author archive for all author profile who publishes something on the site. It’s generally located under something like https://pcheaven.in/author/sanskriti
- Therefore, consider creating a contributor or an editor account to feature new posts and articles to your site.
Also Read : How to Disable Cortana on Windows 10
8. Practice a Backup Service or Plugin for Much-Needed Insurance
A backup system helps you restore your site if the worst happens and your site ends up being hacked. Here are some plugins and services for that purpose:
Note:
- Back up both your site files and database — WordPress websites comprise of two parts. Ensue that you save both of them.
- Store the backup files offsite — Ensure that your backup files go to Dropbox, Google Drive, or an alike service, not your own server.
- Create a regular schedule — Set your backups to happen automatically at consistent intervals.
9. Harden The Admin Area and Avoid Brute Force Attack
1. Modify the Default Admin and Login URL
- By default, the URLs to log into your site are located at yourdomain.com/wp-admin or yourdomain.com/wp-login.php.
- Hackers know this and will try to access these addresses nonstop so they can brute force their way through them.
- Therefore, one of the simplest ways to avoid the majority of these attacks is to move the WordPress admin and login pages to another location.
- In this manner, any attack on them runs into nothing. A plugin like WPS Hide Login makes this quite simple.
Also Read : How to take a screenshot on windows 10
2. Limit Login Attempts
Another great way to stop these attacks in their tracks is to limit the times somebody can try to log in before they are blocked. WordPress has numerous plugins for that as well, such as Limit Login Attempts Reloaded.
3. Two-Factor Authentication
- Two-factor authentication implies that in addition to entering their password, users will also have to enter a code generated by a mobile app or some other device to log in to your site.
- So, even if hackers manage to guess or somehow obtain your password, they still can’t get into your site without, for example, your phone.
- Use plugins like Google Authenticator to set up two-factor authentication for your internet site
4. Hide wp-config.php and .htaccess files
- While this is an innovative process for improving your site’s security, if you’re serious about your security it’s a decent practice to cover your site’s .htaccess and wp-config.php files to avoid hackers from accessing them.
- We strongly recommend this option to be applied by experienced developers, as it’s overbearing to first take a backup of your site and then proceed with caution. Any mistake might make your site inaccessible.
- To hide the files, after your backup, there are two things you need to do:
- First, head to your wp-config.php file and add the below code,
<Files wp-config.php>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</Files> - In a similar manner, add the below code to your .htaccess file,
<Files .htaccess>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</Files>
Although the method itself is very easy it’s essential to make sure that you have the backup before starting if in case anything goes wrong within the process.
Also Read : How to Install Windows 10 from USB Drive
Hope you enjoyed reading this article about How to Improve your WordPress Website Security.
For any further queries or suggestions you can write down to us below or contact us here.
