If you are looking for WordPress security tips, then look no further. These are some of the best website security tips that will help you protect your site from hackers.
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) and WordPress security is a topic of huge importance for every website owner. It’s simple to use. Many website owners complain about WordPress security. WordPress powers more than thirty percent websites, hackers have taken note and are beginning to specifically target WordPress sites.
Google blacklists around more than ten thousand websites every day for malware and around fifty thousand for phishing every week. An open-source script is vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. There are thousands of themes and plugins available to Secure WordPress.
If you don’t take certain precautions you could get hacked. We believe that security is not just about risk elimination. It’s also about risk reduction. The lack of built-in WordPress security is a myth, WordPress is audited regularly by hundreds of developers and there is a lot that can be done to keep your site secure.
You can create any type of website with WordPress but like everything technology related, you need to check your website security. A lot of people ignore website security, but it’s very important to pay attention to it because a hacked site can cause serious damage to your business revenue and reputation.
If you are serious about your WordPress security, then you need to pay attention to the following tips recommended by a CSO event India.
1. Install a WordPress Security Plugin
It’s time-consuming work to regularly check your website security for malware so you would need to setup an auditing and monitoring system that keeps track of everything that happens on your website. Fortunately, the one who created these plugins was thoughtful that not everyone is a developer and has put out WordPress security plugins to help.
iThemes Security, All in One WP Security & Firewall, Acunetix WP SecurityScan, Sucuri Security, WordFence, BulletProof Security and 6Scan Security Plugin are some of the best such plugins. A lot can be taken care of by these WordPress security plugins.
Wpclipboard has published a guide on choosing a WordPress security plugin. Check it out.
2. Install SSL Certificate
SSL (Single Sockets Layer) Certificate is beneficial for all kinds of websites. They were typically issued by certificate authorities, and their prices start from eighty dollars to hundreds of dollars each year but there are some cheap SSL certificate provider from where you can buy SSL.
You may need to talk to your hosting provider and ask about the possibility of obtaining an SSL certificate or to point you in the direction of a reputable company where you can buy one. In olden days it was needed to make a site secure for specific transactions, like to process payments.
Most website owners opted to keep using the insecure protocol due to its cost, but SSL is mandatory for any sites that process sensitive information. Now Let’s Encrypt has decided to offer free SSL Certificates to website owners.
Without an SSL certificate all the data between the user’s web browser and your web server are delivered in plain text.
I’ve been using Cloudways since January 2016 for this blog. I happily recommend Cloudways to my readers because I am a proud customer.
3. Limit Login Attempts
By default, WordPress allows users to try to login as many times as they want. Limiting the number of times, a user can attempt to log in to your WordPress site helps reduce the risk of brute force attacks. From time to time hackers may try to break into your WordPress site by guessing your admin password. A brute force attack happens when an attacker tries to gain access by guessing your username and password through the process of cycling through combinations.
However, you can change this and add an extra layer of security to your WordPress site. Most of Website owners use JetPack WordPress plugin for their site. If you are using JetPack, you can easily enable brute force attack protection via WordPress dashboard.
Go to Jetpack → Settings and enable “Brute force attack protection”.
If you aren’t using JetPack plugin, you need to do is install and activate the Login LockDown plugin. You can find this plugin in the WordPress Plugin Directory, after activation, you need to visit Settings » Login LockDown page to configure the plugin settings.
If you are managing your server, you need to define how many login attempts can be made. Monitor your login attempts and choose how long a user will be unable to retry if they exceed the failed attempts. Keep track of those IPs and if they repeatedly attempt to log in, add them to your server firewall to prevent them from burdening your server access points.
4. Use Two-factor Authentication for WordPress Security
Online security is nothing to joke about, especially when you wake up one morning to find that the WordPress website you’ve spent so much of your time on has been compromised. A two-factor authentication mechanism, also known as TFA or two-step authentication requires two-factors to authenticate a user.
Nothing could be worse than someone hijacking access to all of your sites, the two factors are a password and a one-time password (OTP) or code. The user needs to know both the password and the one-time password or code to login.
However, two-factor authentication alone isn’t enough to harden your WordPress site authentication there are various Benefits of using this type of plugin for your WordPress site. All types of phones are supported by Smart Phones (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry), Basic Phones, Landlines, etc. You can log in using username + password + two-factor or username + two-factor. Hackers will have a tougher time compromising two of these factors than they would with just one. Two-Factor can be enabled for role wise.
5. Disallow file Editing
By default, file changes can be made through Appearance > Editor from the WordPress dashboard. If a user has admin access to your dashboard, then they can edit any file which is part of WordPress installation which includes plugins and themes.
It is recommended is to disable file editing from within the dashboard. If someone has gained admin access to your WordPress site. If they want to add code to your WordPress site, all they need to do is open the file editors and add any code they want, one of the best ways to keep WordPress installations secure is to prevent file modification within the WordPress Dashboard.
Final Thought on Secure WordPress Security Guide
Website security isn’t difficult to maintain and can be done without spending any money. But if you fail to secure your website you may find yourself paying money to hackers just to regain access to your website, WordPress security is one of the crucial parts of a website.
These are some of the best website security tips that will help you protect your WordPress site from hackers. You can follow these tips and keep your website secure without spending huge amount of money.
