For website owners, a hacked website can be one of the most terrible nightmares. As WordPress is open-source and the most admired content management system (CMS) that accounts for almost 38.1% of the websites, it is more at risk than the rest.
Nearly 90,000 attacks happen on WordPress sites every other minute and this is the reasonable cause of concern for many site owners. However, there are a number of easy-to-perform fixes that can safeguard your e-commerce site from attacks. Hire a dedicated WordPress developer and make sure to follow these tips to secure your website.
Here are 10 effective tricks to secure your WordPress websites from hackers:
1. Opt for a Quality Host Provider:
To keep your site secure, always go with a hosting provider who provides multiple layers of security. If you are thinking to go with a cheap hosting provider, it can often cause nightmares down the road. Your data could be completely wiped out and URLs could redirect somewhere else.
When you invest in a quality hosting company with little more money, you will get additional layers of security that are automatically endorsed to your website. Also, with good WordPress hosting, you can considerably boost the speed of your WordPress site.
2. Stay Away from Nulled Themes:
WordPress premium themes contain more customizable options and also look more professional than a free theme. Highly skilled WordPress developers code these premium themes and test them to pass multiple WordPress checks. Moreover, you get complete support if something goes wrong on your website and also the regular theme updates.
However, few sites illegally make available nulled or cracked themes which are the hacked version of a premium theme. These themes are very dangerous as they contain hidden malicious codes that could obliterate your website and database or even log your admin credentials.
Though saving a few bucks is tempting, you should always keep away from nulled themes.
3. Use a WordPress Security Plugin:
Checking your website security for malware is a bit time-consuming work and also requires you to stay updated for coding practices. But the good thing is that you can use WordPress security plugins for the same. WP security plugin regularly looks after your site security, inspects for malware, and checks your site 24/7 to see what is happening on your site.
There are many WordPress security plugins available in the market that offer security activity auditing, remote malware scanning, file integrity monitoring, blacklist monitoring, successful security hardening, security notifications, post-hack security actions, and website firewalls.
4. Set a Strong Password:
Passwords are often overlooked but are a very important part of website security. A simple and plain password such as ‘abc123, 123456, or password’, can be easy to remember but at the risky part, they can be also guessed easily. These passwords can be easily cracked by an advanced user and he can get in without any difficulty.
Make sure to use a complex and strong password or the one which is auto-generated with multiple numbers, irrational letter combinations, and special characters like %,~,#,$, or ^.
5. Disable File Editing:
Once your site is live, it is recommended to disable the feature that allows you to edit your theme and plugin. It is generally done with Appearance>Editor or Plugins>Editor. If hackers are able to access your WordPress admin panel, they can inject malicious code into your theme and plugin. And until it’s too late, you may not even notice that something is wrong.
To disable the file editing for plugins and the theme, you have to paste the following code in your wp-config.php file:
define(‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true);
6. Don’t Miss On Upgrading to HTTPS:
With the SSL installation on a website, secure login can be ensured anywhere. You can get many hosts and hosting plans that can install SSL for free. Alternatively, you can use a separate SSL plugin and upgrade the site to HTTPS.
SSL certificate protects your website from unreliable hidden scripts and any script that can steal your data from the login forms. More importantly, with an SSL certificate you can benefit from better Google search results.
7. Change your WP-login URL:
If you keep your default login address as “yoursite.com/wp-admin” then you can be a target for a brute force attack that may break your username/password combination. Also, when users register for subscription accounts, there is the possibility of a lot of spam registrations. To stay away from this, try changing the admin login URL or putting a security question on the registration and login page.
You can add a 2-factor authentication plugin to your WordPress for protecting your login page. Additionally, check for the IPs with the most failed login attempts and then block those IP addresses.
8. Set a Limit for Login Attempts:
WordPress allows users to try to login as many times as they want but this can lead to brute force attacks. When the number of login attempts is limited, users get temporarily blocked after crossing the login limit that prevents a brute force attempt by the hacker.
You can install a WordPress login limit attempts plugin through which you can change the number of login attempts via Settings> Login Limit Attempts.
9. Update your WordPress version:
Update with the latest WordPress version will help to protect against pre-identified loopholes and hackers’ activities to access your site. Developers make a few changes with every update including the updates for security features, plugins, and themes.
Though WordPress automatically downloads minor updates, you need to update the major updates directly from your WordPress admin dashboard.
10. Monitor the Audit Logs:
For a WordPress website with multiple authors or a WordPress multi-site, monitor the user activity behind the scene. To know about the activities of writers and contributors such as changing passwords or any other activities that are taking place in the background, simply monitor the audit logs.
You can also use several reliable plugins that send you to email notifications and reports about all the activities going on behind the scene. Such an audit log also helps to know if the writer is facing any difficulty in logging in.
Wrapping up:
When newer vulnerabilities are taking place with each passing day, it’s becoming more challenging to shield yourself completely from hackers. However, these 10 effective tricks will undoubtedly protect your WordPress website from hackers and decrease the chances of getting hacked due to common threats.
Opt for the best WordPress development company for smooth and efficient development operations.