WordPress has become the most popular Content Management System (CMS) for blog content hosting around the world. It powers almost 30% of the websites that are currently hosted on the Internet.
With its massive user base and community, security has been the top concern for WordPress users. Hackers are always eager to find a way to break into WordPress sites and thus security has become a leading issue. It’s mostly the case for new WordPress users who are new to this platform. Lack of knowledge and tips to secure your site is the main reason for getting yourself hacked.
Although some issues might come from WordPress itself, most of the reason behind hacked WordPress website is the unawareness of users towards WordPress security. I have also been through this because my first WordPress website was hacked within a month of hosting it.
You should note that WordPress vulnerability doesn’t just come from its core but also from themes and plugins we use. From a recent report it was found that most of the vulnerabilities in WordPress comes from:
➢ 52% are from WordPress plugins
➢ 37% are from core WordPress
➢11% are from WordPress themes
Here are some of the points I extracted which will make you concerned about your WordPress website security.
• You will avoid losing a lot of money and save your time.
Most of the time generating revenue from your website is the main reason why people start blogging. Instead of earning money, if you lose some then there’s no point in running your website. If you don’t concern yourself about WordPress security then that’s what going to happen with you. A hacked website will redirect your visitors to a malicious link which will make your visitors lose trust in you. Likewise reclaiming a hacked website will also cost you money. You will also have to invest a couple of hours to reclaim your hacked website.
• Resources / Information to hack websites is easily found on the internet.
If someone wants to hack your WordPress website then it’s really easy if you haven’t concerned yourself about your website security. One can easily find tons of techniques to hack your website just by Googling the term “How to Hack WordPress Website”, “WordPress SQL Injection”, “Brute force WordPress Website” etc. This will provide all the necessary resources and video tutorials to hack a WordPress website if he/she seriously wants to.
• Hackers don’t always target big websites, they target small/new websites.
In my experience, I have found that most of the hackers don’t attack websites which are considered “High Profiles”. Only a few top class hackers go for big websites like Facebook, Amazon etc. to steal credit card information and other valuable information. Most of the time hackers who are in their learning phase / new to hacking are the ones hacking your website. They just choose your website randomly and hack it just for fun. With low security, most of the new WordPress users become victims of these types of hackers.
• Hackers mostly target standardized platform.
Most of the hackers don’t hack to just steal the information that may be on your website. It’s that they want to test their hacking skill and knowledge on the website that is being built using “Standardized Platform” which are branded as secure by the companies. The most commonly targeted websites are built using WordPress as it’s at the peak of Content Management Systems (i.e. WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc.). While these platforms have helped to renovate Internet by making attractive and dynamic websites, they have also made it easier to hack and exploit site owner who is ignorant toward security.
• Embarrassing content and website downtime causes harm.
Having your website down for an hour causes a serious impact on your business and results in the loss of integrity towards you. A hacked website cause more troubles then you have imagined. It results in the loss of confidential data like client details, credit card information. Hackers also take your website down and place embarrassing content on your website or redirect your visitors towards the malicious site. This will affect your website rank in search engine results as search engines remove such malicious and inappropriate sites from their listings.
How to make your WordPress website secure?
You might have got some hindsight on what will happen if your website gets hacked or what happens if you aren’t conscious about security of your website. In my experience, I have found that following tips will surely help to secure your WordPress website.
• Use Security Plugins:
Out of all the security plugins I have used, I found Security Ninja to be the most useful one. Installing this plugin is like having your own personal security tester for your website. By installing this plugin you won’t have a second thought about WordPress security and just relax on building up your website. You can quickly start with a free version of Security Ninja.
This plugin checks your website with 50+ tests to find possible bugs and errors and notify you for free. This plugin is also lightweight unlike other security plugins, which results in constant load time of your website.
Here are some of the tests that are performed by Security Ninja are:
➢ Brute force attacks to check password strength of user accounts
➢ 0-day exploits tests
➢ File permission & debug and auto-update tests
➢ Checks if the server is vulnerable to the Shellshock bug #6271 and #7169
➢ Checks your PHP and MySQL versions
➢ Checks you plugins & themes compatibility and if they are up to date
➢ Checks the Strength of your WordPress database passwords
➢ Checks if expose_php PHP directive is turned off
• Use a strong password:
Don’t use passwords which can be easily guessed by hackers. Your WordPress admin password must be strong, include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, special characters, and numbers.
• Update your WordPress installation, themes and plugins regularly:
WordPress and, themes and plugin developers provide regular updates which often include patches for security issues in the code. Updating to the latest version makes you safe from hackers who exploit these vulnerabilities.
• Backup your website regularly:
You should regularly backup your WordPress website. With regular backups of your website, you can easily revert your website to the previous condition in case of any problem.
Conclusion:
Just follow security protocols and don’t neglect basic security measures. So as long as you keep security in mind you will be safe.
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