Think Creative

Wordpress is an easy-to-use website builder and content management system. Creating pages, adding content, images, and the right information for SEO is a breeze with this tool. The ease of this system makes it just as simple to be threatened with security vulnerabilities by hackers. 

Once hackers access your site, they can and will wreak havoc through malicious spam mail, sharing website data, storing files, and promoting their products and services with black hat SEO. While these hacking threats are scary, what’s even worse is once your site is hacked and noticed by Google or the company hosting your website, it could be blacklisted or suspended. Don’t worry; keep reading to learn security measures to take to avoid these vulnerabilities.

Update Your WordPress Website Regularly

One big thing to do is to keep your WordPress website updated regularly. Working with outdated themes and plugins is an easy target for hackers. An easy way to see when you need updates is by installing the recommended Wordpress security plugin MalCare. 

Stay Away From Pirated Plugins and Themes

Another common vulnerability is pirated plugins and themes, which is the premium version of the software without the cost. These free plugins usually contain malware and backdoors that will infect your website.  Remove any pirated plugins from your site and buy or download plugins and themes from trusted sources to keep your site protected.

Use a Strong Username and Password

The login page of your WordPress site is the most targeted page by hackers. They use brute force attacks by having bots figure out your login credentials and then access your website. Avoid this vulnerability by using a strong and unique username and password. You can have WordPress generate a secure password under the user tab in your dashboard. 

Know and Trust Who Has Access to Your Site

Along with creating a stable username and password, when you build your WordPress site a default administrative account is created, and then you create new user accounts with assigned roles for whoever needs access to your site. WordPress offers six different levels of user roles, with the administrator at the top giving full access. Wrong WordPress roles can make your site vulnerable by assigning permissions to the wrong person. Keep your admins to 2-3 and ensure you trust who you are giving access to your site.

Use HTTPS not HTTP

Lastly, make sure your website is using https and not HTTP. HTTP is insecure, and the data sent over the internet with HTTP isn’t encrypted, meaning hackers can easily read the information. Protect your website and the data submitted through it with an SSL certificate, which will enable the HTTPS. 

KSA&D uses these best practices to avoid vulnerabilities in every WordPress website we build. Our team of experienced developers monitor our client’s websites for any threats and make necessary updates monthly to keep their websites secure. Contact us for your WordPress website needs, whether that’s to build you a new site or make protective updates.