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Quick Guide : Wordpress Security

Is WordPress Secure?

If you have an online presence, you need to prioritize security.WordPress is a secure CMS, but it suffers from various critical vulnerabilities because it's open-source. Thankfully, achieving WordPress security is simple when you take the proper steps.

Why and how do WordPress sites Get Hacked?

A variety of reasons might lead to your WordPress site getting hacked. A few of them are listed below.

  1. Backdoors
  2. WordPress Hosting
  3. Brute Force Attack
  4. Security PLuginS
  5. Password Protection

BACKDOORS

A backdoor is precisely what it sounds like. It is similar to having a guest jump over the wall and get inside your house instead of using your front door.

Themes, plugins, or third-party code in your website are considered backdoors. They open up your site to vulnerability, especially if they were not created correctly and you have loopholes in their code that can be exploited. Backdoors enable hackers and Intelligent bots to bypass the process of user verification.

The more WordPress plugins you install, the more at risk you become.
To protect yourself from backdoors, you must be careful about what type of plugin and theme you install. Make they have the following characteristics :

  • Excellent Customer Reviews(5 stars)
  • Frequent Updates(Look at the changelogs
  • Popularity on WordPress(The most popular happen to be the safest)
  • Customer Support from the Developer team.

WEB-HOSTING

General Health practitioners know many things about the Human body. They might even know a few things about heart conditions. But these practitioners are in no way specialists. If your heart problems start getting serious, he will have to refer you to a cardiologist.

This analogy can be applied to hosting your WordPress site. There are many hosting companies out there where you can host your site, but it is essential to look for a hosting company specializing in WordPress.Because then, by default, they are in a better position to deal with any threat that your website might encounter. They are more likely to have a dedicated team for you and have previous experience dealing with what you are going through.

Make sure that the said company also offers backups for your data. That way, you can revert to a previous version of your website that was not yet infected if, say, one of your installed plugins or updated theme might have caused the malfunction in your system.

Many hosting companies are dedicated to WordPress hosting, including Hostinger, wp engine, Bluehost, Hostgator, etc. Choose one that best suits your needs.

BRUTE-FORCE ATTACKS

What is a brute-force attack?

This is where a hacker or hacking device tries to find out a user's credentials by guessing various options—trying all the favorite combinations of the user to see which one works. It is a trial and error method.

The automated bots will try and access your WordPress login page. You have to go to a particular URL to access your dashboard. The standard URL for WordPress logins is ,www.wordpress/wp-admin/.

How do I prevent Brute FORCE attacks?

Start by hiding your URL. If you have automated bots hammering your website trying to get in, an excellent way to deter them is to change the URL. Have a different URL as compared to the standard WordPress login page URL. Also, change the username from the everyday admin and have a secure password.

SECURITY PLUGINS.

Security plugins will be on the lookout for you. They will update you about plugins that have backdoors that might compromise the security of your site. Some of the most common security plugins in WordPress include. Wordfence, Defender, Sucuri, and iThemes Security.
Some hosting services also include malware cleaners that you can get access to once you are hosted with them.

PASSWORD PROTECTION

Most of us use the same password for all of our logins, which is understandable but at the same time very risky.

If a hacker gets access to one of our passwords, they gain access to all our accounts.

What Can I Do to Protect Myself?

Avoid using a similar password across multiple devices. It is advisable to have a password manager to avoid always memorizing your passwords.

Your password manager will not only generate a unique password for you, but he will also store it. It is a virtual safe that encrypts your data.

How do I choose a password?

Avoid using any easily identifiable name in your password, name, surname, date of birth, or easy keyboard combination like 1234 or ABCD.

Use a complex password for both a human and a bot to remember. Use capital letters, small letters, numbers, and punctuation marks to produce a unique password.

CONCLUSION.

The reality is that you have to always think of your WordPress website security. If you see your website as an asset to your business, you should protect it. Always keep your customers' safety in mind, so they have one less thing to worry about.

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