WordPress is considered to be one of the most secure Content Management Systems in the world. This has resulted in many users keeping their WordPress site security and updation out of their priority list as they think WordPress will take care of it. However, without your help, even WordPress will not be able to do anything for your site. Hence, if your site gets hacked, don’t blame WordPress as it was not its fault at all.
An interesting fact states that out of all the WordPress sites that were hacked in 2016, 61% recorded outdated installations. This implies that site updation is the key concern when it comes to WordPress site security. This is what most WordPress beginners are unaware of.
Now, you might be wondering that if you are a beginner, why would anyone hack your low-traffic site?
Firstly, hackers don’t discriminate as they neither need data nor any of your important files. They just need a server to send spam emails. Secondly, smaller sites are easier to hack than complex ones. So, if you were not alert till now, now is the time to be updated and secured.
1. Security Updates You Need To Check
WordPress provides timely updates for the core software, themes, and plugins in your site’s dashboard. Since all these are the building blocks of your website, you must keep them updated on a regular basis. This will help you to avoid any compatibility issues or discrepancies between the old and the latest versions. Not only this, it will keep your site safe from all future threats and malicious attacks. Usually, WordPress installs minor updates automatically. Although, for major updates, you will have to launch the update manually.
Additionally, here are a few quick tips apart from site updation that would help you to make your site less vulnerable to malicious attacks, hackers, and DDoS attacks. Take a look.
2. Keep A Strong Password And Keep Track Of User Permissions
Cracking your password is the most common method used by hackers to gain access to your WordPress site. Hence, keeping a strong password that is complex and unique is extremely important for protection. This is a tip that should be followed not only on WordPress but on every account that you have on the internet.
If you manage your WordPress site individually, implementing two-factor authentication on your WordPress site is the best security measure.
Another important thing to keep in mind is managing user roles on your WordPress site. We would recommend you avoid sharing your admin access with anyone unless it is essential. Hence, first, understand the user roles and capabilities in WordPress and then assign user roles to new users and authors accordingly.
3. Ensure That You Obtain The Best Managed WordPress Hosting
Selecting the most secure WordPress hosting is extremely important for the security of your site. A secure hosting provider is one that takes special measures to prevent their powerful servers against all expected threats.
Now before selecting your hosting, you need to know that there are two types of hosting, shared hosting and managed to host.
Shared hosting is when your site shares the server resources with many other sites. This involves risk as your site becomes vulnerable to cross-site contamination where hackers use other sites on the same server to attack your site.
On the other hand, managed WordPress hosting service takes care of all the technical aspects of your WordPress site itself. This is the more secure way to run your site. It includes services like security, speed, updates, regular backups, uptime, and scalability for your WordPress site. Some of the most popular and trusted managed WordPress hosting services are WPEngine, BlueHost, and Siteground.
4. Backup Your Site With Incredible WordPress Backup Solutions
According to stats, 95% of breached records in 2016 were from government, retail, and technology. These are the industries with the most powerful websites in the market. Yet, they are the ones who were majorly attacked. This implies that nothing in the world can be deemed 100% safe and secure.
Cyberwarfare statistics: A decade of geopolitical attacks
Hence, maintaining frequent backups is an essential aspect of site security. These backups are really useful as they assist you to restore your WordPress site instantly if something goes wrong. Remember, regular backups must be saved at a remote location in physical hard disks or cloud services like Amazon or Dropbox and not just on your hosting account. We would recommend you to back up your site at least once in a day.
WordPress offers a host of free and paid plugins for instant backups of your site. Some of the most popular and reliable backup plugins on WordPress are BackupBuddy, UpdraftPlus, and VaultPress.
We have already mentioned earlier that nothing is completely safe on the internet ( IT Consultant ). However, we also believe that prevention is always better than cure. Hence, we would recommend you follow the steps mentioned above and make your site more secure than ever.
If you have any queries or confusion regarding your site security and updation, you can mention them in the comments below, and we will be happy to solve them for you. Keep Updating and Be Secure.
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