WordPress being the most popular CMS in the world tends to land on top of the list to be targeted by hackers. If you have a WordPress site, it is extremely important to pay attention to security, and you don’t need to hire security experts to do it. Here are 9 simple steps, which you can follow to protect your WordPress site:
1. Use Application Firewall
It is possible for you to get an application firewall installed on WordPress. By doing that, you will be able to provide the ability for your website to monitor all traffic. If it notices a suspicious request coming to your website, the necessary steps will be taken in order to block it. Every single request that comes to your business will be analyzed by the firewall.
2. Use Strong Passwords At All Times
You must always take appropriate steps in order to use strong passwords. It is better if you can use a combination of letters, special characters and numbers. Hackers will find it difficult to crack your password and gain access to your WordPress site. Some people don’t like to use strong passwords because of the inconveniences that they will have to face while remembering what was used where. However, there are password managers, which can help you with that. Also, a good practice is not to use the same password for more than one web application.
3. Log Out All Idle Users
Some people who have access to your WordPress site will log into the admin portal and leave their computers unattended. To make sure that no hacking attempts take place in the meantime, you are encouraged to take appropriate steps in order to log out all idle users. There are various plugins that can accomplish this.
4. Control Who Can Access Your Dashboard
Access to the WordPress dashboard allows to bring a lot of damage to your site. Keep an eye on that!
5. Understand Your WordPress User Permissions
Before you assign permissions to other users, it is important that you have a clear understanding of the permission structure and privileges each role gives to a user (e.g. Author vs Editor vs Subscriber vs Administrator). Never give the Administrator or Editor access unless required.
6. Install Security Ninja Plugin
A large number of plugins are available out there to enhance the overall security of WordPress. One of the plugins we like to use is Security Ninja. Even if you have very little knowledge and experience with WordPress, you will be able to install Security Ninja on the website. As soon as you complete the installation, it will be possible for you to do a comprehensive security assessment of your site and get to know about all prevailing vulnerabilities.
7. Update WordPress
You should update WordPress on a regular basis as soon as the updates are available to install. WordPress provides regular updates not just to introduce new features but to patch all known security vulnerabilities.
8. Come Up With Customized Login Pages
Everyone is familiar with the WordPress login page, if you keep it unchanged; there is a high possibility for a security breach to take place. That’s because the hackers have a clear understanding of how to get through this traditional login page.
9. Limit Login Access to Selected IPs
You shouldn’t allow people who come from all parts of the world to be able to login to your WordPress site. Instead, you are encouraged to limit the login access to a limited number of IPs (your office or home IP addresses or your country IP ranges). The way to find out your IP address is to go to whatismyip.com.
I hope these 9 simple steps will make your WordPress site more secure. Please share what security measures you take to protect your site from intrusions and data loss.
