WordPress is one of the most used content management systems for managing websites. Also, WordPress websites are mostly targeted by hackers and vulnerable due to outdated plugins and themes, poor passwords, and inappropriate hosting. So it becomes a crucial thing for every WordPress website owner to secure their websites from hacking.
When hackers gain access to your WordPress website, they can edit files on your server, upload new files with malicious code, publish posts and pages with spam, and do many other suspicious activities. It also creates a lot of trouble for your business and makes it difficult for you to recover your website again. However, this article has some ways to prevent your WordPress website from hacking.
Make The Passwords Strong:
The first and most important step to secure your website is making your WordPress administrator password strong. The WordPress accounts with weak passwords can be easily hacked by attackers because they can detect the passwords in just one second using a password detection tool. Usually, most people use some simple names and numbers that are easy to remember as their WordPress administrator password.
But the password should be configured using alphabets, numbers, and special characters that are difficult to remember and track for maximum security. Also, the website owners should use different passwords for different users or accounts for high security.
Change The Default Username Of Admin:
In general, WordPress users have a default username for the administrator account. Hackers can track these default usernames easily because they are simple names such as admin1, host, administrator, etc. Therefore, you need to ensure that the administrator username is also strong, like your password. Also, make sure to change the usernames of other users according to their roles.
Update Your Themes And Plugins:
This is another simple step to secure your WordPress website. If you are logging in to your administrator account once or twice a month for updating the plugins and themes, then you are putting your site at risk. Since hacking can be made at any time to your website, you need to check your plugins and themes and ensure that they are updated.
If you are using more number of plugins without any specific purpose, then your site is at risk. Usually, WordPress is an open-source environment where everyone has access to the codes of plugins and themes. That’s why you should check every plugin before installing and uninstall the unused plugins to keep your website secure. Additionally, you can consider securing your plugins for enhanced security.
Use Website Firewalls:
The website owners who don’t update WordPress to the latest version are allowing their websites to get hacked. Moreover, WordPress websites are mostly hacked compared to other content management systems. Therefore, website firewalls are an efficient method to secure websites. This can prevent your website from hacks by allowing good requests to visit your pages.
A WordPress firewall can cover the holes on your website and add security updates to ensure hackers can’t access your website. Moreover, it will block brute force attacks and prevent unwanted visitors from accessing your WordPress admin page. It will also optimize WordPress performance and make your website faster.
Use A Wordpess Security Plugin:
You can also use a WordPress security plugin to prevent your website from hacking. It can scan your website for malware and protect your website from hackers and brute force attacks to enable you to manage your website with no worries.
Choose A Good Hosting Provider:
Choosing the right hosting provider is also an important measure to secure your WordPress website. Usually, hosting providers do security scans and clean the hacked websites for the convenience of the users. They will make your website secure and assist if there any security threats on your website. So, reliable hosting is an effective way to keep your website from hacking.
Install An SSL Certificate On Your Website:
An SSL certificate is another way to protect your login credentials from hackers. This certificate can encrypt yours and your user’s sensitive data while transferring on the web. If there is no SSL certificate on your WordPress website, then hackers can read your data easily and gain access to your site.
Conclusion:
Though WordPress is a popular CMS and provides a simple interface for users, it is the target of most hackers than other CMS. So preventing WordPress hacks is one of the security measures that every website owner should consider. You can follow the above ways to prevent your website from getting hacked.