Introduction
WordPress is one of the most used Open-source CMS tools that empower millions of websites. The popularity of WordPress makes it more of a target for hackers. When it comes to WordPress security, there are a lot of factors you need to cover for preventing your site from hackers and vulnerabilities. Even you tighten your website security it is still vulnerable at some point which makes it easy for hackers to hack your website.
The last thing you don’t want to happen is your site under cyber-attack or threat of confidential data being stolen.
In this article, we are going to share a lot of information, tips, and techniques through which you can increase your WordPress security and stay protected.
Before learning how to make your site more secure, first, we are going to put some light on the issues that make your website vulnerable.
TABLE OF CONTENT:
Introduction:
What makes your WordPress site vulnerable?
- Weak Passwords
- Not updating your WordPress, Plugins, or Themes
- Using Plugins and Themes from Untrustworthy Sources
- Using poor-quality or Shared hosting
What are the most common WordPress hacks?
- SQL Injection
- Pharma Attack
- Japanese Keyword Hack
- Cross-Site Scripting Attack
- Phishing
- Privilege Escalation
- WP-VCD.php Hack
How to fix the common WordPress Security Issues?
- Install WordPress Security Plugin
- Keep your website updated
- Stop using pirated plugins and themes
- Implement Login Security Measures
- Enforcing strong credentials
- Implement CAPTCHA protection
- Implement Two Factor Authentication
- Implement proper user roles
- Implement Website Hardening
Is WordPress Secure?
Conclusion
Closing
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What makes your WordPress site vulnerable?
Many factors can make your WordPress site vulnerable to attackers and some basic vulnerabilities are,
- Weak Passwords
One of the biggest security vulnerabilities that can easily be avoided is using a strong password for your logins. Your WordPress admin password should be strong and include multiple combinations of special characters, uppercase, and lowercase letters. Your password should be different for every login and do not use the same password everywhere.
You may be curious after reading this is your password really secure or been compromised many times before. There are Security plugins such as iThemes that can monitor whether your password had breached or not. Breaching can be referred to as the data, username, passwords being exposed after a site is compromised. You can check and refuse compromised passwords on APIs provided by WordPress.
- Not updating your WordPress, Plugins, or Themes
Simplifying it means running outdated versions of WordPress plugins and themes can increase the risk of attack on your website. Newer versions always include new security patches and updates which makes your site secure with updated and secure codes. It makes important to update the software installed on your WordPress website.
The Updates that are newer appear in your WordPress dashboard as soon as their available to install. Running backup as a general habit every time you update your website can also be a best security practice. We know, that it is hectic to always run updates and backup but it becomes necessary for the security of your website.
- Using Plugins and Themes from Untrustworthy Sources
One of the most common vulnerabilities that attackers use to exploit your website is Poorly-written and outdated codes. Since plugins and themes can be a source of vulnerability to your website, as a best practice for security you should download and install plugins and themes from sources that have a good reputation such as WordPress repository. You can also use premium versions from reputable companies for a while for ensuring the security of your website. Avoiding free plugins and themes you find online can be also a solution, as these files may be corrupted and these free sites may cause you bigger price breaching your website security.
- Using poor-quality or Shared hosting
Your server is the target for attackers. Using poor-quality or shared hosting makes your site more vulnerable making security easily compromised for your WordPress website. Though all hosting services use security measures but they don’t ensure the usage of the latest and updated security techniques.
Shared hosting is also a concern because websites aren’t stored on a single server. If one website is attacked it also gives access to other websites and their data arising some serious security issues for your website.
what are the most common WordPress hacks?
The most common WordPress hacks used by attackers to breach your website security are as follows,
- SQL Injection
The attacks on your website are carried out by attacking the vulnerability on your website. For SQL Injection Attacks, hackers attack the input fields such as plugins which can be an easy vulnerability. Hackers use PHP scripts, by injecting them into your website they can steal information and database or gain control over your entire website in just one go.
- Pharma Attack
Pharma attacks are also carried the same way your SQL injection attacks are carried out that is by exploiting your plugins or themes.
After barging into your website, hackers inject viruses like malware or trojans that target your ranking pages and infect them with spam and various malicious pop-up advertisements. The main objective is to use your SEO rankings and credibility to sell pharmaceutical products which can be profitable for them.
SEO spam is another term used for these attacks.
- Japanese Keyword Hack
These are also the same hack such as Pharma hack and SQL injection. Your vulnerabilities are targeted through various plugins and themes and gained access to your website. Later after gaining access your page is filled with Japanese words and affiliate links. Once these keywords draw the attention of visitors of your website hackers use them to sell their products which may be unauthorized or illegal.
- Cross-Site Scripting Attack
It is one of the very tricky attacks that attack your website through themes or plugins.
This hack is also known as a Cookie stealing & hijacking session attack. In this attack, the hacker leaves a malicious link in the comment section of your website. Any visitor clicking on the link can give access to their cookies. Hackers use these cookies to gain access to the site through that user and attack your website.
- Phishing
To carry out phishing attacks hackers use vulnerabilities such as an outdated plugin or theme that has weak credentials that can give them easy access to your website with not much effort.
The first step hackers do is gaining access to your site and then later they send spam emails to your customers. This method is used to fool your customers with fake online banking website methods to steal account details or steal money or sensitive information that can bring a bad name to your website and business.
- Privilege Escalation
It is a brute force attack in which hackers guess user credentials to gain access to your website or use lowkey roles such as Contributor or Subscriber.
These lowkey roles may not do anything and they need admin access. That’s when they get escalating privileges.
Hackers detect the vulnerabilities for your website through those escalated privileges and grant permission to the account step by step gaining full control over your site.
- WP-VCD.php Hack
In this type of attack, hackers gain access to your site through pirated or outdated plugins or free plugins which are less secure. Then your site is used to store illegal information and data. Storing the huge loads of data eventually makes your website slow. In some rare cases, your hosting provider ends your plans due to used up resources.
As we discussed with the vulnerabilities of your website before, the most common vulnerability is your plugins which are used to attack your website
How to fix the common WordPress Security Issues?
We discussed common vulnerabilities that can affect your website’s security.
Let us show methods to patch those vulnerabilities, they are,
- Install WordPress Security Plugin
There are plenty of security plugins you can choose from. But not every plugin is sufficient for making the whole website secure. The advantage of security plugins are,
- They help you keep your site updated
- They scan your site daily and quickly alert you about any changes detected.
- They help you take hardening measures
- They place a firewall for keeping out bad traffic from your website.
- Keep your website updated
Updates are necessary for your website to function properly and be installed with new security patches every time your website is updated. As you notice, we discussed about the attacks that took place on outdated themes and plugins. Your themes and plugins are outdated due to delay of updates, it makes your website vulnerable.
- Stop using pirated plugins and themes
Pirated plugins and themes that are available online or unauthorized websites can be used to gain access to your website.
Many pirated software distribution sites are made by hackers and they upload plugins and themes that you download and install to your website. You ignore the fact that they are not verified dealers and installing those plugins allows attackers to attack your website.
Suppose, you even get a pirated plugin from a trusted site, you don’t get updates to pirated copies that still create a risk of getting attacked.
- Implement Login Security Measures
Your page is always tried to be attacked by hackers. These are few steps you can take to protect your page from going down, they are,
- Enforcing strong credentials
Keeping a track of all the logins of your website, making it mandatory to have a strong username and password.
- Implement CAPTCHA protection
A CAPTCHA helps in limiting the number of failed logins, using security plugins can help you enable a captcha automatically.
- Implement Two Factor Authentication
For implementing two factors, you need to insert a code that will be sent to registered contact before you access your profile.
This feature makes sure that the current user is accessing the profile avoiding any other breaches to the profile.
- Implement proper user roles
Giving access to every single part of your website is a bad idea. Such access should only be given to trusted partners.
Here are the roles that you must carry out,
- Administrator with complete control over everything.
- An editor that can manage and publish posts.
- An author that can manage and publish posts.
- The contributor can give drafts for what can be published.
- A subscriber that can manage only their profile.
These can cover the common vulnerabilities that we discussed in this article.
- Implement Website Hardening
Website hardening techniques include renaming database table prefixes, installing SSL certificates, taking regular backups, and many more filters that can help prevent your website from getting attacked.
Is WordPress Secure?
The answer to this question is that depends on how you treat your website and how much attention you pay towards its security and protection. WordPress is the best for security but neglecting and not keeping it up-to-date can cause serious trouble to your website. WordPress is more than one-third part of a website. That makes covering up the vulnerabilities related to WordPress an important task. Constantly updating your WordPress helps you with new security patches making it more secure after every update.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many threats to your website but you have numerous ways to tighten your WordPress security. WordPress security is important to your website. Keeping up with updates and paying a little attention to your website will greatly help you with having a secure environment for your website.
Closing
These are the threats and hardening techniques that help you with making your WordPress more secure. IntCIS helps you with the techniques mentioned above and more techniques that can keep your website security top class. IntCIS provides you with all the essential updates on time with proper security patches and plugins that are authorized making your website a safe environment for users.
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