In the Web development industry, WordPress is considered as the most famous and popular CMS and blogging platform. Its features and flexibility not only attracts the web developers, but it also makes favorite targets for hackers. So, you will require extra efforts to protect or guard your wordpress site and visitors data from hackers.
In this blog, we will discuss how to secure your wordpress website with the help of following tips, you will be able secure site from the hackers and keep your data safe.
Recommended: Noteworthy .htaccess Tips To Improve Your WordPress Site Security
Secure your wordpress website:
- Keep WordPress site and Plugins up-to-date:
Always try to backup your site and check regularly for latest versions available and install it to update your site for information security. You can also check latest updates available for security patches, plugin and theme to ensure data is more safe.
- Restrict Your WordPress Admin Login Access to Specific IP Address::
It is very imperative to stop unathorized access of WP admin account and wp-login page should be accessible only to an authorized individual. If your wordpress admin folder (/wp-admin) is ristricted , then your visitor could not able to access your WordPress Admin area. In order to keep it safe and secure wp-admin, just copy and past following code in your .htaccess file that can be found in root folder of your site:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^(.*)?wp-login\.php(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^(.*)?wp-admin$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^XXX\.XXX\.XXX\.XXX$
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
Don’t forget to replace xx values with your own IP addresses to allow limit access of /wp-login.php. If you allow multiple IP address, then add IP address on a new line.
- Secure WordPress Site with SSL and HTTPS
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a security protocol used to authenticate and establish encrypted connection between your web server and a User’s browser, So all data transmission over encrypted connection will be safe from Man-in-middle (MITM) attacks.
So, SSL certificate installation on your WordPress site helps to provide secure communications over the Internet or computer network and enables HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) in begining of the URL, which proves authentication for website that is associated with server. User ensure that site is safe and secure for submiting their information. If you are planning to move WordPress site from HTTP to HTTPS then it is worth to check SSL reseller websites such as CheapSSLShop.com to obtain SSL certificate at lowest price.
- Never use default ‘Admin’ as your username:
Many hackers guess “admin” as username easily. But it can prove them wrong by changing your usename your WordPress admin account. If you are activating a new WP site, then you need to create a new unique username. You can also delete created ‘admin’ username and new one over ‘users’ in the left navigation panel in your WordPress dashboard.
Recently, there was a spate of brute-force attacks launched at WP themes that consist of repeating login attempts using the “admin” as the username.
Thus, it is strongly recommended to set the difficult username that becomes difficult to crack for attackers.
- Create Strong Password in WordPress Admin Login:
Around 10% of WP sites are hacked because of weak passwords. In fact, many people set their passwords like “1234” . And with such passwords, you will not be able to protect your site.
It is better for you to use a meaningful sentence that can remember and also set the strong password, which you can generate using various tools available online. You can also use a password manager like “LastPass” to remember your master passwords.
- Add Two Factor Authentication (TFA) to Secure WordPress Login:
You can setup two-factor authentication in login screen of WP sites using plugin called “Two-Factor”. You can also setup TFA either SMS verification or Google Authenticator App. It is one of the simplest and effective two-factor authentications.
- Use Secure Hosting for Your WP site
Choose best and strong hosting platform for your WordPress website, where no one can exploit vulnerability. So, it is important to look for best WordPress hosting companies that has security and good performance as their first priority.
While choosing a web hosting company, don’t go for the cheapest service provider, but find the reliable company that has a good track-record for appropriate security measures. We recommend Kinsta as secure WordPress hosting platform.
- Protect your WP Site from Viruses and Malware
It is important for you to keep your computer virus-free as an infected system allows the attacker to access your login credentials and genuinely sign-in to your dashboard. That’s why it is necessary to use the latest antivirus software and download latest security update on computer where you are going to access your WordPress website.
Conclusion
With the help of 8 simple tips, you can improve security to your WordPress site. While these tips alone won’t guarantee that your website is never hacked, but still following them will somehow stop the automated attacks and can reduce the overall risk.
Author Bio: Lucy Barret is a WordPress Developer at WPGeeks Ltd. She provide PSD to WordPress conversion services and handles all major projects along with her team of developers. She is a passionate bloggers and enjoys sharing WordPress tutorials. Follow her company on various social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
