The importance of security on WordPress sites

Some people think that they don’t have to worry too much about the security of their WordPress site. But in fact, the vast majority of people realize the importance of security only when their website or blog is hacked, hacked or modified without prior permission.

WordPress is on the list of the most user-friendly and popular content management systems that you can find today. At the same time, the WordPress platform is a common target for spammers and hackers.

According to a global average, 8 out of 10 websites that are hacked are based on WordPress. However, it is important to keep in mind that WordPress is one of the most secure platforms.

Likewise, if your website is properly maintained and secured, it won’t be easy for hackers to break into your application. The vast majority of hackers don’t attack unpopular platforms. So they attack WordPress sites because 61% of websites today are based on WordPress.

Now, you might be wondering why your site might be at risk despite having very low traffic. In reality, a large percentage of hackers break into small, unpopular sites so as not to delete important files or steal data.

Its purpose is to use your services on the internet to send spam emails and eventually collect data in the customer database. In fact, after hacking your website, they will install a special software program that will send you lots of spam emails.

1 – Make use of “.htaccess” to protect important files

If you are an experienced WordPress user, you may have accessed and used the .htacces file. Once you change this file, be aware that it will have a big impact on your website security.

If you’ve never worked with. access, you need to know about it first. Basically, this file is responsible for configuring your web server. In addition, it contains specific rules that your web server follows to handle your website files.

Firstly, this file is used to create friendly URLs for each web page. Furthermore, it is also used to make necessary security-related modifications to your website.

Below are some things the file will allow you to do to your WordPress site as far as security is concerned:

• Block suspicious IP addresses
• Disable directory browsing
• Block malicious bots using your server
• Allow selected IP addresses to access wp-admin

2 – Do not use Premium Plugins that are offered for free on the internet

If you’re running your online business on a tight budget, you’re looking for ways to save money. This is perfectly understandable.

However, it is not a good idea to download your desired premium plugins from any site where they are sold. What you need to do is access the plugin’s official website whenever you need to reinstall it.

What happens is that free plugins contain malicious software such as Malware. Therefore, you might want to buy the plug-in you need from the service provider’s official website.

3 – Try hiding your author usernames in WordPress

It’s not a good idea to use WordPress defaults. The reason is that almost every WordPress user knows the default username that WordPress uses for each site.

More often than not, the default author username for a WordPress site is the administrator. Therefore, you have to change it. If you don’t change it, it will be easier for hackers to access your site and use your content and other resources.

If your site has more than one author and none of them is the admin, you’re good to go. However, if you have a small website and you are the only admin and Juan – for example – you might want to create a separate user for your post.

Don’t forget to assign the author role to the user. This is important because you cannot allow this user full rights to make the necessary changes to your site. In other words, the user must have limited access.

4 – Hide your website login page

If your security strategy involves hiding login pages and files, it won’t be enough. After all, all these elements of your WordPress site are not going to prevent hackers from gaining access to them. But at least it will make it harder for them to hack your site. Hiding the long page of your website will take no more than a few seconds if you go with the right method like a plugin.

Still, if you move or rename your WordPress login page, it will be much more difficult for a hacker to gain unauthorized access to your WordPress account. In fact, most types of attacks are programmed. So if you have a different login page then they will have to invest a lot more effort to attack your site.

You can choose from several plugins that can make this job easier for you. For example, you can try WPS Hide Login for this purpose. It is also advisable to change the URL every 2 months to increase the protection of access to the WordPress account.

5 – Get a reliable hosting company

According to market statistics, 4 out of 10 websites are hacked just because they are more vulnerable. This vulnerability is due to the hosting platform. Therefore, it is a great idea to choose a hosting provider that has a high level of security. Below are some characteristics of a good hosting service:

• Firewall protection
• Optimized for WordPress
• Automatic theme updates
• Support for the latest version of MySQL and PHP
• Malware scan and suspicious file detection

These are some of the important points that can help you choose the right hosting company. Choosing the best-known and most trusted provider is a great idea if you want to be on the safe side.

If you need a dedicated, quality hosting service and also expert advice to identify and mitigate any problems that your WordPress site may have, you you can hire TFX to develop your website.