Step-by-step security guide for WordPress

by James · November 17, 2022

As the internet becomes increasingly integrated into daily life, website security is more important than ever. Hackers can gain access to sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and social security numbers, through websites with weak security. This can lead to identity theft and financial fraud.

Your website’s CMS (content management system) acts as the backbone of your entire setup. The most prominent CMS today is WordPress which is used by over 455 million worldwide. Naturally, WordPress is a lucrative target for cybercriminals and highlights the fact why WordPress security should never be ignored.

WordPress or any other CMS, while 100% security may be a myth, there are a few things you can do to ensure your website is secure from external and internal threats.

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Secure hosting

A website is a powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes reach new customers and grow. However, a website is only as secure as the hosting provider it uses. That’s why it’s important to choose a secure website hosting provider when setting up your website. Here are two things to look for in a secure website hosting provider:

1. Industry-leading security measures: A good web hosting provider will have industry-leading security measures in place to protect your website from hackers and other online threats. This includes things like firewalls, DDoS protection and malware scanning.

2. Regular backups: In the event that your website is hacked or compromised, regular backups will ensure that you can quickly restore your website to its previous state. A good web hosting provider will automatically perform regular backups of your website.

According to studies, around 8 percent of hacked WordPress sites are due to weak passwords. However, as the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, WordPress has a responsibility to its users to keep their information safe. One way it does this is by offering two-factor authentication (2FA).

Two-factor authentication is an extra layer of security that requires not only a username and password, but also something the user is wearing, like a phone. This makes it much more difficult for someone to hack into a WordPress account, even if they have the credentials.

WordPress offers 2FA through several different methods, including SMS text messages, email, and authentication apps. Which method you choose is up to you, but we recommend using an authentication app like Authy or Google Authenticator.

Updated plugins

The reason WordPress powers millions of websites and blogs is its ease of use and free plugins. Although WordPress is good at adding new features and constantly issuing security updates, zero-day vulnerabilities can be a disaster.

Therefore, always keep your plugins up to date because newer versions of plugins often fix security vulnerabilities that older versions had. Outdated plugins can cause compatibility issues with other plugins or with WordPress itself.

In addition, newer versions of plugins usually have new features and improvements that can make your site work better. So the next time you see a plugin update available, don’t ignore it – go ahead and update!

There are a few reasons why webmasters might want to change the default WordPress login URL. By doing so, you can help keep your site more secure against hackers and bots trying to brute force access. Additionally, it can also deter casual users from trying to snoop around areas of your site they shouldn’t be.

If you run a membership site or community, you may want to change the login URL to something more branded and memorable for your users. By making it easy for them to find and log in, you can reduce frustration and increase usage.

Whatever your reason for wanting to change your WordPress login URL, it’s actually quite easy to do. There are a few different methods you can use, including plugins and editing code directly.

As a website owner, it is important to ensure that your website is secure. One way to do this is to use a WordPress login limit plugin. This type of plugin will help protect your website by limiting the number of failed login attempts.

There are many benefits to using a WordPress login limit plugin. By limiting the number of failed login attempts, you can help prevent hackers from gaining access to your website. In addition, this plugin can also help improve the security of your password.

If you are looking for a way to improve the security of your website, we recommend that you consider using a login limit WordPress plugin.

Security plugins

Using a security plugin is a must. There are many security plugins available for WordPress, but not all are created equal. Do some research and find a plugin that suits your needs. (We recommend looking at Wordfence or Sucuri.)

Once you’ve found a plugin, install it and activate it. Follow the instructions on the plugin’s settings page to configure it correctly.

Most security plugins will offer features such as IP address blocking, two-factor authentication, malware scanning, and more. Choose the features that are most important to you and make sure they are enabled.

Keep your security plugin up to date by installing new versions as they are released.

If you plan to give someone else access to your WordPress admin panel, there are some security measures you should take first.

First, make sure to create a separate user account for the person you’re giving access to. That way, if their account is ever compromised, your main admin account will remain safe.

Next, make sure to set strong passwords for both your main administrator account and the new user account. Use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols to make it as difficult as possible for hackers to guess.

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Malicious actors are constantly coming up with new ways to use a company’s online presence against them, while cybersecurity specialists are always coming up with new ways to counter them.

This is the never-ending cycle of cyber security, and we are all caught in the center. Your WordPress site is just like any other site on the internet when it comes to cyber attacks. However, by following the above recommended tips and hacks, you can secure your WordPress site from cybercriminals or at least reduce the risk of being attacked.