5 Ways To Harden WordPress Security
At Best Designers, we take security very seriously. Almost every small business owner has experienced some type of security warnings or issues in their website. Whether you manage it yourself or your site is managed through an agency, we have found simple ways to harden WordPress security.
Login Process
The login process is the most classic and easiest way for hackers to get into your company’s website. After they’re in, they generally inject malware or steal customer information. It should be your number one process to get protected.
Use Strong Passwords
We all know having a weak password can jeopardize your login security. Ensure you have a lengthy password with non-consecutive characters and numbers in place. You should also force users to have strong passwords as well. This is a setting inside WordPress as well.
Use Two Factor Authentication (2FA)
Two factor authentication can be extremely beneficial because it helps prove who you say you are. This operation typically involves emailing or texting you a password to utilize on the login process. There are quality free and premium plugins to use that will help you set up a feature like this. Some hosting company’s also have this option in place.
Limit Login Attempts
Some hackers use bots and software to guess your password. Limiting login attempts is very beneficial because a hacker will generally be locked out after a specific number of password guesses.
Harden WordPress Security with a Firewall
There are plugins such as Wordfence Security or Malcare that offer firewalls to help protect against malicious users and file changes by locking them out. Server Firewalls should always be configured appropriately allowing malicious lockouts. If you’re with an agency like Best Designers in The World, they always ensure the most powerful server firewall. This is because they implement software such as Imunify360 which also allows for daily malware scanning and cleanup.
Disable File Editor
Hackers can simply edit backend files and plugins/themes once they obtain control to your website, in addition to inserting their PHP routines. Then they use your File Editor tool to launch attacks such as SQL injections and spam hacks by injecting malicious code or scripts. These attacks tarnish your website’s reputation, drive away visitors, and potentially harm your SEO rankings.
Disabling your file editor tool is the best defense against such attacks. To perform this step, open the configuration file in your WordPress installation and insert the following code:
define( ‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true );
SSL Certificates
Not only does an SSL help protect your website’s traffic, users information and transactions, but it’s also beneficial to SEO. SSL Certificates protect data in transit between the server and the browser. To put it another way, it keeps information private and secure. By converting data into an unreadable format, SSL helps to secure data from hackers and skimmers. You can get free SSL’s with Lets Encrypt or even getting an origin certificate with Cloudflare.
It’s vital to keep in mind that website security is a never-ending effort, since hackers are constantly devising new ways to attack and harm websites. Security plugins offer hardening methods with techniques to identify even lesser-known malware or sorts of attacks. Feel free to reach out the the team at Best Designers to learn more ways to harden WordPress security for your your business.
