It can be disheartening many times when you find out your favorite site may have been hacked. It incites anger in yourself when you’re the victim. There are multiple reasons why sites become the target of a hack.
The main gist of a hacking opportunity is when the hacker gets the opportunity to get into your blog’s system. Having a link attached to a comment or email, not having an updated system, etc. can do this.
However, these tips we offer today will be the key to a more protected site.
1. Have Each Comment Manually Approved
It can be tempting to have each comment automatically approved; however this can attract spam. If at all possible, install some form of a spam plug-in and monitor the comments that get in. In addition to this, don’t click on links that look suspicious. This can lead to hacking and won’t make for a space and protected site.
2. Download Only Recommended Plug-in
Most WordPress users are amazed at the selection of widgets and plug-ins available for WordPress. However, if you aren’t careful you may end up with a hidden virus in the code. This is the worst and most common way of hacking for many WordPress sites.
The solution is easy. You should only download plug-in that has been recommended from reputable websites that know what they are doing. If that isn’t always possible, at least Google about the website to see how they are.
3. Schedule Monthly or Bi-Monthly Checks
You know those alerts on websites that alert you of either current or upcoming site maintenance? This is essential for websites of all sizes – from the simplest startup sites to the most complex ones.
If you leave some time for your site to have downtime, it’ll reduce the probability of your site being susceptible to hacks.
4. Keep Up with WordPress Updates
If you keep your site updated with the latest version of WordPress, you’ll minimize the risk of getting hacked. This is because updates also give you the latest in WordPress security and protection.
5. Change Your Password Regularly
This is a precaution that works a lot more than you may think. If you made your site in 2004 and kept the same password through 2011, you still have that added risk of a hack. However, if you change your password between either twice a year to once a season, you’ll have that added edge over the hackers.
Thanks for the tips here. I have a WordPress site for my business nowadays and was concerned about the security of it too.
These are some great tips – I already manually approve all comments, I hope all of my plugins are safe (I’m going to have to search for info on them all now though), I will perform check on it from now on, and make sure I change the password.
I’ve also downloaded a backup plugin, so that I have the whole of my site backed up so that in the case of anything happening then I am able to reload it again. I’m sure I have some other security plugins too, but I’ll have to look into this in more detail. I probably haven’t done enough as yet to ensure that the site is entirely secure.
Everybody wants their websites to be safe but i’m just curious what the hackers get out of it. Hacking a content based WordPress website wont get them any credit card info or any significant personal information of users. Just curious what’s the point of hacking a WrodPress website in the first place.
Useful tips, I am currently using blogger. Comments, spam sites and passwords apply to all. I do check my site regularly.
Approving comments manually is a tiresome job but it can be very useful for long run. Un-necessary installation of plug-ins can also increase load time of a site that is also very harmful.
Thanks for the tips! I’m still quite new to WordPress so I appreciate the help 🙂
4. Sign up for google webmaster tools. If your version of wordpress gets so out of date that it’s a security problem it will notify you. You can also set up for email notifications so don’t even have to check webmaster tools.
optimal tip webmaster tool. There are several plugins that can help in security already installed but I had so many problems together. The alerts help webmaster tools and much, so it is not necessary as many plugins. What is the best plugin for wordpress do you use?
WordPress is relatively safe but thanks for the tips. Good read
Very relevant post for me as I’m currently preparing to design my first big website. It’s a non-profit cause, and the last thing I need is for it to be hacked when I am trying to help people.
Honestly, I would not have thought about most of these issues you brought up, so I’m really glad I happened by your site. I did know about only approved plug-ins, from using Mozilla FF and their plug-ins for years, but hacking mystifies me. Maybe that’s because I do not have a hacker’s mentality. But how is it they have a better chance of hacking if you have the same password?
I guess I have looked at it with a ‘statistics’ eye . If you take two die and roll them, each time you roll them you have exactly the same probability of rolling any given number. However, if you look at a long series of rolls, you can make other predictions about the number of times. I think. I was never good at that part of math.
I figured hackers sort of hit and run. Do they actually spend years trying to get into a business site?
Also you can add Limit Login Attempts plugin to your WordPress blog, so it will keep an eye on thsoe who try to guess your login and ban their IP addresses after multiple attempts.
It’s so important to keep up with the WordPress updates. It’s so simple that there’s really no excuse not to update.
My web host is actually kind enough to send me a reminder email if one of my WP installs goes out of date. Really quite helpful.