WordPress Websites are potential platform that is vulnerable to hacking and many webmaster are struggling to cope with the security issue. To prevent the possible change of being hacked our intelligent team has identified some basic precautions that might be helpful in this regard. This article will not merely serve the needs of fixing any problem after the hacking is done rather it will be beneficial for the specific security concerns.
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Why Secured WordPress Website Becomes Victim of Hacking?
The core elements of WordPress are extensively secure and hacker doesn’t get enough vulnerable pathways to access the heart. Therefore without targeting the default system which is known as hard nut to crack, hackers usually go towards poorly-coded plugins, chosen passwords, lax file permissions and system update. It really isn’t that complicated to harden WordPress and keep it secure. Let’s learn how the operation can be done properly.
- Step 1: Necessary Updates
Don’t forget to update the core system of WordPress as soon as a new version arrived and appear on the dashboard. Moreover you need to update the theme and associated plugins of your site as soon as possible. Usually each of the new versions comes with significant vulnerability blocking codes. So you must keep an eye on the updates and need to be secured everything. - Step 2: Unique Username and Password
By default user name of WordPress is ‘admin’ but you should not leave this one. The log in page is the primary target of hackers and the practice of automated, brute-force, login-attempting bots happens here. The user name could be some nonsense letter like ‘s3r7as’ instead of “admin.” Easy-to-guess password is another security loophole of the WordPress system that needs considerable attention. By default WordPress has secure password generator you go for that. - Step 3: Disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks
The option of Trackbacks and Pingbacks needs to be disable due to prevent some issues like comment spam lead to DDoS attack and brute force attack. So disable the option of trackbacks and pingbacks if they are not in use. This option can be disabled using a plugin otherwise you can do it manually from Settings > Discussion and uncheck the boxes next to Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the article and Allow link notifications from other blogs. The option can be amendment anytime and thus it is still in danger and right decision is to lock down the option using plugin. - Step 4: Hide PHP Errors
You should be careful about showing PHP error report on public site even though the report is useful for developers as they are used to handle bugs. This because the report bears vulnerable information of the core of the file and this could be utilized by hacker to find access to the heart of the site and getting admin power. The simple solution is to set WP_DEBUG to false. - Step 5: Use a Unique Database Table Prefix
If your site allows writing information to existing database then hackers may exploit the database prefix. So your need to change the default WordPress uses wp_ that prefix all database tables. For doing this you need to follow manual path to modify that from database. Or you can do it by using plugins without going through the complex process. - Step 6: Prevent PHP Execution
Many website allow the general user to upload files to the server, such site can be hacked by using PHP files containing site-hijacking or defacing payload. As soon as WordPress execute the codes of the respective file the site is hacked. If your site is running on Apache server using WordPress platform then you can use an .htaccess file with the instructions deny from all to block PHP execution of the specific directory. - Step 7: Prevent Information Disclosure
Site with a directory is in danger to some level since it allows the general user to gather great deal of information which may include sensitive information for hacker. By default WordPress is capable enough to deal with this issue. You can disable the following directory by using .htaccess, wp-config.php, and sensitive files in your site’s wp-content directory. This can be done both manually and with the help of plugin. - 8.Periodical Scan to Determine Vulnerabilities
If you have already implemented the stated strategies mention in this article you have actually done the task of hardening effectively. But the security is a changing issue and you always need to keep an eye on it. For checking security issue regularly you can take help of plugin or you can do it manually.
Conclusion
If you have lots of passion about your current website and don’t want to lose it then you must be serious about the security issue and you should deal with all of the hassle of dealing with the fallout of a hacked site. Apart from this image of a business website mostly depend on clients security and you may lose your clients as soon as you image is down of being hacked. So literally you can’t ignore the issue. So map your strategy right now to protect your site and go for it.
