You may have already heard rumblings about the bots attacking WordPress. Bottom line is that every website is at risk and WordPress is no different. It’s important for you to do your part to create a higher degree of security, because you see if everyone else does and you do not, then you become the weak link where hackers can access all the WordPress blogs. The same goes true if you create a strong password and others do not – bottom line, this requires a team effort.
Start by making sure your WordPress installation has the most current updates. Reduce the number of plugins you are using if you can and always delete those plugins you no longer use. Make sure you choose passwords that are hard to crack and always backup your data on a regular bases. Finally, protect your WordPress by making use of .htaccess. Great, that’s a good place to start by putting these things into practice.
Now it’s time to install a WordPress Security plugin that is designed to block IP addresses that attempt to flood or spam a site. It will also restrict the number of login attempts that can occur and it will monitor your live traffic. These plugins are constantly being updated so you can be sure they are on top of security concerns. Wordfence or Better WP Security are two that can do the job for you.
There’s been a great deal of controversy over whether free content delivery systems are good or bad. The best thing to do is try it yourself. Yes, there are some that really only want to lure you to their paid service but two free content delivery networks that minimize your security risk and are free include CloudFlare and PageSpeed Service by Google. Don’t be afraid to explore what’s out there.
We touched on the .htaccess file earlier. This stands for Hypertext Access and when you configure this file you gain control and reduce your risk of security breaches. Editing your .htaccess file is serious and unless you understand at least basic coding you should hire someone that does. You can quickly become overwhelmed by so many options.
These suggestions don’t guarantee you will not be hacked, but what they do is significantly reduce your risk because there is going to be someone else out there that will be an easier target.