Most of the time we do not worry about the security of our WordPress website until it is too late but it is important to remember that your website is your piece of valuable property in the Internet and therefore, you want to ensure that it is safe from intruders, thieves or hackers.
Although some believe that the WordPress software is not secure, it is actually quite the opposite. WordPress is built with a solid and secure framework, but that does not mean that it is impossible for hackers to sneak their way into your website. Breaches to WordPress may occur due to weak user passwords, not keeping the software up to date and vulnerabilities in plugins or themes.
Forward Web encourages you to be proactive when it comes to your security and we highly believe that investing a small amount of time planning and preparing ahead can reduce the risk of your website being hacked. With that being said, we recommended the following security plugins for your WordPress website:
All in One WPSecurity & Firewall
All in One WP Security & Firewall is great and one of the features we really like about it is the meter on your dashboard that gives your site a score of how secure it is. You can increase your score by adding additional security options.
BruteProtect
A common way that hackers try to gain access to your site is through something called a Brute Force Attack. It is possible for a hacker to gain access to your site the passwords are weak because in a brute force attack, bots are sent to your site to try different combinations of usernames and passwords (over and over again) and because it is a computer running the attack, it can try countless combinations in a short period of time.
Brute force attacks can cause issues on your site even if you have created a solid password. Due to the numerous attempts the bots try to log in, the server can overload and can cause your website to go offline. To protect your site and prevent this from happening, BruteForce works by identifying these bots and blocks them from your site. If somebody tries to log in to your website and fails too many times, their IP address is restricted from your site.
Additionally, once BruteForce has identified the IP Addresses of the bots, it keeps track of them in a network. This is a great feature because if a bot tries a brute force attack on one website on the BruteProtected network, all websites on the network will block that IP address!
iThemes Security
Overall, iThemes Security is the best security plugin you can find! That’s because it’s powerful but yet super user friendly. This plugin not only hardens the security but it will also fix many issues that leave WordPress sites vulnerable which includes: scanning your site for any vulnerabilities, hide the login and admin pages, make regular backups of your database and remove information hackers use to gain access to your site.
Another great feature of this plugin is the checklist of action items presented on the dashboard. These action items are listed from most important to least and you can click each item which will take you to a page where you can enable that security option. If you are a more experienced WordPress user, there are also a number of advance options available.
Google Authenticator
Even if you create the strongest password possible, hackers have several methods they can use to find your password and gain access to your website. Using the 2-factor authentication to log into your site is a great tool. This can be set up very easily using the Google Authenticator plugin.
With Google Authenticator you still have your username and password to log into your site but your login form will also ask you for your Google Authenticator code. If you have a smartphone, there is a Google Authenticator app available which is very simple to use. It cycles through a sequence of numbers and when you need to log into your site, you open the app and enter the numbers shown.
This additional security measure is terrific and makes it nearly impossible for a hacker to get your Google Authenticator code even if they do happen to gain access to your username and password.
Sucuri Security
Sucuri Inc. is well known as one of the top experts in website security. Not only do they offer premium services but they also offer this free security plugin that comes with some really great security features! One of the features scans your core WordPress files for any abnormalities and if it finds anything, you can quickly restore a copy of the file back to how it is supposed to be.
The Securi plugin also tracks all activity on your site including changes made to your site or when users log in. If there is a breach in security you will be able to review the activity logs and find out what happened. Sucuri even scans blacklist monitoring sites to see if they flag your website for security issues. Security issues is an indication of possible malware on your website.
Another great feature this plugin offers is a section of suggested actions that you can take to harden your site’s security. These actions are simple yet effective and can be completed with just a click of a button.
Well, there you have it, there is no reason why your website should be unprotected. You literally have amazing security options at your fingertips! It really is just a matter of investing a little time to prepare ahead and avoid the risk of your website being hacked. Please feel free to contact Forward Web if you have any questions or for any of your website needs!
