Why Should My WordPress Security Be Hardened?

There’s no denying the massive popularity of WordPress. Today, this behemoth powers nearly 75 million websites around the world. Individuals and brands continually choose WordPress over its competitors due to the platform’s developer-friendly content management system, user-intuitive controls, and seamless plugin integrations. Websites powered with WordPress can do virtually anything a designer can code in. Unfortunately, such mass appeal and use also has its downsides, as this popularity has also attracted the attention of hackers and digital criminals.

While WordPress is adept at blocking a vast majority of would-be hackers, the staggering amount of websites running WordPress means that even the most minute vulnerability or security flaw is likely to impact thousands, if not millions of users and brands around the world. And such vulnerabilities are constantly evolving as users forget to update third-party plugins that aren’t monitored by WordPress’s tech team.

This is why the addition of a simple security plugin, no matter how flexible or robust it claims to be, just can’t cut it against the vast majority of evolving attacks, and in some cases may even open a backdoor to a future hacker. This is why when we talk about security, we don’t focus on installing and using standard plugins, but rather about how you can harden WordPress to make your security impenetrable.

Here are a few of the things you should check to harden WordPress:

• A secured site starts with a secured server.  Choose a server that offers the best in terms of security, stability, and reliable methods for safe backup and swift recovery.
• Keep your computer clean.  A computer rife with virtual infections should never be used to log into a server or WordPress site. Keep your operating system and software constantly updated to protect against security issues arising from spyware, malware, and other viruses.
• Harden WordPress with updates.  Just as with your operating system, it’s important to keep updated with the latest WordPress version. That’s because each regular update is done to address the new security concerns that have arisen. While it’s WordPress’s responsibility to keep abreast and resolve potential security issues, it’s the responsibility of the user to follow through with these updates.
• Establish a strong password.  It’s integral to use a strong and unique password that will be hard for both humans and bots to crack, and to make it difficult for any brute force attack. However, what most people generally know as a secure password is wrong. Frequently, websites will ask you to create an eight-character password using at least one lowercase, one uppercase, a number, and a symbol (ie. C@tch@22). However, while this is great at protecting against human attempts, it’s not so adept at escaping robotic and cracking software attempts as such ‘mangling tricks’ have been in play for more than a decade. Long enough for hackers to plan ahead. Instead, use a combination of at least four random words (ie. markerwindowleftpenguin). The higher number of characters and randomness of the words will make it hard for both humans and bots to guess at. To better understand how this helps harden WordPress and other secured access, check out this comic by XKCD.

For more help on how to harden WordPress, you might consider calling in the experts at Core4Secured.com. Our experienced technicians are adept at keeping your site safe while simultaneously increasing website traffic via redesigning and updating your websites.

Just read a few of our client testimonials to learn why businesses throughout a variety of industry sectors choose us when it comes to keeping their WordPress site secure. Contact us to learn what we can do for you.