{"id":14257,"date":"2019-01-30T13:33:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T12:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/names.co.uk\/blog\/?p=14257"},"modified":"2019-01-30T13:33:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T12:33:46","slug":"how-to-avoid-your-wordpress-website-being-hacked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/how-to-avoid-your-wordpress-website-being-hacked\/","title":{"rendered":"How to avoid your WordPress website being hacked"},"content":{"rendered":"
WordPress is used by 59.5% of all websites with a known CMS – says W3Techs [1].<\/h5>\n
Out of 34,371 infected websites, 83% of them were running WordPress – says Sucuri [2]<\/h5>\n

The two statistics do make for uncomfortable reading. Does this mean that WordPress is inherently insecure? No. Is it likely that the sheer number of WordPress installations makes it a soft target for hackers? Yes. Is there anything you can do to make your CMS more secure? Absolutely.<\/p>\n

Protecting your WordPress website is like climbing a mountain; you need to work upwards from a strong foundation and know who to depend upon. Here we take a brief look at some of the ways in which you can protect your website, for your business and for your users.<\/p>\n

Base camp – patch, backup and SSL<\/strong><\/h2>\n

WordPress works hard to fix security vulnerabilities and supply upgrades. Hackers exploit known vulnerabilities, so applying patches regularly and quickly will reduce your risk of attack.<\/p>\n

Backups are also a must-have for any business. If the worst should happen (not just hacking), you need to be able to recover to a known state. It\u2019s also insurance against an admin error on your part.<\/p>\n

Encrypt web traffic using SSL; your WordPress web hosting UK partner will be able to help with this. In addition to increasing protection, it will give your end-users some reassurance about your site and will improve your Google ranking.<\/p>\n

Foothills – how can I secure my WordPress website login page?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On installing WordPress, change the admin username and set a strong password. Also change the default URL, making it harder for a hacker to target.<\/p>\n

The wp-config.php file is your crown jewels, move it up a level out of the installation folder and disable it for editing. You should also reset the permissions on the folders using chmod. This is a must-do step if you create new folders.<\/p>\n

Trust your sherpas – get help with your WordPress website<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Your WordPress web hosting UK partner will be able to advise you on DDoS attacks. This will involve firewalls but also analysing incoming web traffic.<\/p>\n

Anyone using online banking will be familiar with 2-factor authentication. These types of features are unlikely to be added as WordPress security enhancements due to the underlying code architecture, which has prompted the growth of a new sector: 3rd-party plug-ins. These can give state-of-the-art protection, such as:<\/p>\n