How To Secure Your Wordpress Website From Being Hacked?

There has been a lot of speculation regarding the security of Wordpress website. Being an owner of a website which is built on Wordpress, you might be concerned about the security of your site. Your Wordpress website is fully secure and reliable if you will take the necessary precautions. 

 

Your Wordpress website can be made unbreachable for hackers provided you will take few early precautions. Hare are some tips for you to follow in order to make your website full proof. These simple but useful steps if followed properly will surely save your website from being hacked.

1. Removal of WP Version generator from the header

By default Wordpress speaks about its version and there is no need to specify it again to your users. Beside there is no need to mention the version of your wordpress, it can also be a helping hand to the hackers. The hackers can get the details more precisely about your version and can breach your security wall. You can simply remove your version from the header by adding a snippet code to your theme's function.php file.

2. Password protected wp-admin along with htaccess

Using htaccess will make your wp-admin password protected, making it more secure for you. By doing so you can create a powerful 2-step authentication for reaching your administration backend. Your hackers will find it tougher to breach this security wall. You can block the hackers at the “apache” level instead of the Wordpress login page. This step will secure your site tremendously making it tougher for the hackers to breach it.

3. Protecting all wp-including files along with htaccess

On account of your Wordpress core files being standardized, the location of your core files can be found out. If the hackers can get access to your core files, the consequences are bound to be severe. Try to protect your core files by using htaccess which will make it inaccessible to the hackers. There is every possibility of losing your valuable and important information to hackers if your core files are vulnerable. Make it more secure by using htaccess.

4. Moving the wp-configured file

You should make every attempt to protect your wp-config.php file from being hacked. Wordpress gives you this unique facility to move your wp-config.php file out of the docroot, making it difficult for the hackers to locate the access. Being one of the most important Wordpress file, it should be secured in the best possible way. Follow this simple step to give it a hard time to hackers if they want to get access to this file.

5. Installing the (BBQ) Block Bad Queries plugin

Simply stating, this plugin scans all the incoming traffic and blocks any malicious and doubtful elements. There will be hundreds of visitors on your website on a daily basis, there can be uninvited and unidentified items which should be checked before allowing access. This plugin will give you the necessary security from malicious requests. Integrate this plugin so that your website becomes more secure against unwanted and unidentified elements.

6. Disabling core plugin along with theme updates

This is to prevent the hacker from doing further damage to your website. Default Wordpress gives the hacker ability to edit theme and plugin files once he has entered your site. Though the hacker will do damages, its severity can be minimised. You can add this snippet of code to your wp-config.php to prevent hacker from making changes in these files. Your hacker if somehow manages to enter your website should not be allowed to do maximum damage.

7. Creating new author slugs for every user

Wordpress by default gives an author “slug” to all users which is nothing but the username of the user. You can easily have an access to these slugs like sitename.com/author/username. By giving the slugs you have actually done half of the work of hackers. They have 50% information and they just need the password now. Add Edit Author Slug Plugin which allows you to manually edit “slug”, making it difficult for the hackers to get the username of the user.

8. Shutting down your XML RPC

This is a pinging technology which is built inside Wordpress. XML RPC is the technology which is leveraged by hackers these days for massive DDOS attacks. Since you do not want to get involved in any of those attacks by hackers, integrate this plugin. This plugin will turn off your XML RPC so that no hacker can get advantage of it without you even knowing it. Do not give any chance to hackers to take advantage of loopholes in your website.

9. Making your passwords more complex

Probably the most common mistake we do is to keep simple password which can be easily remembered. Do not give any chance to the hackers to guess and predict your password by keeping an easy and simple password. Use a separate and complicated password for each user in wordpress. Make sure you store these passwords somewhere to refer in case of emergency. Also you should change your password a few times within a year.

10. Setting up a security scanning service

Install a robust and effective security scanning service for your Wordpress website. Integrating a security scan will ensure that all your files and other informations are secure and protected. It should warn you against any suspicious element which can be repaired or removed before it starts affecting your website's function. An effective and reliable security scanning service will alert you before hackers can damage your website severely.