{"id":5124,"date":"2021-02-05T10:19:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T15:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greatbigdigitalagency.com\/?p=5124"},"modified":"2022-04-22T14:41:05","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T18:41:05","slug":"7-wordpress-security-tips-to-keep-your-website-safe-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatbigdigitalagency.com\/blog\/7-wordpress-security-tips-to-keep-your-website-safe-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"7 WordPress security tips to keep your website safe in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Businesses in 2021 are more dependent on their websites as a source of income than ever before. The more you invest in implementing website security best practices, the less likely you\u2019ll find yourself scrambling to put your website back together. We at Great Big Digital Agency have compiled the latest WordPress security tips to help ensure your website doesn\u2019t get hacked.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress is an incredibly powerful open source platform. It’s commonly thought that open source scripts are more vulnerable to attack, but WordPress core software is actually very secure and gets audited regularly by hundreds of developers. However, when a WordPress site has many 3rd party plugins installed and is not properly maintained, it can become vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n E-commerce sites are most often targeted because they store personal identifying information and process credit card transactions. Stealing data and user information tops the list of reasons for hacking; however, any highly trafficked website could also be a target. Hackers will often inject ads and use your website\u2019s domain authority to link out and promote third party businesses on Google. This practice is called SEO spam or Malvertising. Another common reason for hacking is to uncover usernames and passwords to gain access your server. But sometimes hackers even hack just to hack and will take down your website for no apparent reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few tips and best practices that you can implement immediately to prevent your WordPress website from getting hacked.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A simple WordPress security tip is to familiarize yourself with the obvious strategies a hacker might use. One key approach is “figuring out” widely used passwords that many people put together off the top of their heads, so avoid easily guessable ones. Also, don\u2019t use the username \u201cadmin\u201d. I know these may seem obvious but you\u2019d be surprised how many businesses do it. The reason to stay away from common usernames and passwords is because hackers use simple scripts or bots to hack your site through brute-force. The bots will run thousands of passwords very quickly until it gets the right one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re like me, then you have way too many passwords to keep track of. So to manage all of them I use a service called 1password <\/a>(This is not an affiliate link, I\u2019m just a big fan). LastPass <\/a>is another great option. You can safely store all of your passwords with these services across multiple devices, and best of all, it will recommend passwords for you and save them immediately. There\u2019s no reason not to use it! Another great free option is this password generator: https:\/\/passwordsgenerator.net\/<\/a> It will also help you create secure passwords every time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Within WordPress you can prevent brute-force by limiting login attempts. The Limit Login Attempts plugin will block someone if they attempt too many passwords – we include this plugin in all our website launches. It\u2019s free and it\u2019s just another layer of protection that can go a long way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s hard to recommend shared hosting in 2021 when it comes to security. Shared hosts typically load dozens of websites on an old server, making your site susceptible to vulnerabilities that may exist in other <\/em>websites. Increased attacks, downtime, and slow performance might be a sign of poor security measures on your host, and unless you are managing your own server, you won\u2019t be able to fix it. The best way to improve security on your server is to switch providers. If you are looking to make an investment into website security, we recommend starting with a good host, (we are huge fans of cloud hosting and managed WordPress hosting,) and there are many quality options that range in price from $10 to $100+ per month. Managed WordPress hosting options will often handle some of the WordPress security settings for you. Option 1: Cloudways – Cloud hosting<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy do hackers hack?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>1. Don\u2019t make your password \u201cpassword\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n2. Use a quality host<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n