Lock Down Your WordPress Site This Lockdown
Imagine you have a small blogging site or a business site, and you have spent quite some time and effort. But one fine day it gets compromised or even hacked. How would you feel about it? Understandably quite miserable right? Yes, WordPress security is a big issue nowadays. Even digital marketing classroom training programs incorporate modules to include it.
WordPress is a free platform for putting up your own website but has security concerns too. With a lot of malware and malicious people around it is no wonder that security is a priority now. Google alone bans around 10,000 sites per day for hosting or propagating malware and a whopping 50,000 per week for phishing charges. Now those are some numbers. So it’s no surprise that WordPress security is very important indeed.
So how do you make sure your WordPress site is relatively on the safer side? Let’s find out.
Invest in a good host
Even if you are hosting a website for the first time, it is important that you go with a good host. Preferably one of those popular ones. This is because more and more people are going for them so they have a reputation to maintain. Popular hosting platforms like GoDaddy, Bluehost, Big Rock, Hostinger, etc. generally provide industry-leading features and reliability. This would, in turn, result in even more fruitful during your digital marketing classroom training, because you’ll be exposed to the best industry practices right from training.
As per a 2016-19 hosting survey, different hosts provide varying levels of reliability so it is important to make the correct choice at the beginning.
Set directory permissions carefully
In a shared hosting environment, improper directory permissions can quickly spell doom.
In order to start securing your website at directly the hosting level, it is important that you alter the files and directory permissions. Normal practice entails setting the directory permissions to “755” and the file permissions to “644” in order to protect the whole file ecosystem. This consists of individual files. directories and subdirectories.
Using the File Manager inside the hosting control panel, the permissions can be easily set up. An alternative is to fire up a Unix terminal (connected with SSH) and use the “chmod” command. For the uninitiated, chmod is the system call command in traditional UNIX-based systems to alter the access permissions of file system objects including files and directories.
(Courtesy – WPBeginner)
Protect against DDOS attacks
A DDOS (Distributed Denial Of Service) attack is not aimed to compromise your files or access your site but is designed to overload and thus put your hosting server down for a long time. E-commerce giants lose millions frequently due to this attack, but they are not the only ones. Surveys say even small business owners engaged in online content marketing were victims of such attacks. So why take a chance anyway? Premium plans of Cloudflare and Sucuri help in mitigating this threat as they constantly check all incoming traffic for signs of rogue DOS and DDOS activity.
Set up and use two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication, as the name suggests uses double verification checks for any login. The verification comes from two different sources, or in this case devices. You get to decide what this double verification setup will be. The most common setup includes an id password system verified by OTPs received on mobile devices. Dedicated apps for authentication exist, such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, etc. This greatly reduces the risk of compromised logins even if Brute Force methods are applied by hackers.
(Courtesy – Google)
Keep strong passwords
Password norms should be adhered to whenever operating a WordPress site. No ‘easy to remember’ (aka easy to hack) passwords. You should make sure to create at least 8 character passwords with a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. This is one of the most basic steps to be safe online in general, not limited to your WordPress.
Utilize a Password Manager
Let’s face it, all of us do not have photographic memories. We tend to forget things, and more so when complex stuff like passwords are involved. Enter the password manager. Just remember one master password and you’re set for life! No more forgotten passwords.
There are many good password managers available like Dashlane, LastPass, Roboform, KeePass, NordPass, etc. I personally use LastPass and I’m in love! Such utility software helps a lot with convenience and security.
(Courtesy – LastPass)
Rename those admin profiles and login URLs
WordPress login page by default can be accessed easily via wp-login.php or wp-admin added to the site’s main URL. This should be immediately changed as soon as possible to deny any kind of guesstimation. Renaming the links is not tough at all. This can be easily achieved by plugins like WPS Hide Login. For your corresponding real login page URL, you have to put in a spoofed URL in the dashboard, and you’re done.
(Courtesy – WPS)
Also, admin logins are most susceptible to attacks. This is because of the simple reason that if an admin account can be compromised, the whole site can be easily accessed and tampered with. Therefore, the use of the terms “admin”, “owner” etc. in username should be strictly avoided.
These were some of the basic measures you can take to protect your precious WordPress and other such platforms. I’m sure there are plenty of other steps possible but let’s leave it to you guys to figure out in the comments section below! These steps would also empower you to get the best digital marketing certificates from International biggies like Facebook, Google, HubSpot, Semrush, etc.
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