How To Prevent Hackers From Attacking Your WordPress Website Using The Best Practices From 2020

It is no secret that Wordpress is the most favored CMS worldwide. Millions of people use WordPress for their personal or business-orientated websites and the platform won’t be overthrown soon. Despite its popularity WordPress still has some vulnerabilities like hidden passages, denial of service, malicious redirects or pharma hacks when it comes to protection against hackers. The Security topic has been discussed heavily in the last 1-2 years and the question “how can I secure my WordPress website” has never been more common.

There is a dozen of good practices that can be applied when it comes to WordPress website security and for this reason, we are sharing the 7(luckily) most practical ways to secure your WordPress website that apply in 2020.

1. Using More Complex Usernames And Especially Passwords

The most obvious way to improve your WordPress website security is using a clever username and complex password. Some people still use one of the most popular passwords that were stolen over the years like “123456”, “password”, “QWERTY” or other simple numbers. When you want better security you need to start from the basics. How can you demand better security when your password is as easy as it can get?

2. Get Rid Of The Admin Superuser

Another quite simple approach for WordPress website security is erasing the admin Superuser. Every hacker knows that the top-level security clearance account is mostly called admin and cracking the password is just a matter of time.

Creating a new administrative account with a complicated username and erasing the default Superuser will give you more confidence in the defense used.

3. Always Use The Latest WordPress, Plugins And PHP Versions

A different simple and logical step to secure my WordPress website are to always keep everything up to date. The WordPress core and its plugins are asking to be updated for a reason and nowadays almost every update includes good security enhancements.

The same applies to the backbone of your WordPress website – PHP. In order to secure your business site – always have the latest PHP version! For example, more than half of the WordPress users are still using PHP versions lower than 5.6 and at the moment everything bellow 5.6 has no security support. Can you imagine?

4. Benefits From A Two-Factor Authentication System

Even if you have the most complex password ever – there is always a minimal possibility that someone can discover it. Don’t take that risk! Use two-factor authentication instead. This two-factor process involves a second authentication method after typing the correct password.

Nowadays everyone has a Smartphone, so this second method is usually a phone call, SMS message or a one-time password (OTP). This second verification step will make the entry process a bit longer, but at least you can be sure it will prevent any brute force attacks.

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5. Limit The Access To Your Wp-config.php And .htaccess Files

When it comes to WordPress web development the options to secure your website can be also a bit more sophisticated. Protecting your wp-config.php file might do wonders as it contains the name, username, password and table prefix used in the creation of your profile.

When you search for “# Blocking web access to the wp-config.php file” over the internet, you will easily find a code snippet that needs to be pasted in your .htaaccess file. These lines of code deny the access to your wp-config file, which is quite essential nowadays. This .htaaccess file can be protected by inserting only 4 lines of code, which can be also found easily by searching “# Securing .htaccess file”.

6. Change Permissions or Even Disable File Editing

Modifying file permissions is a very good protection option as only the admin user can edit the files that are part of your installation. This can be accomplished easily by opening the FTP program and changing the CHMOD value under “File Permissions” to 744. That way even if a hacker enters your WordPress website he will not be able to edit any files.

7. Backup As A Last Resort

Nevertheless, of all the methods for WordPress website security backing up your site is always the best last resort option. This can be done quite easily by navigating to ‘Tools’ in your admin panel, and just clicking on ‘Export’. When your business depends on this website you cannot just lose it and this option will always have your back.

After reading our advice you should no longer ask yourself “How to secure my WordPress website?” You can be calmer because we gave you the best options to secure your WordPress web development work. Following at least half of them plus the backup option should make you feel secure about your work and withstand all hacker attacks.

Summary

Web crimes are advancing more and more and since WordPress is the most popular international CMS more than half of the hackers are aiming there. The question: “How can I Secure my WordPress website?” arises in our heads but fortunately there are options that can help us. For this reason, we gathered some of the best ideas to improve your website security. Some of them are just common modern sense, while the other practices need a bit more technical knowledge. In any case, they will definitely help you, in guarding your WordPress website.