3 security flaws that could kill your WordPress site

WordPress has become an enormously popular blogging and website platform thanks to its flexibility and ease of use. However, this popularity can have its downsides. Insecure WordPress websites are an obvious target for hackers and other cybercriminals. If you’re not using WordPress managed hosting or an external developer then your knowledge is all that lies between your website and potential disaster. Read on and discover how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

Keep your website up to date

WordPress security holes are generally patched pretty quickly but that’s no good if you don’t apply the updates. Make sure that you have a reminder set at least once a week to update your WordPress installation and its plugins. You can set WordPress to apply security updates automatically but plugin updates are down to you.

Don’t install every plugin you can think of

Not only will plugin overload slow your site down to a crawl but some of them can leave your site open to hackers. This can either be because the plugin was built with nefarious intent or simply because the developer has stopped updating it and security holes have emerged. Either way, it’s important to read a few reviews of a plugin before you install it and run an occasional audit of all the plugins you’re using to make sure that they’re still safe, secure and regularly updated. Above all, resist the temptation to install pirated versions of paid for plugins, they’re often riddled with malware.

Set a secure password

This might seem like obvious advice but you’d be amazed how many people still use ‘password’ as their WordPress admin account password. If a hacker can guess their way into the back end of your website then all the security measures you put in place will be totally worthless. If you can’t remember a secure password off the top of your head then use a password manager to remember it for you.

Hopefully, our advice will have given you a few ideas on how to make your WordPress site more secure. If you need to bolster your WordPress website’s security, you may want to take a look at our WordPress Management plans which, from our Professional plan upwards, come with regular backups, security monitoring and hardening, performance monitoring, and more. Check them out by visiting our Managed WordPress Hosting page.

May 2018 be safe, secure and hack free for you and your site.