Blogs of famous people and large organizations are hacked into on a daily basis. Some hackers have even chosen to attack a large number of WordPress sites all at once in previous years.
With the constant threat of hackers looming over our shoulders, some simple tips should be followed in order to keep your WordPress blog safe from the evil-doers of the internet world.
Constantly Update Your WordPress With the Latest Version
Updating your WordPress is such an obvious solution, yet so many people fail to do so on a regular basis, leaving them vulnerable to hack attacks.
Recent studies have shown that newer versions of WordPress are less likely to get hacked than older versions are, primarily because a large majority of websites that use WordPress as their platform run on an outdated version.
Newer versions of WordPress also come with more security features which are normally created by developers from experiences with previous hack attacks.
.Htcaccess Security: Make it Air Tight
Hackers have been known to attack the .htcaccess file of a large number of WordPress websites in the past. Tightening up security by entering a few phrases into the admin.php file will greatly reduce the chances of your blog being hacked.
Enter the following code into your admin.php file: Order allow, deny deny from all. This simple phrase is an excellent tool that can be used to prevent all types of bots and hackers from accessing your files.
Delete Outdated and Unused Plugins
If you’re not using a plugin that’s just sitting on your website, it likely hasn’t been updated in a long time.
Go through each plugin one by one to determine whether or not you really need it. Older versions of plugins have been known to be used as back doors for malicious hackers and bots. If you’re not using the plugin, delete it. If you still need it, update it immediately.
The Honey Pot Project
If you haven’t already done so, sign up for the honey pot project. The honey pot project is useful because it lists all the countries and IP addresses of known hackers around the world. Once you have this list, update your WHM control panel by adding them to the list of IP addresses that are blocked from visiting your website.
This list is updated on a regular basis, so it’s best to check in once a month to make sure you haven’t missed any key IP addresses.
Back Up Your Website and Files
What happens if your website is hacked? Even if you’ve followed all of these steps and done more to prevent an attack, it happens to the best of us.
Take precautionary measures before your blog is hacked. Make sure all of your files have been backed up onto an external hard drive or something similar. You will need to create a restore point for your site just in case something happens. Make sure your SQL database is included in your backup, since it is just as vulnerable as the rest of your files to a variety of attacks.
