You just got a new blog, or set up one because you heard you could make money from it! wow, so easy right? how about I tell you something more, you must learn how to secure your new WordPress Blog, if not, your dreams of having a successful blog will not be attainable!
Security is everyone's business, from the physical realm of Governments fighting against insurgencies, terrorist to the online cyberwar against web hackers, account hijackers, and spammers
I am not trying to frighten you, far from it this post is, however, going to save you the big challenge of losing your precious account, you will learn how to secure your new WordPress blog from all kinds of hacking attempts
Because I am writing this post for beginners, I will try to use the most simple and basic explanations plus some screenshots on how to harden your WordPress blog and keep it secure all the time
Because WordPress is a widely used CMS powering about 33 percent of all the websites in the world, with everyone having access to its source code, it's much easier to get hacked
By Default Installation WordPress is very secure and safe however you and I know we can not make use of the default themes or blog without installing some plugins, this is where the attack comes from, According to web security firm Sucuri 2018 hack trend report, it was observed that 90 percent of sites hacked on the web are WordPress websites and the flows come from the Themes or plugins
WordPress community is doing a pretty job in releasing security patches, updates, hotfixes and guidelines on how to prevent your WordPress blog from being hacked
However, that’s all you will get by default WordPress installation, and I bet you won't leave your future on that!
Blogging on its own is very challenging, consider this
After putting so much effort on your blog to craft great amazing contents, good infographics and SEO optimized
Maybe you monetized it too, your blog has been online for a year it two then boom! One day it's hacked, contents corrupted and all your years of hard work destroyed
I wouldn't wish this even my enemies, it’s a frustrating encounter but that won't be your portion! Amen, Amin , Lol
This is why I am taking my time to layout the best tips and methods you should use to protect your WordPress blog from getting hacked
This post covers from basic blog security audit to advance checks on your server how to clean your database, you will also learn how to boost your blog performance by cleaning all the junk, revisions and spammy comments in your blog
Also this tutorial is not for only how to secure your new WordPress blog from security breaches, old blogs can apply the same security measures
Simple ways to secure your new WordPress Blog from hackers
Like I said before i am not dwealling on the theory basis, i am seeing this fom your own perspective so we are gonna work togther to secure your website, now please follow every step i listed here as exactly as i said because thats what i did to my blog too! and it works
Use a secure and hard to guess password:
I find it very amusing here, most bloggers take levities or are so lazy to use a stronger password, I have seen passwords like 123456, good123, password, etc well sorry to break it to you
The guys out there trying to break into your blog are more knowledgeable than you some of them are programmers, web coders, and system analyst you are just a blogger trying to earn a living, to find your username us pretty easy, the hard part is your password but with a brute force attack software they can decrypt your password if it’s easy
Brute force attack is a system of guessing random password until the right one is figured out. these guys uses sophisticated tools that can crawl your pages in speed of light, if you are using a weak password please its time to change it to something very hard here is an example
Complex Password: XCNo-!28Com# Something like this is cool, See you can't afford to let the intruder gain access to your blog admin dashboard, even if you think you might forget your password try to install Dashlane password manager
Use bug free theme and plugins
90 percent attacks on WordPress blogs originate from the plugins and themes you use,
Because you want to extend your blog functionalities most times we end up using theme and plugins which contain bugs or poorly coded
Our hackers will scan your blog for any vulnerability loophole then exploit it, to avoid getting caught in this web avoid using cracked, nulled themes and plugins
Most times this nulled plugins seemed like our only option because you got it free but sorry to break it to you, honey, there is no free launch anywhere
Some of the nulled themes are wired to have backdoors, malware, adware which the cracker can use to hijack your blog in future especially when your blog begins to rank on SEO
They can gain access to your server using embedded scripts to run phishing and bulk mailing scams leading to your site IP ban and poor ranking
Always ensure you get your downloads from official WordPress repository site or directly from the developer’s page
If you want to really build a house would you go for substandard and adulterated building materials? You know it could collapse in the future right?
The same thing is applicable to your blog whether your blogging for fun or for making money online you can't afford to fall for this, using cracked and nulled plugins isn't helping, you are also morally bankrupting the developer, why not support them so others will support you when you release your own product too
Don't install plugins without active development
Whenever you are about to install a plugin from your WordPress admin back end, check for your version compatibility, the last time the plugin was updated,
There Is a big chance of getting your WordPress hacked from installing an old or unsupported plugins and themes
If the developer has discontinued the development of such a plugin or theme, please avoid installing it except you are well capable of fixing any bug in it.
Install Wordfence WordPress Firewall Plugin
The next phase is to install some security protection plugins such as Jetpack, scurri and word fence
Their free version affords you the basic functions which are 80 percent capable of protecting your WordPress blog from hacking, I currently use Jetpack because it Also shows me my site static and other security attempts on my blog
Wordfence is my recommended plugin, it gives you advance security detection and blocking framework you can tweak every aspect of it including protection from brute force, SQL injection, throttling bots, and rate-limiting for suspected users
It has antivirus scanning mechanism that ensures your files integrity remains the same, I use it in my serious blogs or WordPress eCommerce websites
Use Cloudflare CDN
Even as an experienced blogger I make use of Cloudflare free content delivery network, outside boosting your blog speed it adds extra layers of security to your WordPress blog preventing it from being hacked or exploited
From inside cloud flare go to the firewall and set up your site protection, by default cloud flare stand between you and your blog users sieving out bad bots, reported IPS.
You can even ban certain countries from visiting your blog if you suspect there is a hacking attempt from that location
Your blog Web host is your lifeline
Even before implementing any of the methods, I outlined above if your blog is hosted with a busy or nonchalant web hosting company there is a possibility you won't stand a chance against securing your WordPress blog from hacker’s reasons are not far fetched
In every attempt on your blog, the intention of the hacker includes, hijacking your blog traffic by redirecting your URL to theirs, injecting gibberish codes into your web pages and importantly gaining access to the webserver
The hacker aim is to use your server resources for their motives, sending spammy emails in thousands, identity harvesting and frauds, running of high-end IRC games and use your web server as a download repository
A good and secure web hosting firm will fish this out within hours , either temporarily suspended your account, place a limit on it and contact you to ensure your not breaking their site terms
A bad host won't lift a finger; in worst case scenario your account will be terminated without even con at acting you to find it if you were actually the one running these resource-intensive programs in the background
At the end what hackers did not achieve in shutting down your blog completely a bad hosting company will!
Conclusion
There are other approaches you can take in protecting your WordPress website from attackers but as a beginner, this is the basic and easiest step to secure your website, other options such as changing your WordPress login URL and stop using ” Admin as your username,
I am also available to Audit and review your website from a visitors perspective , if you think you need help ask using the comment box I will suggest solutions
You can also hire me at a small fee to fix any issue relateing to securing your website, I hope this help you,
Would you like to get my E-book on how to set up a blog, choose the best theme, write amazing content that will get your blog approved for Adsense? Then subscribe to my weekly newsletter to know when it will be ready, I took my time to expose a lot of stuff including how you can quickly build quality site backlinks, get site visitors that covers
Hi, I am Joshua Nwankwo, The CEO of Startup Ng and the founder of Afripals Interactive, Well I am a Civil Servant in Day time, a farmer at noontime and a Blogger in the evening.
My passion for being free from Government paychecks and also helping my fellow young people to be self-empowered is why I run this blog
An Animal Scientist by Profession and a blogger by passion, you can always reach me on my contact page for help or support