WordPress Security Tips

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WordPress, an open source blog publishing platform, is not actually safe by default. Failure to update the basic security measures of WordPress, or at most, failing to attend to these security issues, increases the chance of your blog being hacked and malicious people receiving unauthorized access to your private files. Keep reading for some ways to prevent hackers from becoming a threat.

Common Security Pitfalls

In case you're not familiar with this particular security threat, the results of getting hacked include the following:

1. Someone will get unauthorized access to your website and steal your information, property and at worst, your bank account information (with everything that implies).

2. Hackers will install malware on your site. This is a very common problem for blogs, especially WordPress blogs.

3. When the site gets infected with malware, you will lose search engine rankings. Losing search engine rankings results in loss of traffic, which in turn affects your site's or blog's income.

Below are the common security pitfalls of the default WordPress blog:

1. There are some WordPress blogs that are not updated to the software's most recent version. And some of those very important updates include fixes of security loopholes. This means that failure to update to the latest WordPress blog version means exposing those security issues to any hacker that will exploit those weaknesses.

2. By default, the WordPress admin files are crawlable by search engines. This results in indexing, and it is relatively easy to find your WordPress admin files in the search engine results. Again, exposing your admin files in public makes it very easy for hackers to exploit your files and find entry points into your blog.

3. The WordPress log in is often unsecured. The admin panel log in is very easy to brute force by hackers to match your password.

4. There are also some WordPress versions with unsecured forms or plug-ins. Remember that this type of entry point is the most vulnerable part of any WordPress blog.

5. Some WordPress blogs are set up so that it is easy to find out what version of WordPress is being used. This may seem strange and new to you, but a lot of hackers will look at your WordPress version to help them find security loopholes.

6. In old WordPress versions, the WordPress plug-in directory (/wp-content/plug-ins/) is visible, thus exposing your plug-ins to the public. Hackers can easily use this information to find security loop holes.

Let's tackle these issues one by one.

Next: WordPress Versions >>
 

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