There is more concern over website security just over the last week with many of my clients. And today the news has come out that Google says 32% more websites were hacked last year with little chance of that changing in the future.
Read article – ‘Hacked websites up 32 per cent in 2016: Google’
So while there is concern over this and the fact that many feel WordPress could be the issue, here are some tips and a detailed article about how to secure your website. In the years I have been designing websites there has only been 2 I have personally designed. Both of these were hacked after they had taken SEO ‘pay-per-click’ advertising with another company. I can not say why it made it easier to hack, but one of them had a Google search link directly going to a ‘inappropriate’ site. Not good. Malware was all over the site. So be vigilant. Getting an SSL certificate from your host will help and is becoming a requirement from Google to legitimize your business online.
So here are a few basic tips:
- Do not use Admin as your user name (choose something unique and not easy to guess)
- Keep your plugins and WordPress platform up to date
- Add security plugins for your needs (Askimet, WordFence)
- Monitor activity on your site to ensure there is no new users or activity
- Block IP addresses
Here is an article I found that will help with some of these topics plus other tips.