WordPress Security – 5 Best Ways to Keep Your WordPress Website Safe and Secure

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While hackers pose a serious security risk to your WordPress site, they are not the only danger. If your site has user registration, you must also take steps to protect the admin area from registered users. Security issues caused by approved users are known as ‘non-malicious intrusions’.

Fortunately, you can rapidly secure your website by implementing a few tips and plugins. By thinking about aspects such as login credentials and stopping malicious attacks at their source, you’ll make your site safer for anyone who visits it.

In this article, we will provide you with five tips to help protect your site by discussing why you should protect your admin and login pages. Let’s get started!

Protecting your WordPress login area is essential to the security of your website. Here’s why:

Your WordPress login page is likely the weak link in your website security, much like a front door that isn’t locked. If you don’t take measures to protect both, you risk losing customers or personal information, damage to your website functionality, and even its complete deletion. Furthermore, a loss of customer trust can be disastrous for your business finances.

It’s worth mentioning that brute force attacks are a popular method of gaining unauthorized access to websites. So, a number of the tips below focus on keeping your site safe from them

If you’re new to WordPress, here are five tips to help secure your site.

1. Come Up with Strong Usernames and Passwords

Secure passwords are long strings of random characters that can include numbers and symbols. They are more difficult for hackers to guess, making it harder for them to access your account. This is a pressing concern as 69% of online adults don’t consider how secure their passwords are. In short, weak passwords leave your site open to an easily avoidable risk.

Furthermore, every one of your site’s user credentials is important – it does you no good to have a strong username and password if another admin account has a weak one.

Fortunately, making sure your usernames and passwords are secure is fairly easy:

1. Choose a username that isn’t easily guessed: Change any default usernames from admin to something more difficult to guess.

2. Use a long and difficult-to-guess password: Consider using a website such as Strong Password Generator for help – although WordPress also contains its stellar password generator, and many browsers have their security systems in place that can generate strong passwords too. Remember that length is one of the primary factors in creating a secure password.

3. In addition to creating strong credentials, it is important to securely store your passwords. To make this process easier, consider using LastPass or 1Password.

Of course, there are other ways to protect your admin area from unauthorized access. Let’s explore another method now.

2. Limit the Number of Login Attempts

A brute force attack is a method of hacking where someone tries to guess your login credentials by trying every possible combination. It’s a popular method of hacking, which is why limiting the number of times a user can log in is an effective way to stop them.

Thankfully, plugins can help stop spam comments too. These are our suggestions:

1. Jetpack: In addition to other features, Jetpack offers multiple modules that will detect and block brute force attempts.

2. iThemes Security: This go-to plugin doesn’t only let you limit login attempts, but also bans users that raise suspicion.

3. Wordfence Security: This comprehensive plugin not only features restrictions against brute force attacks but also many other important security-related features.

4. BruteGuard: This plugin keeps your website safe from brute force attacks by connecting to other WordPress sites using it. The more people that use it, the stronger and more effective the network becomes.

There is a way to stop unwanted attacks on your website. Though it may seem daunting, don’t worry – we’ll explore this method in more depth together.

3. Add Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) – Block Unauthorized Logins

By implementing two-factor authentication (2FA), you are taking an extra step to confirm your identity and protect your account. With 2FA, WordPress can send a unique code or token to your smart device which only you will have access to. This way, whenever you log in, WordPress can be certain it is actually you and not someone who has hacked into your account or that may cause harm in some other way.

To implement Two Factor Authentication (2FA), you can use one of many plugins, such as:

1. Two-Factor Authentication: This plugin partner with Google Authenticator to generate time-sensitive codes for logging in.

2. Keyy: Rather than credentials, this unique solution only requires your smart device for login access.

To sum it up, you should test out a standard 2FA plugin to start with and then move on to other options like Keyy later when you’re more comfortable. Also, some plugins such as Wordfence and Jetpack come equipped with this feature so they merit a look.

4. Install a Website Application Firewall (WAF) to Protect Your Site from Code Injections

Code injection is exactly what it sounds like code that’s used to change the way your site works, and it can be damaging. To put it simply, a WAF provides a barrier for your site to stop these and other types of attacks before they can reach your files.

If you’re looking for a WAF, there are many options to choose from Wordfence–but this is only one example. Some other suggestions include:

1. NinjaFirewall: This plugin partner with Google Authenticator to generate time-sensitive codes for logging in.

2. Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall: Not only does this plugin include a solid WAF that is continuously updated, but it also protects against brute force attacks.

3. All-in-One WP Security & Firewall: The name says it all – it includes a password generator, checks for weak usernames, protects against brute force attacks, and also has a strong WAF.

In conclusion, there’s no good reason to not have a WAF set up to protect your site.

5. Use WordPress User Roles to Limit Account Capabilities on Your Site

Setting a defined user role and limiting the set of capabilities for every account that accesses your site will limit what the user can do, ensuring that they only have access to what is necessary for them to carry out their job responsibilities. This kind of security is key in protecting your website.

Getting started with this tip is easy:

1. Set the right user roles upfront, to only offer access to what a user needs and nothing else.

2. Use a plugin to customize the access certain roles have, such as User Role Editor or WPFront User Role Editor.

3. Be sure to occasionally look for any accounts that are no longer active and get rid of them.

To sum it up, setting user roles is easy and could make your admin area more secure.

Maintaining security on your website should be your top priority in preventing any unauthorized access, no matter the source. Not doing so could have severe consequences for ranking high in searches and potential earnings.

Do you have any advice on protecting your WordPress admin area that we didn’t discuss? Let us know in the comments section below!

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