WordPress Security Guide: Best Practices and Top Security Plugins

With 43% of all websites being run on WordPress, it is a favorite target of hackers worldwide. They generally gain unauthorized access through outdated plugins, weak passwords, and misconfigured settings. Hackers can breach a website and result in a data loss, financial damage, or loss of customer trust.

Risk of attacks can be lowered significantly by using very best of security practices. Regularly updating your site and security plugins help in avoiding malware and unauthorized logins. Continuous security keeps your site secured for a better experience for your visitors.

In this blog, we will be discussing everything needed to secure your WordPress site. We will be following up on the best practices of security for a website site adopted by professional WordPress services. We will dig into the best WordPress security plugins that you can use to protect your site against cyber attacks. So let’s get started!

Why is WordPress Security Important?

Securing WordPress is very important as it will keep your website, data, and users safe from cyber threats. Here are the main reasons why you should prioritize securing your WordPress site:

Sensitive Data Protection

Websites usually store user data, be it to contain identity information, credit card numbers, or login credentials. A security breach can expose this data to identity theft, financial loss, or legal consequences.

Prevention of Website Downtime

Cyber attacks such as DDoS attacks can flood your server with requests. They can cause downtime. Also, they will cause a loss of reputation to your business. And that will eventually affect the traffic towards your business.

Avoid SEO Penalties and Blacklisting

Infected sites will cause Google or any other search engine to blacklist a site. This means the site won’t show up in search results. As a result, there will be a big drop in traffic. The site will also lose the credibility that came with that traffic.

Preventing Unauthorized Access

Hackers gain unauthorized access to WordPress sites. They do this through brute-force attacks, SQL injection, and cross-site scripting (XSS). Unauthorized logins can be prevented. Use strong passwords to secure your site. Install two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra security. Limit login attempts to block repeated attacks.

Secure E-commerce Transactions

Security becomes doubly essential if you run a dropshipping site using WooCommerce. A compromised store could expose customer payment details to fraud and chargeback. Properly implementing secure payment gateways, and firewalls can protect users.

Against Malware and Ransomware

Hackers can inject malware or ransomware into your site. This can lock you out of your own website. It can also infect your visitors. A Web Application Firewall (WAF) helps block these attacks. Regularly scanning for malware keeps your site clean. Updating software regularly reduces security risks.

Robust User Trust and Reputation of Business

A hacked website will definitely decrease customer trust. This, in turn, would lead to the customers moving away from purchasing and the loss of credibility. A well-secured WordPress site is crucial. It ensures a safe browsing experience. This is a key need for any online business.

Strong WordPress security protects more than just a website. It safeguards the business, customers, and reputation. Following security best practices lowers risks. It also boosts SEO rankings. Most importantly, it builds trust with your audience.

How to Secure a WordPress Site​?

Securing a WordPress site is crucial to ensure protection against hackers, malware, and various other cyber threats. Here are the practices you can use to secure your WordPress website.

Keep Themes and Plugins Updated

Older version themes and plugins are common gateways for hackers. Developers are always releasing updates that address security vulnerabilities. Performance is improved and bugs are fixed. Updating your WordPress themes and plugins lowers cybercriminals attacking your outdated software. 

Neglecting updates will put you at risk of malware infections and having your site down. If you’ve got premium themes or plugins, find the legitimate source for the update. It is best to regularly check and remove themes or plugins that you do not use.

Use Strong Passwords

Hackers use brute-force attacks to guess weak passwords. Passwords are often the easiest way for hackers to break in. To stop them, use strong passwords. Mix uppercase and lowercase letters. Add numbers and special characters too.

Never use easy-to-guess words like “admin” or “password123”. Hackers try these first. A password manager helps. It creates and saves strong passwords for you. This way, you don’t have to remember them.

Also, make sure everyone with access to your site uses strong passwords. This includes editors and contributors.

Choose Good WordPress Hosting

Your hosting provider helps keep your site safe. A good host gives you important security tools. These include firewalls, malware scans, and DDoS protection.

Shared hosting is cheap but risky. Other sites on the same server can affect your security. Managed WordPress hosting is a safer choice.

Pick a host that knows WordPress well. They should offer:

• Automatic updates
• Daily backups
• 24/7 support

Good hosts like SiteGround, WP Engine, and Bluehost have strong security. The right hosting plan keeps your site safe from the beginning.

Use WordPress Security Plugins

Security plugins help protect your WordPress site from threats. Wordfence and Sucuri are good options. They offer important features. These include real-time threat detection. They also provide firewall security. They can scan for bad files too.

These plugins make security easy. Even non-technical users can understand them. They help secure any site simply.

Plugins are key for website protection. But don’t use too many. Too many plugins can slow your site. They might also cause performance problems.

Pick one good plugin that meets your needs. Set it up correctly. Check its reports often. This helps you spot threats early. Then you can stop problems before they happen.

Implement Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication adds an extra level of security by requiring users to provide a verification code in addition to their password. This makes unauthorized access much harder even if they’ve cracked your password. The WP 2FA plugin can implement Two-Factor Authentication.

Activation of 2FA is particularly important for admin accounts, which have complete control over your site. Encourage all users with login access to turn on 2FA for their accounts. While this may add an extra step in the login, the security achieved outweighs the little inconvenience caused. It protects your site from unauthorized access.

Limit Login Attempts

Brute forcing works by guessing login IDs and passwords over and over until it succeeds. Limiting login attempts keeps attackers from making unlimited guesses and halts these assaults in their tracks. Certain plugins, such as Login Lockdown or Wordfence, allow for setting a maximum number of failed login attempts before locking out the user.

After the user exceeds the allowed attempts, temporarily block that user or ask them to solve a CAPTCHA. This simple measure dramatically reduces risks of unauthorized access. Consider changing the default login URL (/wp-admin) to an uncommon one, as it can be the focus of attacks while targeting the standard login page.

Keep PHP Updated

The server-side programming language running WordPress is PHP, and if the PHP version is old, security risks may arise. Many hosting providers work on older PHP versions that might not receive any security updates anymore. Version update to the latest PHP version enhances security and performance for the site. 

Check for theme and plugin compatibility before updating the PHP version to ensure that your site does not break. Most WordPress installations work without issues with PHP 7.4 and above. Remember to find a way to update your PHP version on the hosting control panel, or consult your hosting provider if you need assistance.

Install SSL Certificate

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate encrypts data traveling between your site and visitors. This includes sensitive information, such as log-in credentials and payment details. Without security, hackers can monitor and view such data. This leads to breaches and loss of trust on the part of users. Given this, the majority of hosting providers offer free SSL certificates by Let’s Encrypt.

Besides security, having an SSL certificate is also good for your site’s WordPress SEO. Google gives preference to secure websites while ranking search results, and it is one of the factors considered.

After installation, remember to convert your site traffic from HTTP to HTTPS by either forcing SSL in your hosting settings or using a plugin. This simple change can promote site security and user confidence.

Disable File Editing

By default, WordPress allows administrators to edit theme and plugin files directly from the dashboard. While convenient, this feature poses a significant security risk if an attacker gains access to your admin account. Disabling file editing prevents unauthorized changes to your site’s code, reducing the potential damage from a breach.

To disable file editing, add a simple line of code to your wp-config.php file: define(‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true);. This action locks down the file editor and forces any changes to be made via FTP or your hosting control panel. It’s a quick and effective way to harden your site’s security without impacting functionality.

Most of the time, WordPress provides administrators the option to directly edit theme and plugin files from the dashboard. This can, however, be a major security risk when an attacker somehow compromises your admin account.

By disabling file editing, one will limit unauthorized accesses into the code of your site, thus minimizing the extent of damage caused by a hacking event.

To disable the file editor, all that needs to be included in the wp-config.php file is a simple line of code: define(‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true);. The effect of that action is to lock down the file editor so that all changes must be made through FTP or using your host’s control panel. It is a very fast and effective way to harden security for your site without harming its function.

Disable the XML-RPC Feature

WordPress uses XML-RPC to carry out remote publishing and communication with third-party applications. It is a common target for brute-force attacks or DDoS attacks. Turning off XML-RPC disables several threats, especially if you don’t use mobile apps or external services to manage your site.

There are two methods: disabling XML-RPC by adding a piece of code to your .htaccess file or using a security plugin. Some hosting providers may also have the option of disabling it in their control panels. But first, ensure that you do not use any workflow that relies on XML-RPC functionality. Most of the users won’t need it and can simply turn it off.

Scan and Protect Against Malware

A malware infection may cause data theft, or your website can be blacklisted by search engines. Regular malware scans help with quick detection and removal of the malicious code before extensive damage has been done. The Sucuri and Wordfence security plugins are good options to run strong scans for malware files identification and cleaning.

This will ensure that preventive measures like firewalls and file integrity monitoring are employed. Run scheduled automatic scans and respond quickly to any detection of malware. Do not forget that prevention is better; regular backups and updates play a great role in minimizing the chance of your site being compromised.

Enable Web Application Firewall

Web Application Firewalls are gatekeepers of your websites, filtering any threats from reaching the server. It can be helpful against many attacks, including SQL injection or cross-site scripting (XSS).

WAF service providers such as Cloudflare and Sucuri will integrate seamlessly with WordPress sites and provide strong WAF solutions. Analysing incoming traffic, these firewalls would then stop those harmful requests as they drive all unwanted access and the user’s legitimate traffic reattribution to your content.

Such practice is required for providing protection against any sensitive data or general security aspects of your site.

Block Hotlinking

Hotlinking refers to the situation when any other websites use resources on your site, like images and videos, by directly linking to them. It can not only be a drain on your bandwidth, but also open you up to security exposures. Preventively blocking hotlinking would therefore mean that it does not allow outside uses of your content as well as lessen server load.

Hotlink protection can be achieved by customizing the .htaccess file or using a caching plugin. Some service providers, such as Cloudflare, also provide hotlink protection services as CDNs. By restricting access to your resources, you keep your control on their content while also making sure that your site is not putting in unnecessary extra load for no reason.

Add CAPTCHA

CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) prevents bots from submitting forms or using brute-force attacks against them. If you install CAPTCHA on your login page, or on the comment and contact forms of your site, your site will be opened solely to interacting with people and not to machines.

One of the plugins that can easily implement this procedure is reCAPTCHA.

CAPTCHA would be very annoying to the users, but it is little price to pay for better security. New-age CAPTCHA solutions such as Google reCAPTCHA v3 work behind the scenes by striking a balance between usability and protection. This means that CAPTCHA should be deployed judiciously on your site to shield high-risk areas without detracting from the user experience.

Create Backups Regularly

Backups serve as protection mechanisms for you when the situation gets tough. In cases of security breach, server failure, and accidental data loss, backups can save you. Regular backup gives you the opportunity to restore your site quickly without missing out on some valuable piece of content or important customer data.

Some hosting providers and plugins provide automated backup services. 

Keep backups in more than one location to maintain redundancy. Possible locations include cloud storage or an external server. Occasionally test your backups to see that they work. Never underestimate the power of a good backup plan; it does not only come in handy to protect your site but also offers you the reassurance of being prepared for anything.

Conduct a Security Audit

A security audit means looking at your site security techniques and practices to find vulnerabilities and areas for improvements. The process consists of checking out file permissions, reviewing user roles, and testing for weak spots such as outdated plugins or insecure configurations.

The more frequent the audits, the more problems you will be able to fix before they become potential threats.

You can do a security audit by hand or use automated tools like WPScan or Sucuri SiteCheck to speed up the analysis. Fix the issue immediately and document the changes. Periodic audits with respect to changing threats will ensure that the site reduces any vulnerabilities created by these threats as it evolves over time.

Following these practices will add protection to your WordPress site, securing your data and keeping the trust of the users that matter to you.

If you are having a hard time in creating a secured WordPress website, you should seek the help of our WordPress development company for building scalable and secure websites.

Best Plugins for WordPress Security

The security of your WordPress site must be sharpened to protect it from all possible threats. One can always rely on dedicated security plugins that guarantee a strong defensive line in addition to a peace of mind. Here are some of the best options to consider:

1. Wordfence

Wordfence is a complete security solution providing real-time threat defense for WordPress sites. With malware scanning and endpoint firewall facilities, Wordfence represents the first line of defense for your online presence. From the user-friendly dashboard, one can effectively monitor security threats and manage protective measures.

Key Features:

• Endpoint firewall with real-time threat defense.
• Malware scanner detecting malicious code.
• Live traffic monitoring for real-time insights.
• Login security features, including two-factor authentication.
• Comprehensive security incident recovery tools.

2. Sucuri

Sucuri’s cloud security platform aims to offer protection for WordPress sites against malware and hackers. This includes a continuous monitoring feature, as well as a quick incident response mechanism for verification of the site. The extra boost with performance optimization will do wonders for security and site speed as well.

Key Features:

• Website Application Firewall (WAF) for proactive protection.
• Continuous malware and security monitoring.
• DDoS attack mitigation to prevent disruptions.
• Performance optimization via a global CDN.
• Comprehensive incident response and malware removal services.

3. Cloudflare

Cloudflare is a CDN service that not only acts as an internet application firewall, such as protecting against DDOS attacks, but also optimizes performance. It secures and speeds up your website against various threats. Cloudflare has a global network known for being quite aggressive in attack mitigation.

Key Features:

• DDoS protection to prevent distributed attacks.
• Web Application Firewall (WAF) with customizable rules.
• Global Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster content delivery.
• SSL/TLS encryption to secure data transmission.
• Bot management to mitigate automated threats.

4. SolidWP

SolidWP is a security solution for WordPress explicitly designed for the protection of WordPress sites against cyberattacks and vulnerabilities. It has malware scanning, protection by firewall, and login security enhancements. SolidWP aims to establish a strong defense system for keeping any WordPress site secure against various threats.

Key Features:

• Malware scanning to detect and remove malicious code.
• Firewall protection against unauthorized access.
• Login security enhancements, including two-factor authentication.
• Regular security audits and monitoring.
• Automatic updates to ensure the latest security patches are applied.

5. All-In-One Security

The All-in-One Security plugin takes a straightforward approach to incorporate all the latest practices and techniques in WordPress security. It has a vulnerability check that reduces security risk while imposing several protection measures for fixing the loopholes created. It grades the extent of Security on the graphical representation.

Key Features:

• Login lockdown to prevent brute force attacks.
• File integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes.
• Database security to protect against SQL injections.
• Blacklist functionality to block specific IP addresses.
• Security scanner to identify potential vulnerabilities.

Using one or more of these plugins can significantly enhance the security of your WordPress site. They provide protection against a wide range of potential threats that can harm your WordPress website.

FAQs About WordPress Security

Wrapping Up

Securing a WordPress website is not a one-time job; it requires constant attention and implementation of best practices. Cyber threats are ever-increasing. A vulnerable site can lead to data breaches, malware infections, and loss of credibility. When security increases, the chances that the site will face an attack reduces.

Using strong passwords, two-factor authentications, and limiting login attempts are few security precautions to cut down risks. A reliable hosting provider plus a security plugin helps to strengthen protection. It also backs up the data regularly and audits the security routinely for any instance so that recovery is possible even in the worst-case scenario.

With the right security strategies damage can be minimized, and user data can be kept protected. If you are looking to develop a customized, scalable, and secure WordPress website, consult with us today!