Security and Hackers

Website hacking, even for small to medium sized websites, is a very real threat.

It’s not likely that there are hackers specifically targeting you or your website directly, but infecting and manipulating as many sites as they come across. The general idea for a hacker/spammer is to spread spam with the hopes of getting hits and sales by unwitting visitors who mistake their junk for real, click on it, and purchase something. The rate of success is incredibly low, yet millions and millions of spam comments and hacking attempts are made everyday.

It’s very similar to the wild spread of e-mail spam you are likely familiar with. There are hundreds of thousands of spammers out there that want to take over your site.

What to Do

WordPress is a very well supported and frequently patched platform, but there’s no such thing as perfect security. However you can enhance it by using service like vpnhut.

There is however such a thing as very secure and being prepared.

Put these very simple practices into action and you will be ahead of most.

Use Long Passwords

Requirements: 8 characters, include a number, a capital letter and an asterisk. “C2pture*” is an example.

Backup Often

Use backup tools to keep a backup of everything you’ve put on your website. WordPress has two parts: a database and web host files. Backup both.

IT Arsenal recommends: BackupBuddy WordPress backup plugin.

Update WordPress

Keep WordPress up to date, ensuring that the code that runs WordPress has the latest defense that comes “baked in” with the platform. Note: It’s possible that updates can also cause breaks in your site, so backup before updating and be aware.

What About Enhanced Security?

There are plenty of ways to increase the security of a website – code tweaks, changing the common link [/wp-admin] used to login, extra plugins, but I like to recommend that backing up is the best more accessible method of protecting yourself.

You can drown yourself in books on website security, and they’ll always be an army somewhere trying to break it.

IT Arsenal offers live monitoring and backup for those who might be afraid of the update button or have been burned before and want someone to turn to. Click here to see Website Maintenance Plans and Backup.