I don’t want to be sensational about cybercrime and the vulnerabilities of WordPress websites. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to be sold to and I don’t like sensational headlines.
However, it is true that hackers are after your website. Cybercriminals are after all websites…enterprise or small business.
These hackers are the same people who are filling our email boxes with spam. Once they gain access to a website, they often place links to black market items. Most popular are prescription drugs…we’ve all see the viagra ads. The links on breached sites are part of how illegal pharmecueticals are promoted online.
In 2014 and now 2015, Full Orbit worked with our current clients to ensure that their sites were protected from hacking and cybercrime. Fortunately, some of the steps are simple and can be automated.
Here’s a short list of 4 steps to protect your site.
1. Back Up your Site Regularly. We are using a plugin called Back Up Buddy for WordPress. By having a back up of your site, you will have clean version of the site to upload in case of hacking. It could save you thousands of dollars.
2. Update WordPress Software, Themes, and Plugins as updates are released. WordPress puts out several software updates a year and each one of these have to do with plugging vulnerabilities that have been found or making changes to keep sites more secure.
3. Use Hard-to-Crack Passwords for your Website (no consecuetive #’s, not team names or pet names…instead use partial words, #’s, and random characters @%&.
4. Get your Themes and Plugins from reputable sources like WordPress. There are many free themes and plugins available. However, free themes or apps could have a malware or a virus or other hacking code already stowed on board. Sometimes free can come with a high price!
Want more details on the steps listed here?, visit our previous post Website Hacked? 7 Steps to Keep your WordPress Site Secure.
Monthly WordPress Maintenance Package
If you rarely login to your website or need support, we are now offering a monthly WordPress maintenance package. We’ll back up the site, check for viruses or hacking, and update Word versions and plugins.
Give us a call at 510-527-9920 or send an email, if you’d like to know more about the package or wish to discuss a website project.