WordPress security related articles are “increasing” in quantity lately. The buzz is out there and as attempts from virtually all over the place happens, so are the suggestions and recommendations to enhance your WordPress sites security.
Why Should You Care About Your WordPress Security?
I am hoping that the answer to this question is obvious to you. If for some reason, your site falls prey of a malicious attempt, a lot of crazy things can happen. These “crazy” things can really hurt your business and that in itself is good enough reason to stay alert (see more at the end of this post).
How do WordPress Sites Get Hacked?
Hmmm, my immediate thought would be because of having a weak username and password. To my surprise, the guys from wptemplate.com says otherwise, as you will see from the infographic that they have generously compiled and share to everyone interested about the subject.
Essentially, according to their study, WordPress sites get hacked due to the following reasons – by order of importance:
Bad hosting – 41%
WP Themes (essentially free themes) – 29%
Plugins – 22%
Weak passwords – only 8%
As you can see, that’s really a surprise to me. Weak passwords accounting to only 8% is quite low, but nevertheless, it is still a very important factor to consider.
Best Ways To Harden Your Security
The infographic provides important info on what you need to do the enhance your sites security. Here are some highlights:
Upgrade WP to the latest version
Backup your data (very important)
Junk the admin username
Avoid installing free themes
Use strong passwords
and lots more..
Additional resources can be found immediately after the infographic. Please make sure that you do not neglect the importance of your WordPress sites security.
Many thanks to WPtemplates.com for providing this infographic > http://www.wptemplate.com/features/safety-and-security-of-wordpress-blog-infographic.html
Additional Resources:
Webmaster help for hacked websites (Google)
WordPress Security For Blogs and Small Business, Why care?
Best Security Plugins For WordPress, Protect Your Online Business
WordPress Security Plugin – How To Install Better WP Security 2012
That’s it! Remember that there is no such thing as 100% security proof. Making it as difficult as you can possibly can is essentially what matters.