WordPress is Trusted by Millions

A quarter of the Internet uses WordPress. It is the most popular content management system available today, supporting more than 60 million websites from small hobbyist websites to massive corporate sites such as BBC America and Xerox.

WordPress is used by 25% of the Internet for very good reason; it delivers first-class websites. No computer system or website is ever 100% secure though, and WordPress is just like any other system; it takes ongoing work to keep it as secure as possible. You need to give your website constant care and attention.

How secure is WordPress? It is safe and secure, but its popularity has made it attractive to hackers and spammers, not any security vulnerabilities.

Your Website Security

How secure is WordPress? Essentially, the security of a site depends on its users and administrators. As a website owner, you have responsibilities.

WordPress is the most developer-friendly, well-designed and coded content management system out there. The WordPress team continually tests the system, identifies new threats quickly, and regularly rolls out easily installed updates.

The key question, however, is what can you do to save your site from being hacked?

Whatever content management system you use, whether it’s WordPress or something else, you should never think of your website as finished: there are always updates, checks, and enhancements that need to be carried out to keep your website secure.

What Can You Do?

Nothing is 100% secure on the web. Even the most secured website from the largest corporation sometimes gets hacked. Security is a continuous process. You need to always stay on top of the safety and security of your online business.

It is simple to maintain the security of a WordPress site.

wordpress-is-secureSecure Passwords

The most common WordPress hacking attempts are through stolen passwords. If your passwords aren’t secure, neither is your site. You must use strong passwords that are unique to your website. You have to ensure your users also have complex, long, strong passwords.

As a bare minimum, use six random characters with two numbers and two special characters. You may need to write it down, but a hacker is much more likely to hack your computer than rummage through your desk.

Secure Checkout / SSL

Your site needs an SSL certificate.  HTTPS ensures any data transferred between your site and the server is secure and encrypted. This is not enabled by default on any website, but we strongly recommend making your site HTTPS.

Installing The Latest Updates

Plugin updates are crucial for the security and stability of your WordPress site. WordPress comes with thousands of plugins and themes. A plugin is a piece of software that can extend functionality or add new features. Outdated themes and plugins can give hackers access to your site. You need to constantly make sure your WordPress plugins and themes are up to date.

Use A Good Host

Our sites have never been hacked on WP Engine. Weak hosting providers without proper security protocol can allow in unwanted visitors. Choosing a reputable WordPress hosting provider is vital. We host our sites on WP Engine: a WordPress specialist built from the ground up for WordPress sites. Security is a top priority. WP Engine locks down a lot of server settings that can be exploited by hackers, carries out regular scans and works in partnership with a web security company (Securi). In addition, if something should happen to your site, WP Engine carries out daily automatic backups of your entire WordPress website and database.

WordPress On The Internet

WordPress probably does attract more attention from hackers and spammers than any other system, but that’s not because the system is poorly designed. Hackers may target WordPress vulnerabilities because there is a far larger pool of websites to infiltrate.

WordPress is a top-notch platform, one we’re more than happy to use and recommend.

Over the years we have helped loads of New Zealand WordPress users take care of their WordPress security. We will show you how you can improve your WordPress security, or we can do it for you.

Don’t let an unsecured website ruin all your marketing efforts. If you’re ready to protect all your hard work, contact us today.