Web technology advances rapidly, but security often lags behind. Nowhere is this more apparent than within the WordPress ecosystem which powers over 40% of all websites globally. With great flexibility comes increased vulnerability if sufficient hardening isn’t applied proactively.
According to cloud-based security provider Wordfence, over 100,000 WordPress sites are impacted by attacks monthly. Nearly 3.5 million forms of malware target the platform annually. No site is too small or obscure to avoid being targeted.
Implementing comprehensive website security measures requires diligence, expertise and constant vigilance. In this guide, we’ll outline 10 proactive tips proven to lock down websites built on WordPress according to cybersecurity best practices.
The WordPress Security Landscape
Before diving into specific techniques, understanding the risks landscape is important for priority focus areas:
Outdated Software & Abandonware
WordPress developers rapidly push security updates and patches. However 55% of compromised WordPress installations are running outdated, vulnerable software with known exploits. Abandoned plugins and themes no longer maintained also pose significant risks long-term.
Access Attacks
The most common attack vector aims to gain administrative dashboard access through compromised or weak credentials. Attacking unauthorized access is paramount.
Supply Chain Poisoning
Increasingly threats are targeting third party components like themes, plugins, web hosts and CDNs vs. WordPress core. Identifying and limiting connections to potentially compromised suppliers is key.
Now let’s explore 10 tips to secure WordPress sites at the code, network and account access levels.
1. Construct Strong Passwords
Weak passwords are behind roughly 80% of WordPress site hacks. Enforcing password complexity rules blocks the low hanging fruit attackers target through brute force attacks and credential stuffing.
Over 30 million login attempts occur on WordPress sites daily. Most target the WP login area seeking to exploit default or weak admin credentials.
Here are a few best practices to strengthen website access:
🛡️ Utilize password managers like LastPass, 1Password or Keeper to generate complex 12+ character passwords using alpha-numeric-symbol combinations rendering them uncrackable.
🔑 Never reuse the same password across multiple accounts or websites. One third party breach compromises all accounts employing duplicate credentials.
🔐 Enable two-factor authentication providing secondary login verification through email confirmations, SMS texts or authenticator apps. Popular 2FA plugins include Google Authenticator and Authy.
Adding further protections like login throttling, IP bans and mandatory 2FA foils even advanced identity attacks targeting your admin accounts.
2. Throttle Login Attempts to Defeat Brute Force Attacks
If someone tries enough username and password combinations through unlimited guesses, eventually they may luck into a valid login.
Account lockout functionality blocks endless credential stuffing efforts by temporarily throttling or cutting off access after a defined number of invalid login attempts occur within a short period.
Recommended lockout plugins like Limit Login Attempts and Login Lockdown allow configuring the failure threshold and duration of access denial. Start with 4-6 invalid attempts triggering a 5-10 minute lockout, expanding exponentially for repeated offenders.
Brute force attacks comprise the entry point in over 90% of WordPress site takeovers. Defending this perimeter is crucial as the first line of defense.
3. Eliminate Vulnerabilities Through Prompt Software Updates
The single most impactful action you can take is staying updated across all website software components – WordPress, plugins, themes and any embedded third party apps.
WordPress issues dozens of security patches per year while plugin developers release hundreds of vulnerability fixes targeting functionality flaws and weaknesses. Using outdated platform versions after fixes become available invites avoidable exploitation.
Generally aim to update production software within 0-14 days for standard risks and ASAP for critical threats. Specifically follow these best practices:
🟢 Enable auto-background updates for WordPress Core releases within the platform’s settings. This maintains the CMS foundation automatically as upgrades become available.
🟠 Manually update all Plugins & Themes from within the WordPress Dashboard every 1-2 weeks. Don’t rely solely on automatic updates which occasionally hang or break sites.
🔴 Regularly monitor services like WPScan Vulnerability Database for security advisories and new threat details. Review plugins you have installed against newly discovered exploits.
Keeping software updated takes a bit more diligence but prevents leaving the door open to known security gaps being targeted in live attacks.
4. Eliminate Unnecessary Plugins
The average WordPress website runs 17 plugins which bloats code and widens exposure. More plugins mean more potential vulnerabilities presenting a broader attack surface area for threats to exploit.
According to WordPress security company Wordfence – Sites running 10-15+ plugins are over 5 times more likely to be compromised than sites with less than 5.
Make an effort to limit plugins to only what’s absolutely necessary for core website functionality and remove unused plugins. Thinning the plugin herd improves both site security and performance simultaneously.
Before installing new plugins, thoroughly vet them to ensure:
✔ Active development & update release history
✔ Sizeable user base over 50K+
✔ Consistently strong ratings & reviews
✔ No known security issues or red flags
Checking plugins against vulnerability databases flags any with identifiable security risks or a history of dangerous exposures in prior versions that may reappear. Avoid such plugins completely no matter how useful the functionality.
5. Harden Security Through Dedicated Plugins
The limited native security capabilities built into basic WordPress installations leave sites weakly protected. Specialized WordPress security plugins dramatically strengthen defenses with extra protections like:
🔐 Brute force attack prevention
📵 Two-factor authentication enforcement
😵 Bot detection through behavioral analysis
🐞 Integrity checks against file tampering incidents
📡 Ongoing malware scans seeking suspicious code
🛡️ Web application firewall for deep packet inspection
🙅 Access control lists and permissions management
Among the most popular WordPress security plugins include Wordfence, iThemes, Sucuri and RIPS offering both free and premium tools.
Think defense in depth. Don’t rely on just the built-in WordPress protections alone. Harden sites at multiple levels using layers of overlapping security mechanisms.
6. Add a Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Augmenting security plugins, implementing a web application firewall (WAF) provides network-level protection analyzing all incoming traffic for malicious characteristics.
Web application firewalls function like barricades surrounding a website, blocking dangerous requests before they reach the web server by enforcing rule-based filters that weed out SQL injections, cross site scripting attacks and other penetration efforts.
Leading managed WAF security providers specializing in WordPress protection include Cloudflare, Sucuri Firewall and Wordfence. Benefits include:
🔥 Real-time blocking of SQL injections, XSS attacks, etc
⚙️ Customizable threat filtering rules ⚡️ Built-in content delivery network (CDN) for performance
📈 Visitor analytics identifying bots and targeted attacks
WAFs make an ideal companion to inner-ecosystem security plugins by fortifying the exterior barriers.
7. Backup Regularly – It‘s Like Insurance
Despite extensive precautions, some attacks still sneak through. Having reliable backups enables quickly reverting to an uncorrupted pre-hack site version vs. hours remediating issues or days rebuilding from scratch.
A recent example – WordPress hosting company Flywheel suffered a major ransomware attack. Sites with current backups were restored within 24 hours while those without backups faced 10+ days of prolonged downtime.
Backup options include:
👻 Managed WordPress hosts often perform daily site backups automatically
🗄️ Backup plugins like UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy, BlogVault and WPvivid
💾 Manual database & file system exports to external sources
☁️ Syncing copies to cloud storage services on Dropbox, Google Drive, etc
Ideally configure backups to run daily, copied to an off-site location so the source and redundant copies aren’t impacted simultaneously. Test restoring backups periodically and ensure multiple prior versions are retained compounding the insurance protection.
8. Actively Monitor for Emerging Threats
The cyber threat landscape evolves extremely rapidly with new attack vectors and vulnerabilities continuously discovered against WordPress sites specifically. Maintaining awareness of emerging exploits is vital for responding quickly to new hazard trends.
Useful threat monitoring resources include:
🔎 WPScan Vulnerability Database – Database detailing currently exploited vulnerabilities including affected plugin & theme versions. Check plugins you actively use against listed security advisories.
🐘 Wordfence Falcon – Performing deep malware scans to detect backdoors, botnets and infected files present on your specific site based on ongoing threat research. It also alerts administrators as new high risk vulnerabilities emerge in the community, flagged by severity.
📡 External website monitoring tools like UptimeRobot, StatusCake and Pingdom notify administrators of unplanned site outages which may signal an attack. Running uptime checks from multiple geographic locations helps identify denial of service and region-specific attacks impacting site availability.
Proactively monitoring information security industry news, WordPress security blogs and staying aware of notable attack campaigns improves preventing your site from becoming the next victim of a mass-exploit.
9. Always Use HTTPS Encryption
Accessing the WordPress dashboard or hosting provider accounts via unencrypted HTTP exposes credentials and site data to man-in-the-middle eavesdropping attacks. Implementing HTTPS TLS encryption prevents middleman spying attempts.
Yet nearly 33% of sites still fail to enforce HTTPS, even with free security certificate options available.
Go to your WordPress Dashboard > Settings > General area and check the “Force HTTPS” option to redirect all requests from HTTP to encrypted HTTPS by default.
Alternatively, within your .htaccess files, add:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !on
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}Finally obtain a free certificate from the LetsEncrypt Certificate Authority for activating HTTPS at the server level.
No websites should solely rely on unencrypted connections anymore given how easy activating encryption has become. Use security best practices and go HTTPS-only.
10. Lockdown File Permissions
Insecure file permissions enable bad actors to modify sensitive files like wp-config.php containing database credentials or inject backdoor access creating new administrator accounts.
WordPress core files should enforce permissions of 644 for most files and 755 for folders. Leverage a secure permissions plugin like WPS Hide Login to automate permissions restrictions for enhanced security hardening beyond defaults.
Additionally at the code level, add security protection restrictions into wp-config.php by enclosing in PHP tags:
<Files wp-config.php>
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
</Files>And consider reviewing underlying operating system and server protections for enhanced defense-in-depth security hardening.
Conclusion
Hardening WordPress security requires continuous vigilance, expertise and a layered defense approach rather than a single magical plugin offering impenetrable protection on its own.
By proactively monitoring threats targeting this massively deployed content management system, safeguarding access credentials, eliminating unnecessary plugins and keeping software updated, website owners can drastically decrease security risks.
Employ both inner and outer-perimeter defenses across plugins, firewall services, file permissions, authentication policies and visitor traffic analysis.
No solution eliminates 100% of potential attack vectors. However judiciously applying the techniques detailed here makes the difference between a site that suffers frequent embarrasing compromises rather than one reflecting security best practices rarely disturbed by anything more bothersome than an occasional pesky spam bot.
Prioritize quick-win high risk protections like strong passwords, login throttling and prompt software updates. But also devote time implementing additional layers like managed firewalls, hardened file permissions and active threat monitoring for enhancing long term website protection at scale.
What tips are you using to lock down WordPress site security? Please share your questions and favorite tools below!
