Website security is important. Google rankings, as well as your customer base, expect your website to be a secure place. This is especially true if personal information, like shipping addresses and credit card numbers, is part of your business page experience.
How Did I Get Hacked?
Hacking is much more prevalent than you may realize. In fact, because WordPress is the most popular platform amongst websites, it is also the most hacked platform. There are several ways in which a hacker can gain access to your site, despite basic security measures. However, the four most common points of entry include force as well as vulnerabilities associated with plugins, cores, and themes, and hosting.
Hackers, typically through the use of bots, may be able to force their way into your WordPress site. More often than not, these types of attacks are only successful when usernames or passwords are easily guessed.
Plugin vulnerabilities are actually the easiest ways for a hacker to successfully attack your WordPress site. In today’s online community, hundreds of thousands of plugins exist. Designed by thousands of different developers, these plugins open you up to potential security issues.
Core or theme vulnerabilities also open you up to attack. While WordPress Core is actually considered much more secure than the vast plugin ecosystem, vulnerabilities are still discovered frequently. There are plenty of sites that offer free WordPress themes. While free does not necessarily mean you are endangering your site, not every theme creator takes security seriously. (Others may even offer free themes with malicious malware pre-installed!)
Web hosting vulnerabilities is also another gaping hole through which a hacker can attack. Secure web hosting is the best way to prevent this avenue of attack, however, it can be elusive.
Important Recovery Steps after a Hack
The first step towards recovering from a hack is to remain calm. While it is certainly bad for business and stressful, panicking can affect your reaction and ability to find a solution.
Before you take steps to recover, you need to identify how the hack occurred and what was affected. Can you log in to your WordPress administrator panel? Are you being redirected to a different website? Is Google marking your WordPress site as not secure?
Once you identify potential issues, it is time to contact your hosting company. A reputable secure WordPress hosting company will likely have experienced staff who can help you recover from any damages and restore your site.
However, if your web hosting site does not include this service, hiring a professional may be your next best option. A site that is left in a vulnerable state will not improve on its own. Additionally, the longer it stays down, the most your customers will lose faith in your security measures.
How Can I Prevent Being Hacked Again?
Preventing another hack attempt goes hand-in-hand with your recovery process. First, regularly backing up your website can help ensure your recovery or restoration process includes the most up-to-date secure version of your WordPress site.
If the hacker forced their way through due to username and password failures, you should update them. Long and complex passwords make it harder for a hacker to successfully infiltrate. In addition to this, a two-factor authentication can further increase your password security.
Reducing the number of plugins you use can also help decrease vulnerabilities associated with them. Dedicated plugin developers are constantly updating their products to address known vulnerabilities. Updating your plugins thus becomes increasingly important to your security.
Core and theme vulnerabilities are also often fixed through updates. While updating them helps to reduce vulnerabilities, using themes or cores from reputable sources is vital. Find sources, like BionicWP, who have a proven security record when it comes to themes or cores.
Finally, it is absolutely vital to the security of your website that you find a reputable and secure WordPress hosting company. No matter what security steps you take from the above advice, without a secure web hosting company as your base – you will continue to remain vulnerable to hacking. Thoroughly reviewing testimonials and online feedback can help you find a secure WordPress hosting company that works for you.
Why You Need BionicWP
At BionicWP, secure web hosting is second nature. Our experts understand how important security is and it stays at the forefront of our minds. Our secure WordPress hosting services provide premium support geared towards preventing a hacking attempt before it even starts. Each of our secure WordPress hosting solution packages offer several features meant to keep your business website safe. This includes unlimited 30-minute tasks, professional support, 90 days of off-site backups, real-time uptime monitoring, daily security scans, as well as WordPress core, theme and plugin updates.
If you looking for a secure WordPress hosting company, contact BionicWP today!
