Every day, more than 30,000 sites are hacked, and this number is constantly increasing. If you don’t take action now, it’s only a matter of time before your site falls into the wrong hands.
Ah security, a few years ago, it was a notion that completely passed over my head. I imagined that hacking stories only happened to others!
However…
One day my accommodation just went wrong! I received an email from my host, who kindly notified me of the closure of my hosting following suspicious activity. Pardon? But mister the host, which is not very nice, I had 5 sites running at full speed on this lodging, and nothing more works !!!
Fortunately, I already had the good reflex to back up my sites regularly, and I quickly restored order. But can you imagine this situation without backup? Dozens and dozens of hours of work that disappear? Sometimes even years of publications on your blog! All your efforts to make yourself known and finally try to make a living, nothing more.
It can quickly turn into a nightmare! and above all, do not imagine that this only happens to important sites. Most of the time, hacks are carried out automatically to hack as many sites as possible and then launch larger attacks or even simply Spam. If you want to prevent this from happening to you, read on, I’ll take you by the hand and guide you step by step to turn your wordpress site into a real impenetrable fortress! (ok, it’s not Guantanamo either, but almost.
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Step 1: Back up your site regularly
You probably must have read it dozens of times already, but did you? Backing up your site is the foundation of the foundation to avoid disaster. Under no circumstances can you override it. Not saving your website is exactly like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. The day you have an accident, there is no going back. If you are not sure how to do this, or you think you need help with the whole website design, you might need a top custom web design company that can meet your every need.
Ok, I’m convinced, how do I do it?
Well, for this, there are several solutions:
- Make a manual backup of your website. It requires a few manipulations, which are not always easy for a beginner and in addition, it is just painful to do.
- Use a WordPress plugin: it’s much easier, you have to configure the plugin once, and then you can make as many backups as you want. Most of the plugins in this area offer a free version which is sufficient in most cases.
- And finally, there are external services that often offer additional features, but they are not free.
Step 2: Secure your administration interface
We will limit ourselves to all the points that can be processed without going to touch any file for this step.
Keep your entire system up to date
A site that is not kept up to date is a colander and a godsend for hackers. Each update corrects security vulnerabilities and reduces the risk that anyone can break into your site fraudulently. In addition, it will only take you a few seconds.
Step 3: Secure your files and folders
By default, your wordpress installation provides access to a lot of information that can be hijacked. To remedy this, we will modify 2 files, the .htaccess file and the functions.php file. Don’t you understand what I’m talking about? It’s nothing I explain to you right after!
Editing the .htaccess file
Each installation of wordpress has a .htaccess file at the root of your structure. This file is great and allows you to act on your website in many ways, but it is primarily used for the following points:
- Improve charging speed
- Set up redirects
- And of course security
Well done! Your WordPress is now secure!
I invite you to verify that the changes you have just made effectively use this free online tool that analyzes your site. You are now unlikely to be part of the 30,000 sites hacked every day. Security purists who read this article will probably say that it is incomplete. It is true! But I decided to dwell on the points that seemed essential to me AND which were affordable by ordinary people. If you see any other simple and important changes to make, please let me know in the comment section.
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