A hacked website can be devastating to your business. Once your site is hacked, you may lose visitors, have to deal with negative press coverage, and even have your search engine ranking drop. Hacking is a very real threat for WordPress websites—and one that you can’t ignore. A disturbing report showed that out of the top 10K most popular WordPress sites, nearly 3% were infected with malware. In this blog post, we’ll explain what hacking is, why it’s such a danger to your website and how you can protect it from hackers.
What is a Hacking?
A hacking attack is when a hacker uses a computer program to break into another computer or website, usually for malicious purposes. If you’re hacked, it means a hacker has broken into your computer or website and stolen sensitive data or control over your system. A typical hack might involve a hacker getting control over your website’s server and then putting malicious code on your site, which can be used to steal data from your users or even use your website to infect other computers. Hacking can occur if your website is not properly safeguarded. These safeguards include anti-virus software and firewalls. They work to block hackers who might try to gain access to your computer or website.
How to identify if your WordPress website has been hacked
There are a few signs that indicate your site has been hacked:
– Your website has been down for longer than usual. Websites often go down due to a spike in traffic, but if your site has been down for a couple of days, it’s likely not a temporary issue.
– You receive an alarming number of 404 errors. 404 errors are an indication that someone tried to access a page on your website and the server could not find it. If you suddenly start receiving an abnormal number of 404 errors, you may have been hacked.
– You receive a surge in spam comments or emails. Hackers often use infected computers to send spam comments or emails to your site. If you suddenly start receiving a large number of spam comments or emails, you should check your website to see if it was hacked.
– You notice unusual or weird behaviour on the website. If you notice that the website’s behaviour has changed (e.g. a page that previously loaded in seconds now takes too long to load, or a page that used to show up in search results now has no clickable link), you should suspect a hack.
Why is WordPress so Vulnerable to Hacking?
WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS) and hosts more sites than any other platform. As a result, it’s also the most targeted platform by hackers. There are a few reasons for this: WordPress is easy to use, but it’s also easy to mismanage. Inexperienced or non-technical users can make basic mistakes that can leave the website vulnerable to attack. While WordPress is absolutely secure, it has a long history of security issues. In fact, it has faced so many security issues over the years that there’s even a Wikipedia page dedicated to them. Even after years of patches and upgrades, there are still a few issues that WordPress has yet to address.
Best Practices for WordPress Website Security
No website is 100% hack-proof, but you can take a few steps to make it more difficult to hack. Here are a few best practices for keeping your site secure:
– Use Strong Passwords – Make sure that you use different passwords for each of your websites and computers. Don’t ever use the same password for multiple websites.
– Update your website regularly – Regularly update your WordPress installation and plugins to make sure that you have the latest security patches. – Be careful what you click on – Be careful when clicking on links so that you don’t accidentally download malicious software onto your computer.
– Scan your website regularly – Use a security scanning tool to scan your website for any possible vulnerabilities.
– Don’t host your website on a free website hosting service – Free hosting is generally low quality and can’t provide the level of protection that you need.
– Encrypt sensitive data – Make sure to always encrypt any sensitive data that you upload to your website.
Avoid using downloading Cracked/Nulled Plugin or Themes on your WordPress website
Since these plugins and themes are free, they come with severe security concerns. They may be ad-injected, contain backdoor scripts, or contain code that can lead to data theft. Additionally, they may not be updated properly, leading to vulnerabilities within your site. Finally, they may contain code that triggers Google penalties to your site.
Furthermore, If you use cracked or nulled plugins on your website, then it can cause legal issues for you as well – it can lead to your website being disconnected by internet service providers (ISPs), domain name suspension and additional legal action by law enforcement agencies.
Conclusion
A hacked website can be devastating to your business. Luckily, there are several ways to protect your website from hackers. First, you need to make sure that your website is up to date. Hackers are always looking for ways to attack websites, and if your website isn’t up to date, it’s likely that it will be hacked sooner or later. It’s important to make sure that you update your website as soon as a new security patch is released. You should also make sure that you use strong passwords for each of your websites and computers. Don’t ever use the same password for multiple websites. Additionally, you should make sure that you regularly update your WordPress installation and plugins to make sure that you have the latest security patches. You should also be careful what you click on and be careful when clicking on links so that you don’t accidentally download malicious software onto your computer. Finally, you should scan your website regularly to make sure that there are no possible vulnerabilities.
