How to improve the security of your WordPress

Many businesses have their website on WordPress. Its ease of use, high level of customization, and scalability make it a very useful tool for both small businesses and larger companies. However, WordPress is also a tool prone to cyberattacks, especially with the installation of certain plugins.

You can add plugins to your WordPress pages that enhance the functionality of your site. These plugins can be a double-edged sword; they can help protect your business or compromise the security of your website. Below, we provide some tips on how to protect your WordPress site to prevent cyberattacks or security breaches.

Cyberattacks launched through websites

Websites, if not properly protected, can pose a serious threat to their users, as cybercriminals can launch cyberattacks from another company’s or organization’s website.

• SQL Injection: Attackers exploit vulnerabilities in SQL queries within the database, allowing them to obtain or manipulate sensitive information. This usually happens when the website does not properly validate user inputs.
  
  
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): This involves injecting malicious scripts into web pages, which execute in the user’s browser without their knowledge. This can lead to cookie theft, password theft, or performing actions on behalf of the user.
  
  
• Phishing and website spoofing: Fake websites are created to mimic legitimate sites in order to deceive users and steal confidential data, such as login credentials or banking information.
  
  
• Unintentional malware download: The attacker places malicious code on a legitimate or malicious website that is automatically downloaded onto the user’s device without their knowledge.

Tips for keeping your WordPress website secure

As we explained earlier, a website created in WordPress can have many advantages, but if not properly protected, it can pose a serious risk to the website's and the company's cybersecurity.

• Update WordPress and its plugins regularly. We can't emphasize this enough, but updating the versions of any software, application, or online service we use helps protect it from vulnerabilities that have been detected. This also applies to plugins, as having outdated plugins installed for long periods can also pose a threat to our website.
  
  
• Use a secure hosting provider. The hosting of a website is what makes it accessible on the Internet. Having secure hosting helps protect against malware, denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and other cyberattacks.
  
  
• Specific security plugins. There are plugins available in WordPress that are useful for protecting your website against cyberattacks.
  
  
• Change the login URL. Modify the default URL provided by WordPress to add an extra layer of security to your website. By default, the login URL for your site is "wp-login.php" or "wp-admin," which makes it easier for cybercriminals to gain access."

Essential tools to protect your WordPress website

Petam is a specific tool designed to prevent cyberattacks on your website. It is an automatic online scanner that detects security breaches and vulnerabilities on a website.

Once the scan is completed, the tool provides a detailed report explaining how to fix the vulnerabilities it has detected. The tool is designed so that any user can implement the necessary changes without requiring advanced technical knowledge.

Additionally, Petam offers Add-ons that allow you to enhance the level of analysis of the tool:

• Atomic Scan: By entering a specific IP or URL, Atomic Scan tracks and scans the various weak points on your website that make it vulnerable to a cyberattack. It can identify and mitigate vulnerabilities such as SQL injection and XSS, detect incorrect security configurations, and simulate attacker behavior to find potential vulnerabilities, among other features.
  
  
• WordPress Scan: Petam, connected with WordPress Scan, analyzes all installed plugins and themes, reporting those that pose a cybersecurity threat. It also scans the default login page; if the default login page (wp-admin) is active, it could become an easy attack point.