It goes without saying that WordPress is the most popular content management systems (CMS) in the world as a WordPress installation is really simple and easy to update. Though many people mistakenly think a WordPress installation to a blog, the actual potential of this CMS platform is nearly unlimited with contributions for several thousands of developers across the world. The immense popularity of the WordPress Installation, however, made it a main target of Exploit Target Syndrome (EPS).
Hackers try to attack your WordPress blog for various reasons and some of them can be random attacks carried out by amateur hackers. Amateur hackers target WordPress installation that has limited security as they are usually not capable of attacking sites with high security. Experienced hackers on the other hand uses advanced SQL hacking techniques to inject comment spam to your blog and in some instances, they hijack your blog to post links to pornographic websites or shady enhancement products.
To ensure the smooth running of your WordPress Installation blog, you need to provide it with adequate security and these 3 simple ways are the easiest among all:
Tip 1: Your Administrator Password Really Matters
A lot of site owners use the default user name “Admin” for their administrator account but this is the biggest mistake you can commit! Keeping this username gives hackers an extra edge in hacking your account as they already know the username and just need to figure out the password. Change your username to something that’s really difficult to guess. It must not be related to your domain name, your name or any other details that hackers can easily guess.
Site owners usually don’t take up much effort on doing so only to get disappointed later when some hackers use their blog to promote pornographic products. When you setup your password, use names that can’t be found on a dictionary and keep a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters too, making it difficult for anyone to guess your password. The password must also contain numbers and special characters to ensure maximum security.
Tip 2: Naming Your Databases and Tables
If you use Fantastico or other automated WordPress installation softwares, it will create default names and tables for your site, making the job of a hacker really easy. Take control over your WP installation and use custom names for tables and databases so the hacker will have a tough time figuring it out. It’s tough to change the table and database names on already installed sites but the extra pain really worth it.
Tip 3: Increased Security For Comments
Though the concept ‘Freedom of Expression’ is really fascinating, it’s tough to make it a reality in the online world where you find many nefarious characters that are looking for a way to take an advantage on you. It’s important to protect your site from their exploitation, not to mention that anti spam comment filters also help you to remove garbage comments.
If you closely follow these 3 tips, you are less likely to get attacked by a hacker as most hackers tend to ignore tough sites and go for easier ones.
People work very hard to build a WordPress website and to lose it all because you do not have the correct security in place is a crime. After you install WordPress, one of the first things you should do is make sure that your installation is secure from hackers and spam.
