WP-Ensure was developed to secure WordPress websites.
WordPress like many other CMS systems runs on PHP and a database and is extendable through plugins and themes.
It has a diverse community of developers who work on it from all over the world. It’s also the most used CMS on the web (43.1% of the internet is powered by it) which makes it a prime target for hackers and bots who want to exploit it.
WordPress Security Course
If you want to learn more about WordPress security, we have a free course available that teaches you everything you need to help you secure your site. Of course, our WP-Ensure platform is also available to take care of these issues for you.
Vulnerabilities in WordPress
The core of WordPress is very secure after decades of work in the open-source community, but themes and especially plugins can still add vulnerabilities and require updates and maintenance.
WordPress also has a rest API which allows plugins and themes to interface with the WP backend. The more endpoints your site has, the more open your site is to attacks, this API is used mainly by developers so it’s easy to miss data leaks.
Server Vulnerabilities
Outside attacks such as DDoS and brute force still affect WordPress as well as the legions of bots scanning WP sites every day trying to find vulnerabilities. DNS security is also important. Keeping your DNS records clean (not leaving old installations on subdomains for example) is good practice.
Using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) such as Cloudflare WAF is a good way to keep the bots at bay and stop them from even reaching your site.
Making sure your site is using a supported PHP version is also important and old plugins and themes can cause issues when trying to update.
Basic Maintenance
In addition to vulnerabilities in code, many WP sites lack even the most basic maintenance procedures such as daily backups and updates.
Many end-users assume their web host takes care of all technical aspects including server backups and maintenance.
The reality is that the backups are usually only taken daily and include your entire hosting account. Restoring backups can also be problematic on large sites and daily backups on sites such as e-commerce sites, are not often enough. Sadly, customers find this out only once things go wrong.
Regular web hosts (i.e. not managed hosting) also do not handle software updates such as WordPress core updates, plugins, and themes. Managed hosting also usually has automated updates that will roll back if there’s a problem, usually, there are no developers on hand to help you fix the problem. You can be left with a broken site.
By being proactive and using the best tools available, your website can be secured as well as possible against outside threats.
