One of the perils of owning a website is that it could get hacked, and with around 30,000 websites targeted every day, hacking is a real risk. Here’s how to prevent your WordPress site from getting hacked, and what to do if it happens.
Preventing hacking
Prevention is always better than cure, and although no website is ever 100% safe from being targeted by hackers, there are plenty of measures you can take to slash the risks.
Choosing a reputable hosting company is a good start, as this ensures your site is as secure as possible. If you don’t possess the know-how to fix a hacked website, a good hosting provider should be able to help you.
Make sure there are no loopholes in the design of your WordPress site that could provide an easy entry for hackers. If you’re not familiar with WordPress design and want the reassurance of expert assistance, choose a professional design company such as https://happy2host.com/, who offers WordPress web design in London or elsewhere.
Image Credit
Telltale hacking signs
How do you even know if you’ve been hacked in the first place? Even without expert web knowledge, there are a few giveaway signs you should look out for. These include unwanted pop-up adverts or footer/header text suddenly infiltrating your site, or a site that keeps freezing. If you get redirected to other sites that resemble spam, or auto-linking of keywords to other sites is a feature, these could indicate that your site has been hacked.
Important measures to take
Try to find out where the hack has come from on your site, if you can still access your WordPress admin panel. At your earliest convenience, make sure to change your password. Hopefully, you have been making regular backups of your site, so if hacking does occur, you can restore your site to the most up-to-date version before it became tainted. Remove any file or plugin that appears to have caused the problem.
Keep your site up to date as much as possible. According to Trip Wire, if you don’t update your WordPress plugins or theme on a regular basis there’s a possibility that hackers might use outdated files to access your site.
Keep a check on users’ permissions for your website, and change your WordPress security keys to prevent unauthorised entry to your site.