There are so many amazing tools to help you create a WordPress website. One of our favorites is Beaver Builder, which can be used by beginners and advanced users alike. More than 40% of the top million websites on the internet run on this platform–making it one of the most popular CMSs out there. It’s easy, powerful, and non-siloed, making it great for personal or professional use!
The rise of e-commerce has impacted all industries, including media. Some industries have built an online presence while other industries are still planning how to build it. As organizations like NBC hack or AI start threatening privacy and safety to the masses, companies need to protect themselves from cyber threats.
WordPress can be a powerful tool for creating websites and maintaining them. However, because there are holes to exploit and vulnerabilities that need to be addressed, it can also make your website vulnerable. This article will teach you why WordPress sites get hacked by hackers.
Why Hackers Target WordPress Sites
WordPress has a strong and loyal following, so hackers like it due to the large number of active installations. Additionally, because of how popular it is, many WordPress sites fail to implement the required security measures that can prevent hacking. As such, websites with WordPress are constantly being targeted and hacked by hackers.
Hackers who target websites for the purposes of disrupting services and stealing money commonly use different methods to attack a website. While some hackers will attack small, unprotected websites, others target larger websites to distribute malware.
Hackers target all websites on the internet and WordPress websites are among the website they commonly hack, as it is one of the most popular content management systems. With its often-free Updates and plugins, hackers easily find WordPress sites that fail to implement the required security measures.
There are several reasons why cybercriminals target websites, but they usually have one goal in mind: stealing money or valuable information. Some hackers target smaller sites with fewer security measures in place, while others seek out larger and more prominent targets with the hope of making quick cash and getting their hands on confidential information.
Hackers generally don’t target specific WordPress websites, but they look for known vulnerabilities to exploit. They often target many websites at a time and finally end up gaining access to a certain number of sites. Even though small business owners happen to become victims, most attacks are not targeted.
1. Applying Weak Passwords
Passwords are the most commonly used security feature on websites, but that doesn’t mean they’re always secure. Weak passwords are a leading cause of successful brute force attacks; they remain as common as ever and if not set with more security features, your website could end up hacked!
It only takes a single guess to hack into the admin accounts and cause maximum damage to a website.
There’s a problem with your password? Don’t worry, we’ll show you how to fix it. Simply, ensure all your account users (including admin users) configure strong passwords for their login credentials. With at least 8 characters and mixed-case alphabets, numbers, and symbols, the password can be a bit longer from 8-12 characters long.
It can be tempting to rely on a single password management tool to store all your passwords, but this can often cause a security issue. Consider installing more than one password management tool that will generate and help you store strong passwords automatically.
2. Using an Insecure Web Host
As with all web platforms, WordPress websites entail one of two things: a hoster or hosting. Hosters work hard to properly secure the platform, but some don’t. This means that WordPress sites are vulnerable to hacking attempts at every level.
Your website is one of the most important things you have, so choosing the best WordPress hosting provider is an important step. Incorporating proper security measures can keep your site safe from common sites that are designed to attack it.
3. Using a Common Admin Username
Weak passwords will make your website very vulnerable. Just like passwords, common admin username names that are easy to guess such as an admin name, or 123admin will also open your site to attacks. If you want to protect yourself from these types of disasters, it’s time to consider changing the admin account name to something unique and not easily guessed by attackers.
A hacker can hack your website by entering your admin account. To avoid the issue, change common usernames to unique names. You can start by changing the default username of your admin account, and only giving the person who needs access.
If you have a backup of your website, you’ll be able to restore it without any hassle. If something doesn’t happen to go as planned, however, prevent hackers from infiltrating your backend files by changing the default username for all admin account access and limiting other users from having access.
4. Using the Old WordPress Version
WordPress websites have to be regularly updated and maintained. When owners don’t update their websites, they get hacked. If you’re using a vulnerable older version, hackers will carry out malware attacks. New updates to WordPress increase your website’s cybersecurity by adding patches for new threats as soon as they’re discovered. Updating your site to the latest version of WordPress helps reduce malware attacks and increases its likelihood of remaining secure.
In order to prevent your website from being crowded out by any unwanted content, update your website as soon as you receive an update notification. You can test the latest version on your staging site before updating your live website.
5. Using Old Plugins And Themes
As more and more web users decide to use WordPress to power their websites. Hackers are taking advantage of outdated, unused, or abandoned plugins and themes. With over 55,000 WordPress plugins and themes available on the market, it is easy to install a plugin or theme.
When plugins/themes are not up-to-date, it becomes easier for hackers to do their job and infect sites.
As mentioned above, never run plugins that aren’t optimized for the WordPress platform. This is generally considered an easy step to take in order to avoid this problem since all of your installed plugins can be updated easily. All unused or outdated plugins should be removed or replaced with better options.
