Top 5 Reasons to Hack a WordPress Website

The popularity of WordPress is eminent. You can use it quickly, and it is also free. However, along with the advantages, there are a bunch of unexpected risks. Anyone can easily hack your WordPress website if you are not careful.

Just like any other open-source software, WordPress is prone to attack by hackers who try to hack your website at any given point. You don’t want to wake up to the news of losing all your content or that it is sending out phishing emails. The worst case is if it gets suspended for hosting and spreading malware.  

It can be complicated to repair your reputation apart from the costs to fix the hack and restore your WordPress website. You might even take some time to regain the trust of your customers. Apart from that, Google’s search engine ranking might drop tremendously. Hence, it is essential to bring your site back to a safe and secure level.

Therefore, read on to find out the top reasons how someone can hack your WordPress website.

The site is not up to date.

The top reason why WordPress sites get hacked is that you fail to update them regularly. Generally, the security updates are supposed to happen automatically. But, some users disable the option ignorantly. And the main reasons for not updating the WordPress websites regularly include not having sufficient time, which delays the updates. Sometimes it can be the fear of affecting the website performance. Users feel that updating can slow down the sites or lead to many errors.

If you are worried, you can take a complete backup of your website before opting for an update. Hence, you can restore your site to the standard, previous state in the worst-case scenario. Additionally, you can outsource the work to any website maintenance service, which can take care of it and offer you peace. Reliable expert help can never go wrong.

Weak password and not using two-factor authentication

If you are that person who creates the same password for all your sites, then you have to stop doing that. It is not a choice, and you should consider different passwords to stay safe. Also, do not leave your passwords in random places like Google sheets.

Remember to use the WordPress plugins to enforce strong passwords throughout the websites for all the users. Sometimes it is not sufficient to set strong passwords, but you also need to switch to a two-factor authentication set-up. It requires a second mechanism to authenticate entry into your site. This process will make it hard for anyone who tries to hack your WordPress Website. It adds another layer of security to safeguard your system.

Ignoring SSL certificate

It is straightforward to expose yourself if you are not considering the SSL certificate. An eavesdropper will catch your data as it is transferred from the browser to the server or vice versa. To prevent it from happening, you can make the change to secure HTTPS from the insecure HTTP. For this, you can process this by installing an SSL certificate. Therefore, your work is safe with an encrypted link while moving between the web server and the browser. 

HTTPS enhances the search engine ranking apart from offering extra security. Therefore, when you install SSL, you can enjoy a higher SERP ranking with better security.

Unprotected wp-admin directory

A critical directory in the WordPress installation includes the wp-admin directory. Hence, it is crucial to offer better protection for the directory to be accessible. You can add password protection for accessing the directory. There can be two passwords for users to enter this space; one for logging in while the other is to gain access into the WordPress admin zone.

Insecure web hosting

The cost of web hosting is directly proportional to the quality of the same. You end up getting exactly how much you spend. The prices are higher when the hosts can afford to hire a professional service provider, and hence the charge will be greater. Specific issues like the security of the website cannot be ignored or delayed.  

Ensure that your web hosting provider can offer security and quality services at an affordable budget. Additionally, a good security plugin can help you with the site’s safety and security.

However, if you are not very comfortable handling the technical aspects or have a shortage of time, hiring expert website maintenance is the best option. It helps to have someone to track your website regularly while fixing the issues on time.