How to Protect Against Ransomware for Your WordPress Website
More than a third of websites online use WordPress. Popularity has a price because 90% of hacking attempts are against WordPress sites.
A common attack is a ransomware attack. This is when a hacker gains access to your site and locks the files up. They threaten to destroy the files unless you pay a ransom.
It’s a scary prospect because it could cost you thousands of dollars and a lot of downtime. Do you know how to protect against ransomware attacks?
Read on to discover the best practices to protect against ransomware.
1. Be Highly Suspicious of Links
Ransomware attacks often start because someone clicked on an email link or comment link. These links redirect to another site or they install software on your computer.
Once that software gets activated, the ransomware attack starts.
You and your staff have to treat every link as if it leads to a malware or ransomware attack.
2. Install Security Plugins
The one great thing about WordPress is that there is a huge community of developers that support the system. Many of these developers create security plugins to ward off ransomware and other cyber attacks.
Some of the best ones are Sucuri, WordFence, iThemes Security, Security Ninja, and BulletProof Security.
You might want to try out a few plugins and see which one is the right one for your site.
3. Use Strong Passwords
People still use ‘admin’ and ‘123456’ as their WordPress login credentials. If you do this, you’re making it all too easy for hackers to take over your website.
Be sure to use login credentials that you don’t use anywhere else. Use very strong passwords to deter hackers from entering the backend of your site.
4. Maintain Your WordPress Site
Regular website maintenance is an excellent way to guard against ransomware attacks. Hackers spot site vulnerabilities in outdated software. They exploit old software and access your site.
Updating your site to the latest version, making regular backups, and running weekly scans are a few maintenance tasks.
This is so important that if you can’t maintain your site, you should hire WordPress website maintenance services to do the job for you.
5. Use a Reputable Site Scanning Tool
There are several online tools that scan your site for security issues and vulnerabilities. These tools give you a general idea of issues.
They scan your site for code that’s malicious, such as an executable file that triggers a malware attack on a user’s device.
Google Safe Browsing and Sucuri site check are a couple of examples of reputable scanners.
Protect Against Ransomware and Other Attacks
There’s no doubt that WordPress security is a high priority. A hacked website can bring a host of issues that are difficult to overcome.
The tips in this article show you a few simple things you can do to protect against ransomware and other malware attacks.
Follow them and you’ll have a safer and more secure site. Be sure to visit the Tech section of this site for more helpful tips today!