10 Tips To Protect Your WordPress Website From HACKERS

The default WP-admin URLs are known to the public:

• domain.tld/admin
• domain.tld/wp-admin
• domain.tld/login
• domain.tld/wp-login

In this case, leaving your WordPress dashboard unprotected might be risky, since anyone can log in and ruin your business image.

The wp-admin section is one of the most sensitive parts of your WordPress site or blog. Taking care of its security is just as important as securing your own house.?

Essentially, your WordPress admin area is your website's heart. If you log in to your account, you can easily access your customer data, connect with visitors, install new plugins, edit the code, and much more.?

When there are no protective measures in place, hackers can also access your dashboard and do the same things that you can as the owner of your website.

Thankfully, there are numerous methods for protecting this area from hackers and minimizing threats.

In this post, I will share 7 WordPress admin area security techniques. If you follow these tips, it will be more difficult for hackers to gain access to your dashboard - even if they already have your username and password.?

Come on, let's get started!

Why it’s Important to Protect your WordPress Admin Area?

When a malicious third party hacks into your WordPress account, they will gain access to all your data.?

The information includes the personal information of everyone who has ever registered with your website. If you accept payments, you could even include credit card information.

In fact, this kind of data theft could permanently damage your reputation. You may even face legal problems, as your website must protect customer data according to your local laws.

There are many types of attacks targeting the WordPress admin area, including brute force attacks. In these attacks, hackers repeatedly enter usernames and passwords into your login page in the hope of finding a match.

The WordPress admin username and login URL are, by default, the same for every installation. This makes it vulnerable to brute force attacks. If you’re using these default settings, an attacker will only have to guess your password.

With just a few simple changes to your WordPress login screen, you can help protect your account against a variety of attacks.

10 Tips To Protect Your WordPress Website From Hackers

You should take steps to protect your WordPress admin area for the sake of protecting your visitors, data, and content.

1. Do Not Use The Default UserName

The first user account in any new WordPress installation is automatically assigned the username admin.?

If you leave the default settings, hackers know your username and only have to guess or find your password to access your account.

In case you currently use admin as your username, then you should change it as fast as possible.?

If you need to edit your username, go to Users > All Users in the sidebar of your dashboard:

zAdditionally, you should also use a super-strong password that features both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

2. Protect Your WordPress Admin Directory

Your WordPress password already protects your WordPress admin area. Additionally, adding password protection to your WordPress admin directory adds another layer of security to your website.

You can add this extra level of security through your hosting control panel. In cPanel, open Directory Privacy folder:

You will then need to select your wp-admin folder, which is normally found inside the /public_html/ directory.

As you proceed to the next screen, you need to check the box next to the 'Password protect this directory' option and choose a name for the protected directory.

After that, click on the Save button to set the permissions.

After that, you need to press the back button and create a user. When prompted, enter your username/password, and then click the Save button.

Now, whenever someone tries to visit your website's WordPress admin or wp-admin directory, they will have to input the username and password.

3. Setup Your Custom Login URL

If you want to access the login screen of any WordPress website, add /wp-login.php at the end of its URL.?

For example, if your domain is www.forexample.com, then your login page is at www.example.com/wp-login.php.

In case you're using the WordPress default, your login page will be public. Even more dangerous, if you're using the default /wp-login.php URL and the default admin username, hackers already possess two of the three pieces of information they require to access your admin area.

To avoid this, you can create a custom login URL using a plugin called WPS Hide Login.?

When it's installed, go to Settings > WPS Hide Login on your dashboard. You can then set up a new URL as the login URL of your WordPress website.

After saving your changes, you will now only be able to access the WordPress admin area via the new URL.

Now, even if a hacker has your username and password, they'll be unable to open your login page.

4. Setup Two Factor Authentication

The two-factor authentication method is a security measure that requires users to pass an additional check before they can access your WordPress dashboard. The feature can be incorporated into your WordPress account by installing a plugin such as Google Authenticator.

Rather than just using your password, it asks you to enter a verification code generated by the Google Authenticator application on your phone.

Despite someone guessing your WordPress password, they will still need the Google Authenticator code to log in.

5. Setup Login Attempts Limit

By default, WordPress allows users to enter their passwords unlimited times. Consequently, someone can keep trying different combinations to guess your WordPress password. This allows hackers to use automated scripts to crack your login information.

To resolve this issue, you must install and activate the Login LockDown plugin.?

After activating the plugin, go to Settings ? Login LockDown to configure its settings.

6. Setup Website Application Firewall (WAF)

Website application firewalls, or WAFs, monitor web traffic and block suspicious requests entering your website.

There are a number of WordPress firewall plugins available, but it is highly recommended that you use Sucuri.?

Sucuri offers website security and monitoring services that use a WAF on a cloud server to protect your website.

They encrypt and filter all of your website's traffic before it reaches your server via their cloud proxy. They analyze each request and block suspicious ones before they ever reach your website.?

By using it, you can protect your website from hacking attempts, phishing, malware, and other malicious activities.

7. Restrict Login For Specific IP

WordPress admin areas can be restricted to a few IP addresses when only a few users need access. And this can be achieved by editing your website's .htaccess file. This will also help you block traffic from all unknown IP addresses.

Before making any changes to your .htaccess file, it is recommended to create a backup first and then only make the changes you need.?

You can access it via File Manager or FTP :

As soon as you find .htaccess and open it for editing, you can add the following code:

AuthUserFile /dev/null

AuthGroupFile /dev/null

AuthName "WordPress Admin Access Control"

AuthType Basic

<LIMIT GET>

order deny,allow

deny from all

# whitelist IP address

allow from xx.xx.xx.xxx

</LIMIT>

Be sure to replace xx.xx.xx.xxx with your own IP address. Now only the IP addresses listed here will be able to access your WordPress admin area.

8. Change The WordPress Database Table Prefix

Changing it to something unique would be a good idea.?

The default wp- prefix makes your site database vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. Alternatively, you can use wpmine- or mywp-.

9. Remove Error Message on The Login Page

The login page shows an error message if you enter an invalid password or username.?

In that case, if a hacker does one thing right, the error message will aid them in identifying it. Thus, it should be removed altogether.?

Just copy and paste the following code into your functions.php file in your theme folder:

add_filter('login_errors',create_function('$a', "return null;"));

10. Always Keep WordPress Updated

Every few months, WordPress releases a new version. In every new version of WordPress, you'll find a number of fixes, additions, and security updates.

By running an older version of WordPress on your site, you leave yourself open to known exploits and potential vulnerabilities. In order to fix this, you need to make sure you are using the latest version of WordPress.

In the same way, WordPress plugins are frequently updated with new features and fixes for security issues. Be sure to keep your plugins up-to-date as well.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that everyone loves WordPress because it is easy to use. However, if somebody found a way to access your website, its ease of use could be detrimental.?

However, tightening WordPress security isn't as difficult as you might think. With all the tools available, it can actually be quite easy. However, the question remains on how you should secure your website.?

My recommendation is to pay particular attention to your login screen and dashboard because they are major targets for attacks.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding WordPress security.