Got WordPress Security Problems? We Feel Bad For You, Son.
Got WordPress security problems? We feel bad for you, son. We got 99 problems but WordPress problems ain’t one.
(OK. Wow. That was awful).
Unless you enjoy spending your time reading WordPress news and security blogs, you’re probably blissfully unaware that *major* WordPress vulnerabilities were announced this week. In fact, 3 of the most popular plugins used in WordPress have been affected by this security vulnerability, which can lead to hackers infiltrating your website and causing massive harm. One of these plugins (Jetpack) comes installed by default with WordPress, so that means if you have a WordPress website and have not updated your plugins since April 20th, your site is currently vulnerable to being hacked.
Most therapists are blissfully unaware of security vulnerabilities, or the need to update your plugins. And for your sake, stay blissfully unaware 🙂
With Brighter Vision, we handle all of those tech headaches for you. We actively monitor and update every single client’s website on a daily basis to ensure that any plugins that have security vulnerabilities are either disabled, replaced, or (more typically) updated so the vulnerability is patched.
Here are a few common WordPress security questions & answers that will give you a better understanding of WordPress security, why it’s important to stay on top of it, and why you should just let Brighter Vision handle it for you.
Top 5 WordPress Security Questions
I’ve heard WordPress is not safe for my website. Why is that?
Remember back in the 90s and early 2000s when virtually nobody owned Mac computers? During that time, Windows machines dominated the landscape. Because Windows computers were so widespread, hackers focused on finding Windows vulnerabilities and developing hacks specifically for Windows. After all, that’s all anybody used.
This led to a (false) assumption that Mac computers were safer than Windows due to some magical armor Steve Jobs put on them.
In truth, Mac computers only appeared to be more secure because hackers weren’t targeting them. The whole world used Windows, so it was a waste of time to focus on Macs.
Now, with Macs becoming more and more widespread, hackers have started targeting them more regularly.
The same goes for WordPress. WordPress dominates the website landscape. This means hackers will actively target WordPress websites to find vulnerabilities and hacks.
But just like keeping a good antivirus program installed, just by staying on top of your WordPress updates, you should never experience a hack.
What happens if my website is hacked?
If your website is hacked, you’ll want to speak with your web host immediately. Hopefully either you or they make regular backups of your website so one can be restored. Once a backup is restored, be sure to update your plugins and themes immediately.
Brighter Vision actively stores 3 backups for every website. We store one monthly backup and two weekly backups, so that we always have a fall-back point to restore from if something goes wrong on your website.
How do I keep my website secure from hackers?
There are two plugins that we install across our network to maintain a high level of security.
- Limit Login Attempts – After 5 failed login attempts, the IP Address is locked out from your website. This prevents a brute force attack on your website where a computer might try 1,000s of combinations in an hour to hack into your site.
- WordFence – WordFence actively scans and monitors websites for changed files, which could be an alarm bell for a hacked website. It also alerts you to plugin, theme, and WordPress updates
I updated my plugins once and it broke my website. Why did this happen?
Sometimes plugins aren’t updated to comply with the latest version of WordPress. Always ensure you have a backup to restore.
This is way too much information for me to handle. Can you just take care of it all for me?
Of course! Click here to contact us and schedule an initial chat with someone on our team to see if we’re a good fit to help support you and your private practice online.
