One of the biggest horrors a site owner can experience is having their site hacked. This causes delays in the business and exposes information (both yours and your customers’) that can be used for various malicious acts. And even after you regain control of your site, you will lose the trust of affected customers. So being hacked is genuinely horrifying.
With that in mind, it is vital to know WordPress site vulnerabilities. Your knowledge of these vulnerabilities gives you the upper hand. Here are 9 of the most common WordPress site vulnerabilities and how you can address them:
Out of Date WordPress Version
Like everything around you, vulnerabilities evolve. To keep up, software developers ensure they stay one step ahead to protect their patrons. WordPress does just that. All the updates that are provided should not be taken for granted because these include improvements not only in functionality but also in security. Don’t make the mistake of not updating your WordPress version. Doing that will expose you to risks you would not want to experience.
SQL Injection
SQL injection refers to a technique used by hackers to infiltrate your site by injecting malicious codes into your site’s SQL statements. It can enable them to access your database, exposing all stored information.
To prevent SQL injection, you should control user input and how this affects your queries. Make sure your codes are written while keeping your database protected.
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
Another technique hackers use is cross-site scripting or XSS, which is the injection of malicious scripts, usually through a web application. The lack of user input validation is also the main culprit to this kind of attack. There are many types of XSS attacks, causing varying levels of consequences which range from pure disturbance to a full-scale account takeover.
Knowing this, you should take the validation of user input very seriously. Being too lax in this area exposes you to this threat and a lot more. Implement stricter rules in your programming, and ensure that anything that your users would key in is validated before being accepted.
Low-End Host Provider
Your choice of hosting provider plays an important role not only on your site’s performance but also in other aspects such as your site’s security. Since hosting entails costs, many websites, especially those running on a tight budget, end up availing the services of cheap providers. But, of course, a provider’s costs justify the quality of services it can give its users, so a low-end provider will have to make compromises to operate at low costs. Sometimes, this compromise is on security.
As a responsible site owner, you should always be serious about security. If
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This article was written by Kenneth and originally published on WPArena.