WordPress Vulnerabilities That You Might Want To Patch Up As Soon As Possible

The popularity of WordPress among website owners is indisputable. It is the go-to platform for bloggers especially since it comes with a suite of themes and a wide variety of useful plugins, so much so that there?s bound to be something for everyone.

But with popularity also comes a downside. Because WordPress is so popular, it also becomes a staging point for attackers to exploit a multitude of vulnerabilities. Moreover, the fact that WordPress is very easy to use also means that a lot of its users may not be familiar with basic security practices.

This article is meant to bring to light the website security oversights that might leave your website open to attacks. This is even more important with blogs that have a sizeable readership. You don?t want to risk losing your audience because you overlooked a few basic details. So, what exactly are these threats that you need to address?

Brute Force Login Attempts

Hackers use automated scripts in order to exploit weak passwords in order to gain access to your website. The worst part about brute-force login attempts is that they are very common. The fact that a lot of WordPress users don?t beef up their security is what makes these types of attacks common. These attacks are very easy to thwart through the use of two-step authentication, IP blocking, and even the use of strong passwords is more than enough to ward off these attacks. It’s also important to observe these WordPress security best practices in order to minimize the chances of getting hacked.

Cross-Site Scripting

The most common vulnerability in WordPress is that of Cross-site Scripting, which is the act of injecting malicious code into a website or program. These are used to collect cookies and session data. A lot of cross-site scripts can be found in malicious WordPress plugins. Though, granted, there are also really good WordPress security plugins that you should consider.

DOS Attacks

A denial of service attack is easily the worst form of attack because it renders the website inoperable by overloading website memory. This is accomplished through the use of code errors and bugs. Many hackers profit out of these attacks. Those who are financially motivated will often ignore smaller websites in favor of big websites but may still attack smaller websites in order to convert them into botnet chain components.

A DOS attack is particularly dangerous for WordPress websites because the platform cannot defend itself reliably against the more potent versions of DOS attacks. A DOS attack cannot be countered but it can be prevented through the use of a VPN, or even Identity Defined Networks.

Backdoor Vulnerabilities

As you might have already guessed, backdoor vulnerabilities present hackers with a means of ingress into your website which essentially bypasses your security. This is often the first attempt to hack your website that you?re going to get. It?s fairly easy to repel these attacks as they rely more on user negligence than hacker skill to perform. A simple site check will uncover any back doors that may be embedded into your website. Again, it the seemingly simple cyber security measures that will actually prevent hackers from gaining access to your site.

So, why does this information matter? The answer is simple. When you are aware of the potential means of ingress that hackers will likely use to gain access to your website, the better you?re going to be able to create a security plan that will effectively bar access through those vulnerabilities. And while you may not be able to defend against every attack, you?re going to significantly reduce the likelihood of falling victim to hackers.