I Secured a WordPress Website….. In the recent past, cyberattacks have been increasing at an alarming pace across the globe. Every day, thousands of websites are targeted, including small business websites and large scale websites. Recent reports indicate that a large proportion of these attacks are automated, i.e. hackers do not even have to know your business personally, your site simply has to exist.
What makes it even more dangerous?
The common assumption made by most of the owners of websites is, Why would anyone attack my site? However, the reality is that hackers are always searching the internet to find vulnerabilities, old fashioned plugins, weak passwords, unsecured logins, and anything that they can use in a few seconds. I have talked about Top Cybersecurity Malware Threats in my previous blog posts.
What happened to me a few weeks ago?
One of my WordPress sites began to act a little differently. Nothing apparent at first. No downtime. No visible errors. However, there was something wrong behind the scenes. I was getting a series of security warnings, several unsuccessful attempts to log in, suspicious IP access requests, and logs of suspicious activity attempting to gain access to the admin panel. Somebody, somewhere, was making an active attempt to enter my site.
What was the turning point?
Fortunately, I already had some basic security measures in place and it was only thanks to those alerts that I was able to notice it early. Had I not, things might have been very different. It was then that I made the decision that I was not going to take any chances. I began to dig deeper, reinforce all the weak points, and make my site not an easy target but a much more difficult one.
How I secured a WordPress website?
Having witnessed such warnings, I was certain of one thing: basic protection was not sufficient. I had to secure everything. Therefore, I used a systematic method, correcting all potential weak points.
- I strengthened my login security manually
The first thing I tackled was the login page because that’s where most attacks happen.
- Changed my admin login URL.
- Changed my admin username.
- Created a strong and complex password.
- Delete unauthorized users.
- Enabled Two Factor Authentication (2FA).
- Enabled Recapture.
This alone stopped a huge number of automated attacks instantly.
- I installed a security plugin
Next, I installed a trusted WordPress security plugin to monitor everything in real time. There are free and pro plugins available within WordPress. I recommended Wordfence Security, Solid Security and Loginizer. I used both the Loginizer and Wordfence. The Loginizer helped me:
- Block suspicious IP addresses.
- Limited login attempts to block repeated failures.
- Enable Brute force protection.
- Disable XML-RPC.
- Disable Pingbacks.
- Force HTTPS.
The Wordfence helped me:
- Disable application passwords.
- Scan my website and server files for malwares.
- Add a firewall to filter bad traffic.
- Get instant alerts for unusual activity.
From this point, I could actually see what was happening behind the scenes.
- I updated everything
Outdated themes and plugins are one of the easiest ways hackers get access. So, I:
- Updated WordPress and Core to latest version.
- Removed unused plugins and themes.
- Kept only trusted and regularly updated plugins and theme to latest version.
This closed many hidden vulnerabilities I didn’t even realize existed.
- I set up regular backups and monitored everything
No matter how secure your site is, backups are your safety net. So, I configured:
- Automatic daily backups.
- Cloud storage backup (off-site).
- Easy one click restore option.
So even if something went wrong, I could recover instantly. Finally, I didn’t just secure and forget. I:
- Checked logs regularly.
- Reviewed security alerts.
- Monitored traffic patterns.
And here’s the interesting part…After applying all these changes, I still saw attempts but this time, they were blocked instantly. The same types of attacks that could have taken down my website before… were now completely useless.
Final Thoughts
That experience made one thing very clear: It’s not about if your website will be targeted, it’s about when. But the good news is, you don’t need to be a cybersecurity expert to protect your site. You just need the right steps in place. What started as a warning alert turned into a complete security upgrade and now, my website is stronger than ever. If you need any support or Secured a WordPress Website, just contact me….
