Additional security measures are essential when using WordPress for the following reasons:
Popularity:
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. According to Tech Jury there are over 455 million sites that use WordPress in 2023, and about 40% of sites on the web use WordPress.
This popularity comes from the fact that the WordPress ecosystem includes thousands of plugins and themes, that allow users to customize and extend their website’s functionality and appearance. With such a vast repository of resources, users can find affordable solutions to meet virtually any online requirement.
There is, however a downside to this popularity and extensive functionality. The vast user base of WordPress makes it a prime target for cybercriminals as hackers are more likely to focus on WordPress sites because of the sheer number of potential targets.
The Vulnerability of Third-party Plugins and Themes:
The vast WordPress ecosystem includes numerous plugins and themes created by third-party developers. While most of them are well-maintained and secure, some contain security vulnerabilities or poor coding practices that can be exploited by hackers. The most common reason for this is when software, plugins, and themes go out of date. Security patches are regularly released to address issues as they arise, but many users fail to keep their installations up to date, leaving their sites exposed.
It is wise to only use professional plugins, and Secure Site Pro produce a range of professional plugins covering most or the key functions businesses need. In our Sentinel and Fortress managed cyber security packages, we offer to swap out these plugins and keep ours up to date for you. We also offer to fix your website for free if its compromised as a result of one of our plugins. And even better, in our Fortress package we offer a refund up to two years of hosting fees, if your site is compromised as a result of our services. This offers our clients unparalleled peace of mind that their core online assets will remain available and functional.
The Vulnerability of Shared Hosting Environments:
Many WordPress sites are hosted on shared hosting platforms, where multiple websites share the same server resources, including IP addresses. That means, if one site on the server is compromised and blacklisted, other sites hosted on the same server may be blacklisted as well.
This can cause your site to be blocked in search engines and browsers, and your email to blocked on hosts, making it undeliverable. But with our Sentinel and Fortress cyber security pakages, your website gets an exclusive IP, which keeps you site from being blacklisted simply because another site on your shared host or IP has a security issue.
The Increasing Threat of Cyber Attacks:
The number and sophistication of cyber threats are continuously growing. Cyber attacks are increasingly poiwered by automated bots that incorporate machine learning. In this environment it is crucial for website owners to implement additional security measures. For instance ny keeping software up to date, implementing a web application firewall (WAF), and regularly monitoring for vulnerabilities.
SSP Sentinel and SSP Fortress provide all these security measures, and more, keeping your website safe, available, which helps to keep youir email deliverable (as a compromised domain can cause email blacklisting).
