7 Steps to Secure WordPress Website

1. Install a WordPress Backup Solution

Backups are your first defense against any WordPress attack. Remember, nothing is 100% secure.
Backups allow you to quickly restore your WordPress site in case something bad was to happen.
There are many free and paid WordPress backup plugins that you can use like All in one migration, updraft. They are both reliable and most importantly easy to use.

2. Install a WordPress Security Plugin

After backups, the next thing we need to do is set up an auditing and monitoring system that keeps track of everything that happens on your website.
This includes file integrity monitoring, failed login attempts, malware scanning, and more.
Thankfully, you can easily take care of this by installing one of the best WordPress security plugins, such as Wordfence.
This WordPress security plugin is very powerful, so browse through all the tabs and settings to see all that it does such as malware scanning, audit logs, failed login attempt
tracking, and more.

3. Enable a Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Using a web application firewall (WAF) is the easiest way to protect your site and be confident about your WordPress security.

A website firewall blocks all malicious traffic before it even reaches your website.

a) A DNS-level website firewall routes your website traffic through its cloud proxy servers. This allows it to send only genuine traffic to your web server.
b) An application-level firewall examines the traffic once it reaches your server but before loading most WordPress scripts. This method is not as efficient as the DNS-level
firewall in reducing the server load.

I use Cloudflare and recommend it as one of the best web application firewalls for WordPress.

4. Move Your WordPress Site to SSL/HTTPS

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol that encrypts data transfer between your website and the user’s browser. This encryption makes it harder for someone to sniff around and steal information.
Once you enable SSL, your website address will use HTTPS instead of HTTP. You will also see a padlock or similar icon sign next to your website address in the browser.
A non-profit organization called Let’s Encrypt decided to offer free SSL Certificates to website owners. Their project is supported by Google Chrome, Facebook, Mozilla, and many more companies.

5. Change the Default Admin Username

In the old days, the default WordPress admin username was ‘admin’. Since usernames make up half of the login credentials, this made it easier for hackers to do brute-force attacks.

Thankfully, WordPress has since changed this and now requires you to select a custom username at the time of installing WordPress.

6. Add Two Factor Authentication (2FA)

The two-factor authentication method requires 2 different steps for users to log in:

The first step is the username and password.
The second step requires you to use a code from a device or app in your possession that hackers can’t access, such as your smartphone.
Most top online websites like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, allow you to enable it for your accounts. You can also add the same functionality to your WordPress site.

7. Change the WordPress Database Prefix

By default, WordPress uses wp_ as the prefix for all tables in your WordPress database.

If your WordPress site is using the default database prefix, then it makes it easier for hackers to guess what your table name is. This is why we recommend changing it.