4 Ways to get Your WordPress Website Hacked

4 Ways to get Your WordPress Website Hacked

It is no longer news that WordPress websites are constantly under threat from a lot of different people on the internet. However, there are a couple of ways you can land your wordpress site into trouble without you knowing it. These are ways you would not want to experiment with if you are aware of them. To open your eyes to these issues, this article will deal with 4 ways by which your WordPress website may be compromised.

Plugins

The first on the list is plugins. Many people keep going after plugins without actually doing a thorough check on the plugins. Exploit ridden plugins or incompatible plugins are ways in which your WordPress website could be hacked. Plugins allow people to make code snippets and script and are offered to everyone by the WordPress community. The downside is that many of these scripts and coders may not be properly maintained and updated by the coders. The implication is that the vulnerabilities found in future versions of the plugins may be undetected and uncorrected and therefore vulnerable to certain threats. One of the things you should before installing any plugin is to look at the compatibility with the version of WordPress you are using and check how often it is updated. Another good way of checking is to look at the ratings or reviews in the WordPress Community.

Themes

Another issue when it comes to WordPress security is the Themes. They are freely available from private third party providers and the WordPress website. There are also paid Themes which are available at a premium from other online services. The first problem with WordPress Theme is when a free theme contains a vulnerability which is not updated regularly or not patched. Unsuspecting people will obtained the badly exploited WordPress Theme, use it on their website and make it susceptible to attack. The second problem is the use of pirated WordPress Theme which contains popup or banner ads, subtle redirects, mass mailing viruses or phishing code which can severely affect the security of your website or your hosting account. It is important to ensure that any wordpress Theme you use is correct by ensuring proper checks are done.

Copied Scripts

Many people have formed the habit of using scripts or bits of code from other websites without carrying proper verification of the integrity or security of the code. This is a sure way of getting your website hacked. What some web designers fail to realize is that the flaws and bugs that are in the original template of where it was copied can be transferred to their client’s website verbatim. For hackers to do the damage, it only takes identifying the site using the code and attacking all sites with the same code.

Incorrect Permissions

It is a bad practice to set permission higher than what you require as it can lead to your website files being written by everyone who can open your website. The implication is that all your files will be openly editable and hackers can manipulate it by incorporating their script into yours.