What is SSL and why do I need it on my website? SSL (secure sockets layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server (web hosting account) and a browser (your website). This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. This […]
Removing malware from a hacked WordPress site is no easy task. And now that Google is enforcing a 30-day ban on site reviews to prevent repeat offenders from distributing malware, cleaning up a hacked site thoroughly is more important than ever. Malware Removal WordPress Plugin I highly recommend the MalCare plugin by the makers of […]
Why preventing WordPress hacks is easier than recovering from them An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This can’t be truer in regards to website hacks. WordPress sites are compromised not by sophisticated hackers but by bots written to exploit known vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities include weak passwords, outdated plugins and themes, and […]
What is Google Safe Browsing? Google just got stricter with its safe browsing policies. It will brand malicious sites as ‘deceptive’ and won’t entertain reviews to ‘unclean sites’ for 30 days! This is a big deal for the average WordPress website owner who is the victim of hackers. Cleaning a hacked WordPress site is both time consuming and expensive depending on […]
Recovering from a Bad WordPress Hack First, if you’ve been hacked, you need to be curious. You need to ask a lot of questions about why you might have been hacked. Many hacks occur due to poor server configurations, outdated software, weak passwords, trojans or other malware on your personal computer, logging into public wifi […]
How often do you need to update WordPress core, themes, and plugins? All the time! The longer you wait to update, the harder it will be. Some updates build on previous updates. Changes might be made to templates and how data is stored in the database that are more easily managed in increments. Also, more […]
Why you need to optimize your WordPress MySQL database The database is the most important component in the whole WordPress content management system. Everything you enter in the WordPress Dashboard including all the content of your posts and pages, categories, tags, settings, etc., is written to the database. WordPress and the various themes and plugins […]
Why do you need to back up your self-hosted WordPress site? Backing up your website is the single if not only true thing you can do to protect your site. If your site is hacked or if your web hosting server crashes, a good backup is the only fall back you have. What parts of […]
Simple WordPress Security Using Strong Usernames and Passwords and Two-Step Authentication The most common WordPress hacks result from the use of poor usernames and passwords. To protect your site from brute force attacks (forced log in to your administrative account), you can do the following: 1 – Change your admin username. To do this: 1 […]
Zero Day Vulnerability in Many WordPress Themes TimThumb is a popular image resizing utility used on millions of sites worldwide. It is inherently vulnerable because it allows hackers to upload and execute arbitrary PHP code in your timthumb cache directory. To prevent this from happening, it is urgent that you either update your TimThumb script […]
