Due to the popularity of WordPress as the preferred content management system of around 26% of the world’s websites, hackers often try to exploit vulnerabilities in WordPress core, themes and plugins leaving your content exposed to spammers.
As you may be aware, the recent core WordPress update of 4.7.1 in January 2017 has some serious security vulnerabilities which were disclosed in the original release post. Because of the significance of this vulnerability, users are strongly recommend to update to WordPress 4.7.2 as quickly as possible.
WordPress versions 4.7.1 and earlier are affected by these four security issues which can create significant problems for your reputation, content and customers:
- The user interface for assigning taxonomy terms in Press. This is shown to users who do not have permissions to use it.
- WPQueryis vulnerable to a SQL injection (SQLi) when passing unsafe data.
- A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability was discovered in the posts list table.
- An unauthenticated privilege escalation vulnerability was discovered in a REST API endpoint.
The WordPress core update has highlighted the importance of implementing security measures to protect your WordPress site against attacks. Even if you have integrated new software that has been verified to be secure and you implement good security policy, your website is still open to threats.
This is because the online environment is continuously evolving as attackers’ research and overcome the latest software vulnerabilities. While your website may start off secure, it almost always ends up becoming vulnerable after time if you don’t carry out regular maintenance.
It is an ongoing cycle in the online world. Vulnerabilities are discovered, attackers start using them and ultimately your WordPress website could fall victim to hacking. Even if you upgrade your site regularly, new vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered in new themes or plugins throughout the world and the cycle repeats.
WordPress Security
A WordPress security plugin may provide valuable functions for a personal website or blog site, but if you are using WordPress as your primary business site, you should consider increasing the level of security to protect the business you’ve spent valuable time and money building.
You may be wondering why anyone would want to attack your website, particularly if you are a small to medium sized local business with low traffic. Contrary to what you may think, the majority of hackers are not looking to steal your data, instead, they want to use your server to send out spam emails. This could cause a whole host of problems for your business if your server IP address gets blacklisted as it will prevent you from reaching out to your customers.
When it comes to website security, it pays to be proactive rather than reactive which is why an on-going maintenance service is worth investing in.
Here at WP Tech Support, we put your website’s security as our priority. We provide a bespoke firewall with rules that are constantly updated. When we learn about new security holes in any software that you might use, we release a new firewall rule to protect your site.
We provide 24/7 monitoring for malware to identify and resolve potential risks before they become apparent to yourself or your customers – keeping your website from being compromised.
All of our monthly plans ensure that your WordPress website stays up to date, secure from hackers and is fully optimised and backed up daily. Our expertise in the industry ensures we provide our customers with the most up-to-date security advice and take appropriate actions quickly and efficiently.
We provide on-going WordPress support and maintenance with security at the forefront of our agenda with our great value plans. It is simple to sign up for single or multiple sites and there are no long- term contracts – and if you’re not 100% happy with our service then we will refund your monthly plan payment.
And if you haven’t already done so, please make sure you update your WordPress website to WordPress 4.7.2 immediately to ensure you’re not leaving yourself and your business vulnerable.