5 Tips to Secure Your WordPress Website

Tip 1: Keep WordPress, Themes, and Plugins Updated

Outdated software is the leading cause of WordPress hacks. When a vulnerability is discovered in a plugin or theme, attackers often release automated scanners within hours to find and exploit sites that have not patched yet.

What to do: Enable automatic background updates for WordPress core, at minimum for security releases. For plugins and themes, review the changelog before updating in case of breaking changes — but do not delay security patches.

Go to Dashboard → Updates and enable automatic updates. For plugins: in your plugin list, click Enable auto-updates for each one.

Remove what you do not use. Inactive plugins and themes are still a risk if they contain vulnerabilities — even if deactivated. Delete any plugin or theme you are not actively using.

Only install from trusted sources. Never use nulled, cracked, or pirated themes and plugins downloaded from unofficial sites. They almost always contain hidden backdoors or malware.

Tip 2: Use Strong Credentials and Two-Factor Authentication

Brute-force attacks against WordPress login pages are extremely common — bots continuously try username/password combinations until they find a match. A strong password combined with 2FA stops this attack entirely.

Password rules:

• At least 16 characters, mixing uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols
• Never reuse passwords across sites
• Use a password manager (Bitwarden, 1Password, or similar)

Change your admin username. Never use the default admin username — it is the first thing every brute-force bot tries. Create a new admin account with a unique username, log in with it, and delete the original admin user.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Install a plugin like WP 2FA or Two Factor Authentication. With 2FA enabled, even a compromised password cannot grant access without the time-based one-time code from your authenticator app.

Limit login attempts. Plugins like Limit Login Attempts Reloaded or Login Lockdown will temporarily block an IP address after a configurable number of failed login attempts, effectively stopping brute-force scripts.

Tip 3: Install a Security Plugin and Enable Malware Scanning

A dedicated security plugin handles several protective functions automatically: firewall rules, malware file scanning, login protection, and real-time monitoring for suspicious activity.

Recommended plugins:

• Wordfence Security: Includes a web application firewall, malware scanner, login security, and live traffic monitoring. The free tier is sufficient for most sites.
• Solid Security (formerly iThemes Security): Strong hardening options including hiding the login URL, database prefix changes, and file change detection.
• Sucuri Security: Excellent for post-hack malware cleanup and ongoing monitoring, with an optional paid CDN/WAF layer.

Schedule regular scans. Configure your security plugin to run malware scans at least weekly. Set up email alerts for any suspicious file changes — unexpected modifications to core WordPress files, themes, or plugins are a red flag.

Chajio Cloud hosting plans include Imunify360 at the server level — a real-time malware scanner and intrusion prevention system that operates independently of any WordPress plugin, providing a second layer of protection.

Tip 4: Implement SSL and Force HTTPS

An SSL certificate encrypts all traffic between your server and your visitors, preventing man-in-the-middle attacks that could intercept login credentials, form submissions, or payment data.

Get an SSL certificate. All Chajio Cloud hosting plans include a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate. In your cPanel, navigate to SSL/TLS Status and activate it for your domain.

Force HTTPS in WordPress. After activating SSL, update your WordPress Address and Site Address to https:// in Settings → General. Then add a redirect rule to your .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Add HTTP security headers. In your .htaccess, add headers like Strict-Transport-Security, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options. Plugins like Headers & Footers by 8Degree make this easy without touching server config files.

Tip 5: Set Up Regular Automated Backups

No security strategy is complete without a reliable backup system. If your site is compromised, a clean backup means you can restore to a working state within minutes rather than rebuilding from scratch.

The 3-2-1 backup rule: Keep at least 3 copies of your data, on 2 different storage media, with 1 copy offsite (off your server). For a WordPress site this means:

• Daily backups stored on the server (cPanel's built-in backup tool or a plugin)
• Automated remote backups to a cloud storage service (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3)
• A periodic manual download to your own computer

Recommended plugins: UpdraftPlus is the most popular WordPress backup plugin. The free version supports scheduled backups to Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, and more. BackWPup is another solid free option.

Test your restores. A backup you have never tested is not a backup — it is a hope. Periodically do a test restore to a staging environment to confirm your backups are complete and restorable.

Server-Level Security on Chajio Cloud

While the tips above protect your WordPress application, Chajio Cloud also provides server-level security on all plans:

• Imunify360: Real-time server-level malware scanner and intrusion prevention
• ModSecurity WAF: Web Application Firewall blocking common attack patterns (SQL injection, XSS, etc.)
• DDoS Protection: Network-level volumetric attack mitigation
• Firewall Rules: Automatic blocking of known malicious IP ranges