The Dangers of Human Error in WordPress Hosting & How to Protect Your Brand

Posted at October 16, 2017 at 5:42 am by Stacey Talieres

As a longtime fan of WordPress, working on my former employer’s website pained me. I compared the organization’s online presence to a kindergartener’s craft project—held together with macaroni noodles and paste. 

The website looked fairly modern to visitors, but the backend was a disaster. The theme had been customized beyond recognition, meaning updates would require days of rebuilding that we couldn’t afford. Our performance and security continually suffered, and I spent tons of time beating back the malware, pharmaceutical ads, and SQL injections. 

The person who originally created the website was a fantastic graphic designer but knew very little about running a website. He naturally chose WordPress, the world’s most popular content management system, and did his best to keep up with the various requests and ideas that sprung up across the office. 

Over time, our brand suffered from what turned out to be unsound and unintentional mistakes and bad decisions. When properly managed and hosted, however, WordPress does wonders for efficient workflows and improved user experiences. Below, I’ve outlined the top five lessons I’ve learned or witnessed through many years of hosting, building, and fixing WordPress sites.

Mistake #1: Choosing a Cheap Host Instead of One That Brings Value

Although nearly every reputable hosting provider offers an ultra-simple one-click installation of WordPress, not all companies have invested in the modern infrastructure required to run the platform efficiently.

Upgraded hardware, such as faster-performing solid-state drives, can come with added costs. While it’s certainly understandable to seek out the most affordable hosting plan for your website, you risk getting exactly what you paid for.

Instead of looking for the cheapest option, search for the biggest bargain. Many hosts—InterServer included—offer upgraded services, support, and a surprising number of features for $5 or less per month.

With SSD-powered infrastructure, free SSL certificates, and unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email accounts, InterServer shared hosting delivers long-term value and peace of mind to WordPress users. The company takes shared hosting security seriously, even launching a five-pronged malware and prevention system called InterShield in mid-2017.

Mistake #2: Installing Suspect Plugins—And Then Not Updating Them

While there are certainly several must-have WordPress plugins, some might actually do more long-term harm than good. According to the WPScan Vulnerability Database, plugins account for more than half of the known WordPress vulnerabilities. WordPress core files account for about 30% of the weaknesses, with themes covering roughly 15% of the remaining deficiencies.

When looking to install a plugin, look first at the options that have been installed the most number of times. If thousands or millions of users trust a plugin, the program is probably pretty reliable. Similarly, take stock of the plugin’s ratings and notice when the code was last updated. Frequent revisions are a sign that the developers are actively keeping up with security concerns and usability features. 

Mistake #3: Using the Infamous Admin Username or Having Weak Passwords

Until WordPress 3.0 was released in 2010, the platform automatically set up new sites with an administrative username of—you guessed it—admin. This spawned a feeding frenzy of brute force attacks, as intruders didn’t need to guess an account’s username, just the password.

Even though WordPress ended that practice, the admin username is a major weak spot for unsuspecting site owners. Similarly, using a password of “123456” or “admin” or—cringe— “password” is likely going to accomplish exactly what one might expect. Strong passwords are critically important to successful WordPress usage, as well as limited login attempts (more on that later), and two-factor authentication.

Mistake #4: Thinking You Know How to Edit Theme and Core Files

Being able to edit a theme or plugin file directly from the WordPress interface might be convenient for the most experienced developers, but it represents a major security hole for most users. As if an intruder having unfettered access to the inner workings of your site isn’t scary enough, self-inflicted problems and broken code are incredibly common.

Limit the ability for you or your colleagues to introduce vulnerabilities to your website’s code by establishing and maintaining WordPress users roles and capabilities—give people the least amount of access needed. To take matters a step further, you can actually disable the WordPress theme and plugin editor by inserting define(‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true); in the site’s wp-config.php file. You’ll still be able to access the files through FTP access, if you’re daring and desperate enough to still need to edit those files. 

Mistake #5: Leaving Yourself Open to Attack by Not Configuring Properly

The popularity and widespread use of WordPress understandably makes the platform a major target for attackers. New malicious strategies now enable intruders to find and infiltrate fresh WordPress installations within 30 minutes of paying for a web hosting plan.

With just a few quick adjustments, however, you can help your website turn back the large majority of attacks. Start by installing a plugin that caps the number of login attempts; we recommend Limit Login Attempts Reloaded for standing up to brute force strikes. This 10-point guide includes several other code snippets you can add to various configuration files to block access to important WordPress directories and prevent certain suspicious behaviors.

Building Online Brands Often Includes a Polarized WordPress Experience

Admittedly, the much-loved open-source publishing platform does not come without a few quirks. Even experienced developers have a love/hate relationship with WordPress, as a 2017 survey showed that, while roughly 35% of developers loved working with the content management system, about 65% dreaded using WordPress.

The platform’s undeniable usability and simplicity, however, make WordPress a go-to option when looking to build an online brand—if you know a little bit about what you’re doing. InterServer provides customers with an easy-to-follow checklist of the top 10 ways to secure WordPress.

Mercifully, I eventually got the green light to redesign and relaunch my former employer’s website. Nearly all of the site’s ailments disappeared once I installed a new theme and a host of plugins, and switched to a better hosting provider. I still spent more time than I wanted running backups, updates, and security scans, but at least I could establish the best practices and routines needed to maintain the site well past my eventual departure.

Laura Stamey writes, designs, and develops for HostingAdvice as a Contributing Editor for Digital Brands, Inc. The HostingAdvice team boasts more than 50 years of combined experience building and scaling personal projects and industry-leading websites and applications.

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