With WordPress powering 61% of CMS based websites, it has become a lucrative target for hackers. Google blacklisting for phishing and email blacklisting for spamming is quite common in WordPress hosting. A well maintained WordPress site is immune to hacking, but in shared hosting, the majority of WordPress websites will be un-patched, and vulnerable to hacking.
Through a few simple strategies, it is possible to make WordPress immune to hacking. Here’s a quick check list on how server management services prevented WordPress hacking in Virtualmin/Webmin servers.
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Securing the web server through web application firewalls
The efficiency of a web application firewall largely depends on how quickly the firewall is able to include zero day WordPress exploits into their signature database. While commercial signatures gave close to 100% detection rates, free rules from Comodo, AtomiCorp, etc for the mod_security Apache module is good enough to prevent more than 95% of exploit attempts. Additionally, we were able to extend the malware detection capability of mod_security module by integrating it with ClamAV anti-virus software.
Enabling auto-upgrade for WordPress installations
In servers that provide WordPress hosting exclusively, we implemented auto-upgrade for clients who subscribed to it. Since WordPress v3.7, automatic security updates are switched on by default, and wouldnt break anyone’s site. We further extended this feature by plugins like Advanced Automatic Updates, which can upgrade plugins and themes as well. For customers who chose security over extensive customization, the full-auto-upgrade worked very well in preventing website exploits.
In those Virtualmin/Webmin servers which used script installers like Installatron, auto-upgrades were enabled using their native features.
WordPress hosting security challenges can vary from one host to another based on the demands of their market segment. If you would like to discuss how to secure your Virtualmin/Webmin WordPress hosting server, we would be happy to talk to you.
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