Top 5 Ways To Prevent Malware On Your WordPress Site

If you get Malware on your WordPress site, it can be a pretty big deal. You can get blacklisted by Google. If this happens, a warning will be displayed when people try to search for your site in Google. Depending on the type of malware, it can send your visitors to another site or display information that you did not post. There are many ways that malware can get on your site, but this article will explain the top 5 ways to prevent it.

Malware Cause # 1 - Outdated Version of WordPress

There seems to always be a new version of WordPress that is available for download. It may be very tempting to ignore these upgrades, but that can be very dangerous. The WordPress upgrades not only include new functionality but typically fix security vulnerabilities as well.

Malware Cause # 2 - Use of Free WordPress Themes

It is very tempting to use the free themes that you find on the internet. If you do a search for "free themes" in Google, thousands of results are displayed. You need to very wary of these themes. They can contain security vulnerabilities that can harm your WordPress site. It is best to only use free themes that are available through the WordPress.org site.

Malware Cause # 3 - Use of Free WordPress Plugins

Just like free WordPress themes, you need to careful of free WordPress plugins. You should only use free plugins that you get through the WordPress.org site. Your paid plugins are not found in WordPress.

Malware Cause # 4 - Use of the Admin Username

When you install WordPress, the username defaults to "admin" in a lot of cases. This is huge security vulnerability. Hackers look for sites with the admin username and use programs to try to figure out the password. You should always use something other than "admin" for the username. If you do have "admin" as the username for your administrative account, create a new account with another name that has admin privileges. Log out of your dashboard and log back in with the new account. Delete the old "admin" account. You will be prompted to transfer all posts that are owned by the old account to the new account.

Malware Cause # 5 - Unsecure Uploads Directory

Even though you need to have "write" access to your "uploads" directory, you can make it more secure. You should not allow people to execute PHP code on your site.

As you can see, you need to protect your WordPress site from malware so that you do not end up getting blacklisted by Google or having your site hacked.