InMotion Hosting Hardening WordPress – How to Harden Your Website
A lot of people still believe that safety on the web means paying money to a VPN to hide your IP. While there is still a lot of value in a VPN for protecting your privacy when browsing the web, it isn’t completely without its limits. The primary issue with a VPN is that websites you visit may see your VPN IP instead of your actual IP. This makes it easier for them to determine your location, send you unwanted email, or track your activities online. One way around this is by hardening your website. What does that mean? It means you change a few settings on your website to make it harder for someone to hack you or take over your website. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the things you can do to make your website more secure.
Use HTTPS Instead Of HTTP
If you’re currently using HTTP, then it’s pretty easy for someone to intercept and read the data you’re sending to other websites. This includes any private information like credit card numbers or passwords. While this may not seem like a big deal, especially since you don’t send this information every day, if someone is really determined to hack you they’ll find a way. Adding HTTPS on your website is the simplest and most effective way of securing your data while still having a fully-functioning website. If you’re worried about someone intercepting and reading your data, then use a VPN to encrypt all your traffic or set up HTTPS on your own website.
Change The URL Of Your Website
The URL of your website is something other websites and users see when they visit your site. There are some things you can do to change the URL of your site without having to completely rebuild it. If you’re worried about someone finding your old URL and using it once your site is up and running, then change it to something else. You can use URL shorteners to make it easier for people to find your new URL.
Reduce The Amount Of Data You Store Online
If you’re constantly storing large amounts of data online, then there is a good chance you’re creating a security risk for yourself. Why? Because bigger banks, government agencies, and marketing companies are constantly trying to take advantage of people by offering free credit cards or signing up for services that track your online activities. If you don’t need all the space you’re currently using, then take some time to delete files you don’t need. If you’re interested in learning more, check out this informative blog post by Michael Sonne, a German technology blogger. There is good reason why he calls this “digital detoxing”.
Disable Image Optimization For Faster Loading Times
When someone visits your site, the first thing they usually do is look at the images on your site. Whether it’s a product review or an article on technology, people love to look at beautiful, well-designed images. Unfortunately, there are many things you can do to slow down the loading time of your images. Offering fast and easy images is great, but if someone wants to do more than that, then they’ll often times find a way. One thing you can try is disabling image optimization for your products or photos. This will cause your images to be downloaded in their exact original size, which can dramatically reduce the time it takes to load your site.
Remove Unwanted Scripts And Add-Ons
Another way people try to increase website speeds is by removing any scripts or add-ons that are not needed. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make your site as light as possible, but you have to weigh that against the security of your site. If you can remove any scripts or add-ons that aren’t needed, then you’ll see a significant increase in loading speeds.
Regularly Update Your Website
A crucial step in keeping your website secure is updating it regularly. This means you’ll be fixing any vulnerabilities or loopholes that hackers could possibly use to gain access to your site. If you don’t update your website regularly and a hacker manages to get in, they’ll often times leave some sort of backdoor for you to discover. When you discover this, you can fix it and put extra security measures in place. This way you’ll never be completely vulnerable to a hacker attack again.
Use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
If you’ve been waiting for someone to invent something that would make your life easier, then two-factor authentication (2FA) is something you should try out. Basically, with 2FA (and a little bit of a security blunder on your part), you’ll be required to enter a code (typically a one-time-password) along with your username and password to login to your account. While it’s tempting to use the same password for everything, using different passwords for different websites and accounts can help ensure your accounts are as safe as possible. You can also enable 2FA for your website’s login pages or for your email account so you can easily verify who you’re communicating with online.
Monitor All Network And Internet Activity
Last but not least, we have network and internet activity monitoring. This means you’ll be keeping an eye on all of the traffic going in and out of your home network to ensure no malicious activity is taking place. You can do this by simply installing a reputable VPN app on your mobile device or computer. When you connect to the VPN, your internet traffic will be encrypted, making it impossible for someone to track your activity or steal your data. You should also set up alerts for when someone tries to login to your account from a different location or device.
Now that you’re equipped with the knowledge of how to secure your website, it’s time to put those skills to use. You can start by changing your URL to something that isn’t linked to your old blog. Next, you can disable scripts and add-ons you don’t need for your site. You can also try out two-factor authentication to further secure your account and improve your overall experience on social media. When possible, use HTTPS instead of HTTP so that all your traffic is encrypted and protected from prying eyes. Regularly update your site and be sure to monitor all network and internet activity to keep hackers at bay.