Secure Your Site Against Common WordPress Viruses

WordPress’s upward popularity has brought a parallel surge in attacks, viruses, and other threats, posing significant challenges for website owners and online merchants. 

This piece aims to provide comprehensive guidance on securing your website against common WordPress viruses.

Malware targeting WordPress-based websites actively seeks out and exploits vulnerabilities, primarily within plugins and themes. 

Subsequently, it injects problematic or malicious code capable of executing various tasks, contingent upon the type of virus.

The graph below shows some popular CMS platforms and the number of virus infections each encountered compared to the others. 

It does not, however, imply that one or more platform(s) are less secure than the others or vice-versa. 

Source

Before delving into strategies for securing WordPress against viruses, it’s imperative to grasp the potential risks at hand.

A. Understanding Viruses and WordPress Websites

While WordPress itself boasts a reputation for security, owing to ongoing development efforts by a global community, it remains a prime target for malicious attacks. Why? 

The answer lies in its unparalleled popularity as the leading content management system, powering approximately 40% of all websites worldwide. This widespread adoption renders it a lucrative target for cybercriminals.

WordPress’s inherent architecture, designed for modularity and user-friendliness, further compounds its security challenges. 

Its hallmark feature lies in enabling the creation of professional-grade websites without necessitating expertise in HTML, CSS, or PHP. This convenience is facilitated by an extensive array of plugins that augment functionality.

However, themes and plugins represent potential vulnerabilities, particularly when sourced from less reputable sources or inexperienced developers. 

Code flaws and discrepancies in these extensions serve as entry points for cyber threats, undermining the platform’s security.

Despite implementing robust security measures like firewalls, antiviruses, two-factor authentication, greylists, and proactive monitoring, determined attackers may still breach defenses. 

Moreover, the risk escalates when inexperienced individuals oversee website management, a scenario often associated with WordPress’s user-friendly interface. Such users may unwittingly introduce critical vulnerabilities, rendering even the most secure hosting services ineffective in ensuring comprehensive protection.

B. How to Confirm if Your Website Is Infected

Before embarking on the task of securing your WordPress website, it’s imperative to ensure its integrity by conducting a thorough inspection for potential infections. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to verifying the health of your website:

1. Conduct a User Experience Test: Start by visiting your website and navigating through various pages, products, categories, and offers. Proceed to add items to the cart and initiate the payment process. If the user journey progresses smoothly without encountering any unexpected occurrences, such as pop-ups or sudden redirections to unrelated pages, your website likely remains uncompromised.
2. Employ FTP for File Analysis: Utilize FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to access your website’s directories and scrutinize files for irregularities. Look for files with cryptic names like “46fr1s55p9_index.php”, “cl03haxmng_index.php”, or similar patterns that deviate from standard naming conventions.
3. Review Key Files for Malicious Code: Examine critical files such as index.php, wp-config.php, and wp-settings.php for signs of malicious code. Enable the display of the spaces and tabs in your file editor to identify anomalies. Pay close attention to excessive spaces indicated by gray dots, which may conceal concealed malicious code. Scroll horizontally or enable line wrapping to unveil hidden code segments.
4. Thoroughly Inspect All WordPress Files: Take a meticulous approach to review all files within your WordPress installation, particularly PHP files, where malicious code may lurk in various sections of your website.
5. Check Google Search Results: Perform an organic search on Google by entering “site:your-domain.com” to assess search results associated with your website. If your site is infected, Google may display numerous irrelevant outcomes promoting casinos, gambling games, applications, or illicit content like pornography or weapon sales.
6. Consider Installing a Malware Search Tool: Enhance your website’s security measures by installing a malware search program such as WebDefender Security – Protection & AntiSpam plugin. This tool facilitates the detection of hidden viruses and malicious elements embedded within your website.

C. Strategies to Combat WordPress Viruses

A. Choosing the Right Hosting Provider

Selecting the optimal hosting provider is a pivotal decision for any website owner, and it requires careful consideration beyond mere pricing or recommendations. Here’s the exploration of the key factors to evaluate when choosing a hosting provider:

1. Latest PHP Version Compatibility: Begin by confirming if the hosting provider supports the current PHP version, currently PHP 8.2. Utilizing the latest PHP version ensures compatibility with modern web applications and enhances website performance and security.
2. Regular Backup Practices: Ensure that the hosting provider performs regular backups of both the database and files, and ascertain whether you have easy access to these backups. Regular backups are crucial for data protection and disaster recovery in the event of a major data loss or emergency.
3. DDoS Attack Protection: Check if the hosting provider provides robust protection against DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. DDoS attacks can disrupt website availability and cause downtime, making robust protection measures essential to safeguard against such threats.
4. Server Parameters Evaluation: Evaluate the server parameters provided by the hosting company, including processor, RAM, storage capacity, and any limitations imposed. Adequate server resources are essential to support website performance, especially during peak traffic periods.

B. SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate serves as a vital layer of security for websites by encrypting all data transmitted between the user’s web browser and the website server. 

This encryption ensures that sensitive information, like personal details, login credentials, and financial transactions, remains confidential and protected from unauthorized access or interception.

Reputable hosting companies typically include both paid and free SSL certificate options as part of their hosting packages.

For instance, Let’s Encrypt is a widely recognized provider of free SSL certificates. These certificates are crucial for establishing a secure connection between the user’s device and the website, instilling trust and confidence in visitors.

Moreover, SSL certificates play a crucial role in website security and search engine optimization (SEO). 

Websites with SSL encryption are favored by search engines like Google, which prioritize secure connections in their search rankings. Therefore, implementing an SSL certificate not only enhances security but also improves the visibility and credibility of your website online.

Additionally, SSL certificates are indispensable for e-commerce websites and online businesses that handle sensitive customer info and payment transactions. 

By encrypting data during transmission, SSL certificates protect against cyber threats and help prevent further data breaches, fraud, and identity theft.

C. WordPress Updates

Regular updates are important for maintaining the security, performance, and functionality of your WordPress website. 

WordPress releases updates periodically, which not only introduce new features and enhancements but also include crucial security fixes to address vulnerabilities and protect your site from cyber threats.

• Security Vulnerability Fixes: One of the primary reasons for WordPress updates is to patch security vulnerabilities identified in previous versions. Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their methods and tactics to exploit weaknesses in WordPress core files, plugins, and themes. By staying up-to-date with the current WordPress updates, you should make sure that your website is fortified against potential security breaches and malicious attacks.
• New Features and Enhancements: WordPress updates often come with new features, improvements, and enhancements to enhance the user experience and expand the functionalities of your website. These updates may include tweaks to the user interface, performance optimizations, compatibility enhancements with newer technologies, and support for emerging web standards.
• Plugin and Theme Compatibility: Updating WordPress core files is crucial, but it’s equally important to keep your plugins and themes up-to-date. Plugins and themes improve the functionality and design of your WordPress website, but they can also introduce security vulnerabilities if not regularly maintained. Outdated plugins and themes may contain security flaws or compatibility issues with newer versions of WordPress, leaving your site exposed to potential risks.
• Mitigating Security Risks: Inactive plugins and themes pose a significant security risk, even if they are not actively used on your website. Cybercriminals can exploit vulnerabilities in outdated or inactive plugins and themes to gain unauthorized access to your site or inject malicious code. Therefore, it’s essential to regularly audit your WordPress installation, remove unnecessary plugins and themes, and keep the remaining ones updated to minimize security risks.

D. Hiding WordPress Version and Plugins

By default, WordPress includes information about the installed version in the page source, making it visible to anyone who inspects the HTML code. This information is added to the HEAD section of the page using a meta tag:

html

<meta name=”generator” content=”WordPress 5.6.4″ />

Additionally, WordPress appends a query parameter “?ver=X.X” to the URLs of CSS and JavaScript files associated with plugins, indicating the version number.

Revealing the versions of the components used on a website can pose a security risk as it provides valuable information to potential attackers. Knowing the specific versions of WordPress and its plugins makes it easier for cybercriminals to target vulnerabilities associated with each software version.

To enhance the security of WordPress, it’s advisable to hide the version information of both the CMS and its plugins.

To achieve this, you can use the following code snippet to the functions.php file within your WordPress theme:

php

// Remove WordPress version from meta tag

remove_action('wp_head', 'wp_generator');

// Remove version query parameter from CSS and JS file URLs

function remove_version_scripts_styles($src) {

    if (strpos($src, 'ver=')) {

        $src = remove_query_arg('ver', $src);

    }

    return $src;

}

add_filter('style_loader_src', 'remove_version_scripts_styles', 9999);

add_filter('script_loader_src', 'remove_version_scripts_styles', 9999);

This code snippet performs the following actions:

1. Removes the meta tag containing the WordPress version from the HEAD section.
2. Filters the URLs of CSS and JavaScript files to remove the version query parameter “?ver=X.X”, ensuring that the version information is not exposed.

By implementing these measures, you can effectively conceal the version details of your WordPress installation and plugins, thereby reducing the risk of potential security exploits.

E. Regular Password Changes

Regularly changing passwords for all site administrators is an important security practice that helps mitigate the danger of unauthorized access and security breaches. 

This practice is particularly crucial for websites where sensitive information is stored or processed. 

Here’s a detailed explanation of why regular password changes are essential and how to implement them effectively:

1. Preventing Unauthorized Access: Passwords act as the first line of defense against unauthorized access to your website’s administrative panel. Regularly updating passwords makes it more difficult for attackers to gain access using stolen credentials, as the validity of the credentials changes over time.
2. Mitigating Security Risks: Hackers often use automated tools to attempt brute force attacks, trying to guess passwords by systematically trying various combinations. By changing passwords regularly, you reduce the window of opportunity for such attacks to succeed, thereby enhancing your website’s security posture.
3. Addressing Common Username Vulnerabilities: Certain default or common usernames, such as “admin,” “administrator,” or the domain name itself, are frequently targeted by attackers. Regularly changing passwords for accounts with such usernames can help alleviate the risk of brute force attacks or other malicious activities targeting these accounts.
4. Compliance Requirements: Many regulatory standards and compliance frameworks, like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), mandate regular password changes as part of their security requirements. Adhering to these regulations helps ensure that your website remains compliant and avoids potential penalties or legal consequences.

F. Changing the Administrator Login

Changing the default administrator login credentials is an important step in enhancing the security of your WordPress website. 

Default usernames such as “admin,” “administrator,” or the domain name itself are frequently targeted by attackers, which makes it easier for them to launch brute-force attacks or gain unauthorized access. 

Here’s an in-depth guide on why and how to change the administrator login credentials in WordPress:

D. Why Change the Administrator Login?

1. Mitigating Brute-Force Attacks: Attackers often use automated tools to guess login credentials, starting with common usernames like “admin.” Changing the administrator login username reduces the likelihood of successful brute-force attacks targeting your website.
2. Enhancing Security Posture: Using a unique administrator username adds an additional layer of security to your WordPress site. It makes it more challenging for attackers to predict the login credentials, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorized access and potential security breaches.
3. Protecting Sensitive Information: The administrator account typically has access to sensitive areas of the website, such as the dashboard and backend settings. Changing the default username helps safeguard this access and protects confidential information stored on the website.

G. Changing the Login Page

Securing the login page of your WordPress website is crucial in preventing unauthorized access and thwarting brute-force attacks. 

By default, WordPress login pages can be accessed through predictable URLs like example.com/wp-login.php or example.com/wp-admin/. +

However, you can enhance security by changing the login page URL to something less predictable. Here’s how to do it:

Why Change the Login Page?

1. Reducing Brute-Force Attacks: Attackers often target the default login page to launch brute-force attacks, attempting to guess usernames and passwords. Changing the login page URL adds an extra layer of security, which makes it more difficult for attackers to locate the login form.
2. Enhancing Security Measures: By obscuring the login page URL, you mitigate the risk of unauthorized access and protect the sensitive information stored on your WordPress site, including user data and administrative settings.

H. Blocking Access to Files

To enhance the security of your WordPress website, you can restrict external access to specific files or folders using rules in the .htaccess file. 

This supplements an extra layer of protection to sensitive files and directories, mitigating the risk of unauthorized access or exploitation. Here’s how to implement file access restrictions:

Securing wp-config.php and xmlrpc.php Files

The wp-config.php file contains sensitive information, such as database credentials, while the xmlrpc.php file can be exploited for various attacks. 

To prevent unauthorized access to these files, add the rules listed below to the .htaccess file in your WordPress root directory:

apache

<files wp-config.php>

    order allow, deny

    deny from all

</files>

<files xmlrpc.php>

    order allow, deny

    deny from all

</files>

These rules deny external access to wp-config.php and xmlrpc.php files, effectively blocking potential attackers from accessing critical data and exploiting vulnerabilities.

I. Blocking Execution of Malicious Files in Uploads Directory

In the /wp-content/uploads/ directory, it’s essential to prevent the execution of potentially malicious files that could be uploaded by attackers. If a .htaccess file doesn’t exist in this directory, create one and add the following rule:

apache

<Files ~ "\.ph(?:p[345]?|t|tml)$">

    deny from all

</Files>

This rule blocks the execution of files with PHP extensions (.php, .php3, .php4, .php5, .phtml, .pht) within the uploads directory. 

By denying access to these files, you reduce the risk of attackers uploading and executing malicious scripts on your server.

J. Disabling Unnecessary Functionalities

WordPress offers a plethora of functionalities, but not all are essential for every website. Disabling unnecessary features can streamline your site’s performance and enhance security. 

Here are some key functionalities you may consider disabling:

1. Comments

If you don’t actively use comments on your WordPress site, disabling them can reduce spam and streamline your site’s interface. In the Settings → Discussion section, consider disabling the following checkboxes:

• Allow people to post comments on new blogs: Prevents users from leaving comments on new posts.
• Allow link notifications from the other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new articles: Disables pingbacks and trackbacks, which notify you when someone links to your post.

2. Pingbacks

Pingbacks notify site administrators when another website links to their post. However, if you don’t find this feature useful, you can disable it. 

Alternatively, you can use the Disable Comments plugin to globally disable comments throughout your site, including pingbacks.

3. Security Plugins

To safeguard your WordPress site against evolving threats, consider installing security plugins like Wordfence Security, All In One WP Security & Firewall, or iThemes Security. 

These plugins offer features such as malware detection, firewall protection, and brute-force attack prevention.

4. Backup Solutions

Maintaining daily backup copies of your website is essential, regardless of whether your hosting provider offers automated backup services.

It’s always wise to exercise caution and ensure the security of your data by managing your backup copies independently. 

This is particularly important before and after implementing significant changes to your website, even if you have confidence in your hosting provider.

WordPress offers a plethora of backup plugins, among which UpdraftPlus stands out. This plugin facilitates automatic backups that can be seamlessly transferred to another server, enhancing the redundancy and security of your data.

E. Summarizing: Securing Your Site Against Common WordPress Viruses

By adhering to these recommendations, you can greatly mitigate the risk of your WordPress website becoming vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

It is essential to maintain distance on security and stay aware of the latest threats to ensure a resilient and secure WordPress experience. 

Stay vigilant and prioritize safeguarding your valuable online assets.

Suggested read: Ways to Check For Website Viruses

F. Common FAQs on Securing Your Site Against Common WordPress Viruses

How can I safeguard my WordPress site against viruses?

• Implement robust security measures like firewalls, malware scanning, and intrusion detection systems.
• Keep your WordPress core, themes, and plugins updated to patch any security vulnerabilities.
• Use strong and unique passwords for all your user accounts and regularly change them.
• Consider using security plugins like Wordfence, Sucuri Security, or iThemes Security for added protection.

What steps can I take to prevent brute-force attacks on my WordPress site?

• Limit login attempts by implementing plugins like Limit Login Attempts or implementing CAPTCHA on login forms.
• Change the default login URL to make it harder for attackers to target.
• Two-factor authentication is used to add an additional layer of security to user logins.

Are there any specific security measures for protecting sensitive data on my WordPress site?

• Utilize SSL/TLS certificates to encrypt data transmitted between the user’s browser and your website.
• Regularly audit and secure file permissions to restrict unauthorized access to sensitive files.
• Employ security headers to mitigate risks such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and clickjacking attacks.

What should I do if my WordPress site gets hacked?

Immediately take your site offline to prevent further damage. You can also try to restore your site from a clean backup copy and thoroughly scan for any malicious code or files. Later, you can Identify and address the security vulnerability that led to the breach, such as outdated software or weak passwords. Consider seeking assistance from cybersecurity professionals or your hosting provider for comprehensive remediation.