WordPress Security Scanning
Every week we have clients coming to us with WordPress security issues on their blogs. Sometimes their blogs are completely down due to WordPress plugins that crashed them; other times they are loaded with viruses and malware; and sometimes we have to dig and figure out exactly what the problem is. It is our job to thoroughly search your site and fix any issues you may be having and get you back up and running as quickly as possible.
We are not security “experts” but it is important to us that your blog/website is clean and free of malware and security vulnerabilities, so we make it a top priority to keep informed on the latest security issues your blog could be facing.
These things could include:
- back doors
- drive-by downloads
- phishing attacks
- viruses
- pharma hacks
- malicious redirects
- outdated WordPress
- WordPress security notices
- WordPress Plugins with security vulnerabilities
Online Scanners You Can Use
There are some things that you can do on your own to protect your site. One of those things is to start scanning your blog to see if it is clean. This can also be included on your weekly WordPress maintenance checklist (you have one of those, right?).
Please be aware that we have had sites that did have major issues but they DID NOT show up on these scans because they do not scan the files behind the scenes, so just because your scan is clean that does not mean there are not other issues present on your site.
Regular scanning of your site is just one way to protect it (and the other sites that may be on your host) from getting infected with viruses, malware and any other host of security vulnerabilities.
- Sucuri
- SURBL
- Virus Total
- URL Void
- Unmask Parasites
- Trend Micro
- Norton Safeweb
- Browser Defender
- Wepawet
WordPress Plugins
It is a good idea to have security plugins installed on your WordPress blog. I have included a short list of security related plugins that we recommend. Have a look and see which ones will work best for your needs.
- Sucuri Scanner (It has a paid option to remove the malware.)
- Wordfence
- BulletProof Security
- VaultPress (It is a service you pay for to have access to the plugin. It does both backup and security scans.)
- Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
- AntiVirus
- OSE Firewall
- BackWPup *
Further Reading & More Information
- My Site Was Hacked
- McAfee Threat Intelligence
- Sucuri
- Four Malware Infections WordPress
- WP Security Lock
Questions For You
- Which security plugins do you have installed?
- What changes can you make to ensure that your WordPress site is more secure?
- How can we help you?
Honey
I installed Limit Login Attempts recently, and it has stopped dozens– literally– of attempts on my admin login. It has a lockout feature that locks a hacker out for a set period of time. One thing I do see is all the attempts are coming from ONE IP address. Every day, same one.