I recently faced the daunting challenge of preventing brute force attacks on my WordPress site. It’s scary how these attacks work—they automate the process of guessing login credentials until they gain access to your site. Utilizing wordpress brute force protection can significantly mitigate this risk. Through trial and error, they can break into websites, networks, and computer systems.
The most common type of brute force attack is password guessing, where hackers use automated software to keep guessing login information.
But fear not! Here are the steps I took to protect my WordPress website from brute force attacks.
This Can Have Devastating Consequences
Brute force attacks can have devastating consequences, including:
- Compromised Data: Hackers can steal sensitive information like user passwords, credit card details, and website content.
- Malware Injection: They can inject malicious code to deface your website, redirect visitors to phishing sites, or launch further attacks.
- SEO Damage: Malicious redirects can tank your search engine ranking, impacting website traffic and visibility.
- Server Overload: Too many brute force login attempts can cause this. Brute force protection – stop this by implementing comprehensive security measures. Constant login attempts can overwhelm your server, causing slowdowns or crashes. Employing wordpress brute force attack prevention can alleviate this problem.
How Brute Force Attacks Work
These hacking tools can disguise themselves using different IP addresses and locations, making it harder to block suspicious activities. A successful brute force attack can give hackers access to your website’s admin area, allowing them to install malware, steal user information, and delete everything on your site.
These attacks typically use automated bots that rapidly try different username and password combinations. They exploit various sources for potential credentials, including leaked password databases, dictionary attacks, and credential stuffing. Implementing virtual private server windows hosting can provide additional security layers.
Even unsuccessful attacks can wreak havoc by overloading your WordPress hosting servers, slowing down or even crashing your website.
These attacks typically use automated bots that rapidly try different username and password combinations. They exploit various sources for potential credentials, including:
- Leaked Password Databases: Hackers compile massive lists of leaked passwords from other websites and services.
- Dictionary Attacks: These bots systematically try common words, phrases, and names as passwords.
- Credential Stuffing: Attackers use stolen login credentials from other websites to try them on your site. Implementing wordpress brute force protection will limit their success.
Protecting Your WordPress Site
Fortunately, you can fortify your defenses against these digital battering rams with various strategies:
- To enhance security and manage your WordPress site efficiently, consider using a windows vps server for better control and flexibility.
- Strong Passwords: Use complex, unique passwords for your WordPress admin account and other users. Consider password managers to generate and store strong passwords securely.
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): This adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second verification step, like a code sent to your phone, even if someone guesses your password.
- Limit Login Attempts: Implement plugins that limit the number of consecutive login attempts allowed before locking the account. This discourages bots from brute-forcing their way in.
- Secure Your Login Page: Implement login protection strategies to stop brute force attacks. Use a strong, non-guessable username and disable features like “remember me” functionality.
- Keep WordPress, Themes, and Plugins Updated: Outdated software often contains vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Employ brute force protection – stop such issues before they happen. Regular updates patch these vulnerabilities and improve security.
- Install a Security Plugin: Consider using a security plugin that offers additional features like brute force protection, malware scanning, and website monitoring.
- Monitor Your Website Logs: Regularly check your server and WordPress logs for suspicious activity, such as failed login attempts from unknown IP addresses. Enhancing your login protection can help identify these threats early on. Database issues can compromise your site’s security. Learn how to fix error establishing a database connection to maintain site integrity.
By implementing these strategies, you can protect your WordPress site from brute force attacks and ensure a secure online presence. Always stay vigilant and proactive in securing your website. Regular updates patch vulnerabilities and improve security. Employing cloud hosting services ensures that your WordPress site remains secure and up-to-date.
1. Install a WordPress Firewall Plugin
Brute force attacks put a lot of load on your servers. Even the unsuccessful ones can slow down your website or crash the server. Blocking them before they reach your server is crucial, and a firewall is your best bet. Firewalls filter out bad traffic and block it from accessing your site. They are an essential security measure for any site owner.
Implementing strong password policies can significantly reduce the risk of brute force attacks, as explained in How to Fix the Locked Out of WP Admin Issue.
There are two types of website firewalls you can use:
Application Level Firewalls
These examine traffic once it reaches your server but before loading most WordPress scripts. However, this method is not as efficient because brute force attacks can still affect your server load.
DNS Level Website Firewalls
These route your website traffic through their cloud proxy servers, sending only genuine traffic to your main web hosting server. This boosts your WordPress speed and performance.
I recommend using Sucuri, the industry leader in website security and the best WordPress firewall in the market. Sucuri’s DNS-level firewall ensures all your website traffic goes through their proxy, filtering out bad traffic.
2. Install WordPress Updates
Common brute force attacks often target known vulnerabilities in older versions of WordPress, popular plugins, or themes. WordPress core and most popular plugins are open source, and vulnerabilities are often quickly fixed with an update.
Failing to install updates leaves your website vulnerable.
Simply go to the Dashboard » Updates page in the WordPress admin area to check for available updates. Regular updates are a critical security measure to protect against brute force attacks.
This page shows updates for your WordPress core, plugins, and themes. With a VPS hosting solution, you gain enhanced control and performance, providing the reliability and flexibility required for your business’s digital growth.
3. Protect the WordPress Admin Directory
Most brute force attacks target the WordPress admin area. Adding password protection on your admin directory at the server level blocks unauthorized access.
- To do this, log in to your WordPress hosting control panel (cPanel) and click on the ‘Directory Privacy’ icon under the Files section.
- Locate the wp-admin folder, click its ‘Edit’ button, and set the security settings for the folder.
- Check the box for ‘Password protect this directory’, enter a name for the protected directory, and provide a username and password.
- You will be prompted for this information whenever you try to access this directory.
If you encounter a 404 error or an error too many redirects message, add the following line to your WordPress .htaccess file:
ErrorDocument 401 default
4. Add Two-Factor Authentication in WordPress
Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an additional security layer to your WordPress login screen. Users will need their phones to generate a one-time passcode along with their login credentials to access the WordPress admin area. Adding 2FA makes it harder for hackers to gain access even if they crack your password.
5. Use Unique and Strong Passwords
Passwords are the keys to gaining access to your WordPress site or eCommerce store. Use unique, strong passwords for all your accounts. A strong password is a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters.
Use strong passwords for not just your WordPress user accounts but also for your FTP client, web hosting control panel, and WordPress database. Many beginners ask how to remember all these unique passwords.
There are excellent password manager apps available that will securely store your passwords and automatically fill them in for you.
6. Disable Directory Browsing
When your web server can’t find an index file (such as index.php or index.html), it automatically displays an index page showing the contents of the directory. During a brute force attack, hackers can use directory browsing to look for vulnerable files.
For superior performance and reliability, choosing a suitable dedicated server ensures that your business can handle high-traffic demands effortlessly.
To fix this, add the following line at the bottom of your WordPress .htaccess file using an FTP service:
Options -Indexes
7. Disable PHP File Execution in Specific WordPress Folders
Hackers may want to install and execute a PHP script in your WordPress folders. WordPress is written mainly in PHP, so you cannot disable PHP in all folders. However, there are some folders that don’t need any PHP scripts, such as your WordPress uploads folder located at /wp-content/uploads.
You can safely disable PHP execution in the uploads folder. Open a text editor like Notepad on your computer and paste the following code:
<Files *.php>
deny from all
</Files>
Save this file as .htaccess and upload it to the /wp-content/uploads/ folder on your website using an FTP client.
8. Install and Set Up a WordPress Backup Plugin
Backups are the most important tool in your WordPress security arsenal. If all else fails, backups will allow you to easily restore your website.
Most WordPress hosting companies offer limited backup options. However, these backups are not guaranteed, and you are responsible for making your own backups.
There are several great WordPress backup plugins that allow you to schedule automatic backups. Consider a wordpress plugin that also provides brute force protection to enhance your security.
We recommend using Duplicator, which is beginner-friendly and allows you to quickly set up automatic backups and store them on remote locations like Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and One Drive.
All the above-mentioned tips will help you protect your WordPress site against brute force attacks. We hope this article helped you learn how to protect your WordPress site from brute force attacks. Learn more about protecting your site from various threats in our article on How to Fix Error Establishing a Database Connection.
