WordPress Backup and Security

Due to the alarming frequency with which WordPress sites are hacked, common-sense backup and security measures are imperative.

There are a few simple things that you can do to protect yourself.  They won’t prevent the most determined of hackers, but they guarantee that you will be able to recover quickly from a hacker attack without data loss.

Here are the minimum security suggestions for all WordPress sites:

1.Use an administrative user other than “admin”, and use secure passwords (at least 8 characters and some combination of upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters)

2.Update your WordPress and plugins to the latest version regularly.  Also don’t install unnecessary plugins to your site, and delete the ones you are not using (don’t just deactivate them, actually delete them from your plugins dashboard, it’s safer)

3.Have an automated backup system that stores your data off-site.  A commercial backup plugin such as Backup Buddy is ideal, but later in this chapter we discuss a few free options.

Note that while hosts generally provide backups, they are notoriously unreliable, and also they usually backup on a rotating weekly schedule, so if your attack is not detected inside a week, there is nothing you can do.  So don’t rely on host (server) backups.

Video: Keep WordPress secure through updating

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