Most cyber attacks are targeted at smaller websites that do not have the skills or time to protect themselves.

One clear example of this was a number of WordPress sites that were hacked just last year itself. If you don’t want to be one of these sites, then you have to conduct regular maintenance.

This is because cybercriminals are looking for a loophole. It could be anything from easy passwords, failure to add the latest patch or even sire misconfiguration.

Yet the problem does not lie with the content management systems but with the users themselves.

Here are 3 tips that can help users defend themselves from hackers:

 

1: Update Quickly

If you are managing a site, make sure that the core content management system updates are taken care of by the hosting service. Keeping up with information about these vulnerabilities is necessary but very tough to handle. In fact, it is considered almost impossible to do this. So, it’s a good idea to use web-security services such as Incapsula, Cloudflare and Sucuri to ward off attacks until you stay updated.

2: Remember Plugins and Themes

It’s not easy to keep the main content management system up-to-date. This is because patching every plugin can be cumbersome. Yet attackers are exploiting the vulnerabilities in plugins and themes.

Use plugins built for security purposes. Some of them are iThemes Security, Wordfence and BulletProof Security.

3: Regular site maintenance

If you have a hosted website, then it requires regular responsibility without fail. Administrators should remember to backup the site. Also, they should make sure that it is copied off the web server too.

If you don’t have time to do this, then go with a fully managed site as offered by WordPress. For Joomla and Drupal, a hosted service provider can do what needs to be done.