Lock Down WordPress – Part Two

Our last post was about WordPress usernames vs. names that are publicly displayed in various places on your site. Whatever you do, don’t reveal your username and, more importantly, don’t leave the username set to ‘admin’.

Today, we’re moving on to two plugins that really lock down your WordPress site. One, Wordfence, is something we’ve written about before. Check that out here:

Wordfence

Wordfence aims to lock out intruders, anyone who uses the wrong username and/or password. It can also lock  you out of your own site but that is easily corrected. This photo will give you an idea of how often WordFence steps into action on this site:

Photo of Wordfence report.
This photo shows the attempts to break into this site. Most are from Russia, is that a surprise to anyone?

This list of countries is not complete, Israel should be on the list but isn’t. We were surprised that hackers from Israel would be attacking this site but anything is possible, right?

The various options that Wordfence offers are too complex and detailed to explain here. Check out their site, read about the premium option (we don’t think it’s worth it) and install it from your WordPress dashboard. You’ll be glad you did.

The second plugin that we use on this site is Google Authenticator.  Again, this is a free plugin, one that locks your WordPress site down if the correct code isn’t entered. Install it on your WordPress site from your dashboard then install the app on your mobile device, it’s available for Android, iPhone and Blackberry. Once the plugin is activated, you’ll see a code like this on your phone:

Photo of Google Authenticator code
Enter the code within the time limit and you’re in.

There is a time limit on the app, not on your website. It the clock is close to the top, let it go past 12 and enter the new code.

With these two plugins, you can pretty much relax in the knowledge that your WordPress site is secure and safe from hacking. Good luck!

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