How to avoid the vulnerabilities of the WordPress Plugin - Are you worried about the WordPress Plugin Vulnerabilities ruining your site? A 2016 survey of website owners attacked by Wordfence found that 55.9% of WordPress sites were compromised due to plugin vulnerabilities. And that is a warning for users!
The reason WordPress is so popular is the freedom it offers users to add any functionality with the help of plugins. Users choose from nearly 50,000 plugins available for free in the WordPress plugin archive. And that number doesn't count many premium and free third-party plugins.
Rogue plugins, outdated plugins, all have a vector for hackers to get to your site. So, to address those potential vulnerabilities, here are some tips to keep the site safe by removing as many WordPress plugin vulnerabilities as possible.
Scan for WordPress plugin vulnerabilities
WPScan Vulnerability Database is a good tool to check if any plugin is a security threat. This service will list the plugins and their vulnerabilities. You can look up the plugin by name or filter all plugin vulnerabilities in alphabetical order. If you come across a certain plugin in the list, first check the plugin list for updates. If you have not updated to fix the vulnerability, you should delete the plugin during this time.
Another way to promptly address these threats is to subscribe to paid services, such as aptly named, Plugin Vulnerabilities. You will have access to constantly updated data as these services monitor security concerns and hacking attempts. And if you are using a malicious plugin you will receive an email notification about it. Because you received a notification from this service, you can resolve it more quickly.
Sometimes you also see these threats by scanning your site. A plugin like Plugin Vulnerabilities will not only scan installed plugins, it will also report more common security errors.
For other threats, choose to receive notifications. New threats are springing up almost daily as hackers try and target WordPress sites. So it is important that you check it regularly (or have a service do it for you).
How to choose the right plugin
No plugin is 100% secure. But you can significantly reduce WordPress plugin vulnerabilities by learning how to evaluate and choose quality plugins. Choose only plugins from reputable markets like CodeCanyon, WordPress Plugin repository, or third-party stores that you trust. WordPress repository views each plugin before use and CodeCanyon also has its own rating system.
So what do you need to do to choose a good plugin? Let's start with:
- Average user rating.
- User reviews.
- Updated and compatible.
- Positive settings.
- Support and documentation.
We mentioned the analysis of these points in the previous article, so I'll skip the detailed discussion of them here. But keep these factors in mind before adding the plugin to your site:
- If you have server resources to support, you will install as many plugins as you like. It is important that the plugin is well coded, whereas a bad plugin will take your page down.
- The activity change log section indicates that the author is supporting the plugin and responding to user requests.
- There are hundreds of great free WordPress plugins. High-end plugins often have faster responsive support and are updated with the latest versions of WordPress.
Update the plugin regularly
The most common target of hackers is outdated WordPress plugins. A Sucuri analysis found that three popular outdated plugins were responsible for 18% of the hacked WordPress sites they viewed in Q3 2016.
It is important to note here that plugin developers need to patch the fastest holes, but if the plugin is not updated, your site is very vulnerable.
This is an important point to note:
Even if you choose plugin plugins for other apps, if you don't update them then you're still at risk.
So how do you ensure that your plugins are always up to date? One way is to look for updated icons in your WordPress dashboard. Another way is to allow automatic updates.
To enable automatic updates for all or some plugins, you should try a free plugin called Easy Updates Manager:
Also, for plugins you buy from CodeCanyon, try the free Envato Market plugin to help you automatically update the plugins.
Delete unwanted plugins
Another good way to stay safe is to delete inactive plugins that you no longer plan to use. Although inactive plugins don't consume RAM, bandwidth or PHP, they take up server space. And if they appear in large numbers, they will slow down your page. But the reason you should not keep inactive plugins is to be used to run malicious code on your site.
Conclude
Plugins are great, they help you do great things with your WordPress. But sometimes poorly coded or outdated plugins will open your WordPress site for hackers. By choosing your plugins carefully and constantly updating, you will easily work and aim to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of WordPress plugin vulnerabilities.
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