WordPress Login Security
One common vulnerability among WordPress login security is the weakness of the login page. Brute force attacks and hacks often start with the weakest link; login credentials. Here are some tips to implement in your WordPress login page increasing security keeping cybercriminals at bay.
1. Change Your Login Page URL
For instance in order to brute force their way into your website, cybercriminals access the login page. Thereby credential stuffing the system until they find a set of usernames and passwords granting access. From here, it’s easy for them to disrupt the system injecting malware or stealing confidential information. To help keep many of these criminals at bay, it’s imperative that you change the URL of your login page to something that’s not easy to guess or memorize. Many plugins, including those provided by WordPress, will let your change the login URL into a complex landing page that’s impossible to guess.
2. Limit Login Attempts
Multiple login attempts under the same username are suspicious. When allowing limitless attempts, it’s just a matter of time before any login brute force attack is successful. By limiting the amount of time a username can be used to attempt, and fail, the login step before locking them out, you can protect not only that individual’s information, but the entire website itself. This is a great way to weed out suspicious activity before individuals with malicious intent can ever access the website’s interior. Many plugins are available to help limit login attempt numbers.
3. Implement Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication is an important security feature for login pages. It’s so important, in fact, that more and more websites require a mandatory form of two-factor authentication. In general, after submitting the correct username and password to access your website, users will then be asked to provide one more login credential. This can be a code sent to their cell phone, a link sent to their email, or an answer to a unique set of security questions. By using two-factor authentication in your WordPress login page, you ensure that anyone logging into your domain has all of the necessary information required to enter.
4. Add a SSL Plugin
A Secure Socket Layer, or SSL, is a security feature recommended on all websites. However is often underutilized, SSL certificates are a form of encryption that scrambles information coming into, and transferring out of, your website. With encryption, all information being passed back and forth is ciphered and salted, effectively creating gibberish.This way only servers and administrative accounts with “keys” can decipher those messages. On login pages, this makes communication to the server much more secure, hashing passwords the moment they’re sent in for verification. This means that any cybercriminal attempting to intercept login credentials during the login process will only acquire scrambled information.
5. Upgrade to Passwordless Login
Passwords are terrible. Brute force attacks rely on weak passwords that grant easy access. You wouldn’t leave the spare key to your home dangling from the front door. Therefore why tempt cybercriminals with poor password security?
TraitWare’s passwordless authentication system eliminates passwords altogether replacing them with Bio-metric enabled MFA. Making it impossible for criminals to steal login credentials. The TraitWare WordPress plugin turns your login page into a strong security feature. Resulting in only allowing those individuals with TraitWare accessibility to log in.