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According to security experts there are two types of website on the internet – those that have already been the victim of hackers and those that will one day be hacked.  Everyone from multi-billion dollar corporations to individual bloggers are being attacked by hackers, with sensitive data being stolen, passwords being changed and hours of work disappearing overnight.  Hackers may also simply cause a nuisance on your site, often inserting spam and malware without you realizing it.  This can do untold damage to your search engine optimization and can cause your site to be removed from Google completely.

As soon as you download your WordPress website builder and start adding content, you need to address your site’s security immediately and make sure you’re not exposing your blog to attack.  Here are 10 effective ways to increase security:

1. WP Security Scan: this plug in basically security scans your blog and checks for any vulnerable files and suggests what you can do to protect them, such as passwords, admin security and permissions.  It also provides some database security.
2. Keep Upgrading WordPress: there have been concerns about the security features of WordPress and every time a new version comes out it has better security updates.  When you download your free website builder program ensure you’re getting the latest version of WordPress.  It’s easy to update your site, more difficult to fix it once it’s been hacked!
3. Change your default password: don’t stick to the default admin password which was given to you when you first uploaded WordPress.  Change it to a password mixed with numbers and letters that’s difficult to hack.  Better to change your password than lose your blog!
4. Secure WP: this plug in is great for installing as soon as you’ve completed your website builder program and installed WordPress.  It removes any unnecessary miscellaneous items which could help hackers get into your page.  For example, it will remove or change the version label which reveals which version of WordPress you are using.  This gives hackers direct information on how to get into your site.  It also removes update information about plug ins and themes and prevents hackers getting access to your plug in directory.
5. Ask Apache Password Protect: this plug in protects your site from bots and generally gives your website a protective virtual security wall.  Your password is protected and spam is also blocked.  To use this plug in you do need to be with the Apache server.
6. WordPress EZ Backup: install this as soon as you’ve completed your website builder program.  It backs up all your core data and the content of your entire site, which gives you a back up file you can use to restore your blog if it crashes or has been hacker attacked.
7. Disable Indexing: go to the root director within WordPress, open the .htaccess file and type Options – Indexes in the first line.  Once you save these options you prevent anyone from seeing your indexed files within your blog directory, which heightens security.
8. Login Encrypt:  every time a user logs into your site they’re given a unique DES key.  This encrypts their password and gives them a safe and secure login every time, preventing hackers from stealing passwords and gaining access to your site.
9. TTC User Registration Bot Detector: a great security plug in that automatically prevents most bot attempts at user registration on your blog.  You can also set up a black list of email addresses and IPs and automatically add bots to the list as they attempt to get into your site.
10. Admin SSL: an easy way to secure your login page, admin area and all your posts using secure connection to your site.  It does mean you’ll need your site to be SSL enabled however, which can cost from $250 annually, but it’s pretty effective at protecting all your content and blog from attack.