18 Essential Security Steps to Protect Your CMS Website from Cyber Threats

CMS like Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal have transformed the websites managed and created. They offer so much flexibility to build and manage your site or store. It is easy for any admin and moderator to manage any site without proper coding knowledge. Most of the CMS are open source and hackers target them easily. So keeping them secure is essential. Below are some security steps to protect your CMS from cyber threats.

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1. Update Regularly

Keeping your CMS theme, extensions and core is essential for security measures.

• Core Updates: Always install the latest version of the core CMS packages.
• Plugin and Theme Updates: Always keep your CMS, Extensions, and Theme updated, outdated versions might increase attacks from hackers.
• Remove unused add-ons to minimize potential security risks.: Remove unused extensions, it will increase security lack.

2. Enforce Strong Passwords

Easy to guess and weak password is easy for hackers to attack your site. Implementing a strong password is a must.

• Using complex passwords is vital for protecting sensitive information.: Use a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols.
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): 2FA adds an extra layer of security to your login, even if your login info gets stolen, users can't log in without a code.
• Password Management: A strong password with a combination of special characters, digits, upper case, and lower case with a minimum 8-digit log is essential. Make sure your user is following this. Or set a rule at the back end so that they are forced to do it.

3. Limit User Permissions

Limit access based on user role to make your site less risk for attack.

• Least Privilege Principle: Give your user permission as needed, don't give extra permission. Which might increase cybersecurity risks and lead to security breaches.
• Access audits are crucial for identifying vulnerabilities in your secure website.: Every user role and permission should be reviewed regularly to ensure security.

4. Protect Login Pages

Attackers target firstly the login page for brute force attacks, so securing them is important.

• Custom Login URL: We recommend changing the default admin URL to something else of your choice to prevent unwanted access attempts.
• Limit Login Attempts: It blocks and keeps a log of your attacks.
• CAPTCHA: Use Google ReCaptcha to block the bot.

5. Use HTTPS for Security

SSL/TLS encryption increases security of your data transfer between your user and site.

• SSL Certificates: We recommend installing a valid SSL certificate for encryption of your data and secure connections.
• Always-On SSLSSL is a must, as it ensures an additional level of security for your sensitive information. So use HTTPS on your site.

6. Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A WAF takes care of incoming traffic and blocks unwanted requests to maintain a secure website.

• Protection Against Attacks: WAF blocks SQL injections and cross-site scripting.
• Cloud-Based Options: WAFs are cloud-based and easy to set up.

7. Backup Your Site

Remember site can be quickly restored from backup, so regular backup is a must.

• Automated backups are a key component of a secure website strategy.: Most hosting has automated tools to take backups, and use them to make backups.
• Secure Backup StorageStore backup copies with encrypted devices to protect sensitive data.
• Restore Testing: We should test our backup from time to time.

8. Control File Permissions

Right file permission can increase of your site security.

• Restrict Access: We recommend disabling the edit permission of the wp-config.php file.
• Recommended Settings: Ideal file and folder permissions are important. Every folder should be 755 and file 644.
• Disable Directory Listings: Disable directory listing.

9. Secure the Database

Hackers and unwanted attackers target databases to obtain valuable information. So database protection is important along with file protection.

• Change Table Prefixes: Every CMS has the option to change the database default table prefix, so we recommend changing it, to increase security.
• Database Access Controls: Use strong database credentials and limit access.
• Regular Backups: We recommend taking both files and database backups frequently.

10. Use Security Plugins

Most of the CMS platforms offer free and commercial plugins/extensions for security enhancement.

• WordPress Plugins: The most used security plugins for WordPress are WordFence, Patchstack, Defender Security, Solid Security, Sucuri, and much more.
• Joomla Extensions: Joomla comes with a lot of security extensions, we can use one that is needed for us.
• Real-Time Monitoring: There are free/commercial plugins to scan for malware.

11. Malware Scanning and Removal

It is essential to scan your site regularly and remove unwanted scripts.

• Automated Tools for enhancing website security.: Use automated tools to detect the security lack of your site.
• Manual Inspections: You can use Git to keep track of file changes, if you find a file has been changed, manually review the file to minimize the risk.
• Quick Response: Recover infected files immediately to minimize the risk.

12. Disable XML-RPC (If Unneeded)

If you need remote access then XML-RPC is needed, otherwise, it is ideal to disable it.

• Disable It: Turn off XML-RPC if you are not using it.
• Control Access: Limit access to security plugins.

13. Add Security Headers

Security headers play a major role in preventing against different attacks.

• Content Security Policy (CSP)Controls what resources can load to safeguard your website from vulnerabilities.
• X-Frame-OptionsPrevents your site from being embedded elsewhere, effectively stopping clickjacking and enhancing website security.
• X-Content-Type-Options: Ensures files are interpreted correctly.

14. Conduct Security Audits

Regular monitoring and audits will minimize the attacks and can be prevented before they are exploited.

• Penetration Testing: Hire a consultant to detect attacks and find weaknesses.
• Vulnerability Scanners: There are a lot of free tools to find security issues. Use them to detect issues related to website security.

15. Monitor for Unusual Activity

To maintain a CMS site, we need to be proactive and monitor all the activity of the site.

• Activity Logs: Most of the hosting has activity logs, so use this tool to track login and content modification.
• Real-Time Alerts: You can set different alerts for suspicious behavior on your site or if any script is added or modified on your site.

16. Choose Secure Hosting

As like coding, hosting providers are also important to minimize security.

• Reputable Providers: Always choose hosting that provides better servers and has a reputation in the market.
• Isolated Environments: VPS and Dedicated hosting will give you more control over your site.

17. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

CDN will definitely improve site speed and add an extra layer of security.

• DDoS protection is essential for preventing disruptions to your content management system.: CDNs like Cloud Flare filter bot attacks and harmful traffic.
• Global Distribution: Always distribute content globally to minimize the attack.

18. Educate Users and Admins

Human errors when making the site can lead a security breaches, so it is essential to know your developer/admins/moderators how they can minimize the security breaches.

• Security Training: Train your users and help them recognize the security threats and follow best practices.
• Regular Updates: It is essential to keep the site updated regularly.

CMS sites are mostly open source and cyber threats in a common thing. Following these security steps can reduce cyber attacks and minimize the risk of your site. Using the right tools and regular monitoring will ensure your site's security.

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