GuardWasp – GuardWasp https://guardwasp.com Wordpress Security Services - Secure, Backup, Malware Removal Mon, 12 Feb 2024 22:11:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7 Johnson Controls Ransomware attack: Dark Angels seeks $51 million in ransom https://guardwasp.com/johnson-controls-ransomware-attack-dark-angels-seeks-51-million-in-ransom/ Fri, 06 Oct 2023 15:28:29 +0000 https://guardwasp.com/?p=467 Johnson Controls Ransomware attack: Dark Angels seeks $51 million in ransom Johnson Controls ransomware attack is the topic of the day. Johnson Controls, a global industrial control systems leader, is battling the notorious Dark Angels hackers. The digital intruders have locked up the company’s data and are demanding an astonishing $51 million for its release. […]

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Johnson Controls Ransomware attack: Dark Angels seeks $51 million in ransom

Johnson Controls ransomware attack is the topic of the day. Johnson Controls, a global industrial control systems leader, is battling the notorious Dark Angels hackers. The digital intruders have locked up the company’s data and are demanding an astonishing $51 million for its release.

This high-stakes cyber showdown has left Johnson Controls reeling, disrupting its daily operations. Worse, sensitive Department of Homeland Security (DHS) information may be on the line, raising national security concerns. Johnson Controls has almost one hundred thousand employees amongst its several divisions and affiliates (such as ADT, Tyco, York, SimplexGrinnell, and Ruskin).

In this article, we’ll break down what happened, the impact on Johnson Controls and national security, and the shadowy world of Dark Angels, a hacking group pushing the boundaries of cyber warfare.

JCI ransomware

Johnson Controls ransomware attack may cost $51 million

In a filing with the SEC on Wednesday, Johnson Controls International revealed that the business is dealing with the fallout from a cyber event that affected parts of its internal IT infrastructure and applications.

The Johnson Controls ransomware attack is a cyber incident where the prominent industrial control systems manufacturer, Johnson Controls, fell victim to a ransomware attack directed by a group known as Dark Angels. During the attack, the hackers infiltrated Johnson Controls’ IT systems, encrypted their data, and demanded a hefty ransom of $51 million for the decryption key and the promise to delete the stolen data.

The specific details of the data stolen during the Johnson Controls ransomware attack have not been publicly disclosed in great detail. However, it has been reported that the hackers claimed to have accessed approximately 27 terabytes of data. Of particular concern was the possibility that the stolen data might include sensitive information related to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

JCI 3

The reports suggested that the stolen data could potentially encompass security information tied to third-party contracts and floor plans of certain agency facilities. However, it’s important to note that the full extent of the stolen data and its contents may not have been fully disclosed to the public, and some details may remain confidential due to the ongoing investigation and the sensitive nature of the information involved.

In ransomware attacks, cybercriminals typically steal data from the victim’s systems before encrypting it, and they may threaten to release this data if their ransom demands are not met. This “double-extortion” tactic is intended to increase the pressure on the victim to pay the ransom, and Dark Angels heavily use this tactic.

Dark Angels unveiled

Dark Angels burst onto the scene in May 2022, targeting organizations worldwide. Their modus operandi involves breaching corporate networks, stealing data, and deploying ransomware. They’ve gained notoriety for their use of double-extortion tactics, threatening to leak stolen data if ransoms aren’t paid.

While Dark Angels initially employed Windows and VMware ESXi encryptors, the Linux encryptor used in the Johnson Controls attack has been traced back to the Ragnar Locker ransomware, which has been active since 2021.

In April 2023, Dark Angels unveiled ‘Dunghill Leaks,’ a data leak site designed to exert further pressure on their victims by exposing sensitive information if ransoms remain unpaid.

Johnson Controls

With headquarters in Cork, Ireland, Johnson Controls International is a worldwide business that manufactures fire, Ventilation, and security systems for commercial and residential properties. It has 105,000 employees by the middle of 2019 spread over about 2,000 sites on six continents.

Conclusion

In the wake of the Johnson Controls ransomware attack, we find ourselves at the crossroads of cyber warfare and corporate resilience. The audacity of Dark Angels’ digital siege reminds us that even industry titans can be brought to their knees by the relentless evolution of cyber threats.

The staggering $51 million ransom demand looms like a shadow over Johnson Controls, as the company grapples not only with the immediate consequences of the attack but also the potential long-term repercussions. The very real prospect of sensitive Department of Homeland Security data falling into the wrong hands adds a layer of urgency to an already complex situation.

As the cybersecurity community watches closely, it’s important to consider the potential ramifications beyond decryption keys and data loss. In the event of a data breach involving sensitive government information, hefty fines and legal repercussions could follow. The Department of Homeland Security, like other government entities, takes data breaches seriously, and the fallout from such an incident could be extensive.

In the end, the Johnson Controls ransomware attack serves as a stark reminder that no entity is immune to the evolving tactics of cyber adversaries. It underscores the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures and rapid response strategies in our interconnected world.

As we navigate these digital waters, one thing remains clear: the battle against cyber threats is an ongoing and ever-adaptive struggle, where vigilance, preparedness, and resilience are the keys to emerging unscathed from the shadows cast by those who seek to exploit our digital vulnerabilities.

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Top Eight Tips to Secure Your WordPress Website https://guardwasp.com/top-eight-tips-to-secure-your-wordpress-website/ Tue, 12 Sep 2023 16:20:45 +0000 https://guardwasp.com/?p=245 Securing your WordPress site is crucial to protecting your personal and company information. Vulnerable websites can put you and your clients at risk for serious data breaches and can damage your consumer credibility. Going the extra mile in protecting your WordPress website can add an extra layer of security to your important information. Fortunately, hackers […]

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Securing your WordPress site is crucial to protecting your personal and company information. Vulnerable websites can put you and your clients at risk for serious data breaches and can damage your consumer credibility.

Going the extra mile in protecting your WordPress website can add an extra layer of security to your important information.

Fortunately, hackers generally like to take on easy prey, meaning that if you can amp up your security even by just a little bit, you’ll deter many potential threats.

Not sure where to start with your WordPress security?
Let the pros do it for you.

Below, we’ve including eight of the best tips you should take to start better protecting your WordPress website today. Keep reading to see how you can enjoy greater peace of mind with better security in no time!

1. Minimize the Number of Plugins

While it can be tempting to add additional plugins and crazy themes to your website, doing so can actually increase your chances of encountering a security risk.

Minimize the number of plugins on your site to decrease the number of potential avenues hackers have to gain access to your page.

To do so, start by using only trusted themes and plugins—and only applying as many as necessary. Don’t get duped into thinking “the more, the better.”

In this case from a security standpoint, less is more.

When choosing your plugins, only select those that come from reputable sources and be sure that they are up-to-date with the latest security features. This strengthens the security of your WordPress site.

2. Invest in Two-Factor Authentication

Even if you’ve never heard the term “two-factor authentication,” you’re sure to have encountered it while browsing online.

Two-factor authentication is the process by which you add an extra step to the login procedure. This could mean, for example, texting or emailing out a log-in security code.

This additional step complicates the hacking process and will likely push potential hackers onto other sites. Remember: most hackers are looking for easy targets, and a two-factor authentication procedure shows that your site is anything but.

3. Use SSL and HTTPS Encryption

You may have noticed that many major websites now use HTTPS instead of HTTP. But have you ever taken the time to learn the distinction between the two?

Perhaps you’ve heard that HTTPS offers more security for a website—and this is true. It’s also exactly why we recommend that you convert your website from HTTP to HTTPS if you haven’t already.

Let’s take a moment to break down some of multifaceted benefits of moving your site to HTTPS. 

  1. Greater security—first and foremost, HTTPS protects the information transferred on your site through powerful encryption methods. In other words, websites with HTTPS mask the information that is being transferred—such as logins and passwords—with hard-to-decipher numbers. For this reason, websites with HTTPS in the URL offer greater security for both you and your users.
  2. Better rankings—HTTPS URLs have become so respected that Google even gives these websites preferential treatment in their search rankings.
  3. Community trust—by making the switch, you’re letting your users know that you care about the security of their information. HTTPS URLs are marked with a green padlocked logo, signaling to your users that their information is safe and secure.

Transferring your site to HTTPS is a pretty involved process, but one that’s well worth it. In short, you must first obtain an SSL encryption certificate before adding it into your WordPress configuration.

This is first done through the backend in your wp-config.php file. When adding your SSL certificate, put the following into the file before being prompted to stop editing:

define(‘FORCE_SSL_ADMIN’, true);

Once this is done, you can go into your general WordPress settings and update your URL from HTTP to HTTPS. Make sure that this is done for every page on your WordPress site.

Once this is complete, you should have a fully-functioning and encrypted website!

Not sure where to start with your WordPress security?
Let the pros do it for you.

4. Restrict Your WordPress Login to a Specific IP Address

If you’re looking to add powerful protection to your WordPress site, consider restricting the login page to a specific IP address.

While this can offer amazing security, it does come with a few drawbacks, so let’s take a moment to weigh its pros and cons.

For starters, by restricting the login IP address, you can all but ensure that others will be unable to access the backend of your WordPress site. In this way, you can prevent hackers from taking control of your site or from accessing sensitive information.

IP addresses can be restricted through WordPress’s .htaccess feature. In order to do so, enter the following code into .htaccess:

ErrorDocument 401 default
ErrorDocument 403 default  

<Files wp-login.php>
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from [your selected IP address]
</Files>

As you can see, you can select the IP of your choosing to grant sole access to your WordPress site.

However, as mentioned, this comes with a few drawbacks of its own. While it is a powerful way to keep others from accessing your WordPress login, it can also keep you from doing so if you’re away from your normal IP address.

If you plan to go out of town or on a trip, for instance, you’ll need to be careful to change your access requirements before heading out. Be sure to not get yourself locked out of your own WordPress site—even temporarily—as you will lose the ability to update it or address any issues that users may be having.

With careful planning, however, you should be able to navigate around this feature without it becoming an issue. In our opinion, the extra security provided by restricting your IP address is definitely worth the trade-off if it’s something you can afford to do.

We know what you may be asking. What if you have multiple IP addresses that need to have access?

Simply copy and paste the code again with another IP address. This way, you can ensure that all parties who require access can get into your WordPress site.

And you can keep those who shouldn’t have it, out.

5. Make Sure WordPress is Up-to-Date

We tend to think of updates as upgrades in content and features. While this is true, many updates are specifically designed to patch holes in security and close any gaps that are allowing hackers and negative forces to attack your site.

Because of this, it is important to pay attention to all your WordPress updates. While WordPress 3.7 minor updates will be installed automatically (don’t panic—this is a good thing), it is highly recommended that you install major updates manually. As with any large-scale update, you will want to review the measure before putting it into place. The truth of the matter is that it is easy for problems to slip through the cracks with major automatic updates. Take the time to review every update and implement each of them manually.

This will help keep your site safe and bug free. Do your best to stay on top of each update and make it a habit to check for them at least once a day. You don’t want your site to be vulnerable to any external threats. Staying on top of your game and WordPress updates will make sure that your site runs smoothly for years to come!




6. Watch Out for File Permissions

Most of us don’t come from strong IT backgrounds. As a result, we operate largely unaware of the hidden factors that could bring down our sites. One such example is file permissions. 

Let us give a brief introduction. File permissions allow you to set who can access certain files or directories. In our case, this applies to files or directories on your server that individuals unrelated with your site or business may be able to access. If your file permissions are not limited, there’s a chance that your information could be at risk. All hackers need to do is access your files and modify your content.

This is a nightmare come true. It’s important to keep track of who has permission of your files so that you don’t find yourself in a scary situation. The best way to do this is to find a system that allows you to modify your file permission settings. FileZilla and WinSCP are two free-to-download and easy-to-use programs that will allow you to change your file permissions at ease. We highly recommend using them to maximize your security and sustainability.

7. Allow Limited Access

We get it. It can be difficult—and depending on size, perhaps even impossible—running a successful site by yourself. Despite this, you want to make sure that outsiders have as little access to your site as possible. This will reduce security threats and keep you in control of your content.

Of course, you will need to allow trusted individuals to access (and even update) your site as business demands. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be selective, however. As a rule, don’t outsource tasks to others if you can do them or if they involve private information. By this, we mean that there’s no sense in allowing someone else access to your site and site controls if you are perfectly able to do the work.

If your business requires you to allow employees or other trusted individuals to access your site, be careful how you go about doing it. If possible, you want to avoid giving anyone complete access to your site. This means that you should only give individuals the authority to access parts of your site that directly pertain to their role in your organization. There’s no need to open your site up fully. Remember: even if you trust someone now, you never know how things will shake out later. Stay on the safe side and keep your site locked up.

8. Keep Your Login Complicated

Having weak login credentials is one of the easiest ways for hackers to hijack your site. Though it may seem like common sense, you would be surprised at the number of users who fall into this trap. There are several ways having a weak login could endanger your site, so it’s important to make sure you have a strong username and password.

You want to create a username that isn’t easily hackable. In the past, WordPress forced users to employ the “admin” username. As you might have guessed, this was a hacker’s fantasy. Now you can choose whatever username you want (assuming it’s not already taken and is within the site’s terms of service), but there are some tips you should keep in mind.

First, stay away from “admin” style names that are common and easily traceable. Second, don’t use the same name for your content publishing and administrative pages. WordPress records your handle into the page URL, so if you use your administrative username to publish your content, there is a quick and easy avenue for hackers to find you. Needless to say, you want to avoid this.

It’s also recommended that you create a strong password. Try mixing different letters (lower and capital), numbers, and symbols until you have something unique. WordPress will recommend you “strong” passwords, and any one of these will be fair game. If you must, write down your password so that you don’t forget it, but make sure it’s not recorded digitally, as this could lead to future security threats.

If there are others with permission to access and modify your site, you will want to make sure that their login credentials are strong and secure, as well. Unfortunately, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch (or in this case, attract the hackers). Making sure that everyone involved is on the same page when it comes to security is crucial in achieving and sustaining your success.

Conclusion

Running a successful WordPress website requires much more maintenance than you may initially think. Even if you have the perfect product, service, or idea, you will not be able to distribute it to your audience without a secure and stable platform. That’s why it’s important to keep the above tips in mind as you embark on your WordPress journey. Remember to take advantage of all available resources to ensure your website’s safety and optimal performance.

We hope these tips help and wish you the best of luck!


Or, do it the EASY way.

Let Guard Wasp manage your WordPress security and backups for you.

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The Importance of Backing Up A Website and How to Do It https://guardwasp.com/the-importance-of-backing-up-a-website-and-how-to-do-it/ Tue, 08 Aug 2023 05:29:32 +0000 https://guardwasp.com/?p=228 Website threats are real. Backing up a website can help safeguard against these threats. It is necessary that you save website files as well as your online databases. If you know the vitality of a backup, you will be more encouraged to have a regular backup schedule in place. Read on to find out some […]

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Website threats are real. Backing up a website can help safeguard against these threats. It is necessary that you save website files as well as your online databases. If you know the vitality of a backup, you will be more encouraged to have a regular backup schedule in place.

Read on to find out some reasons why to back up a website.

Avoiding Website Hackers

Nowadays, hackers have become rather prominent on the web.

Why Do Hackers Hack Websites?

  • The aim of some hacker may be to try and steal someone’s credit card numbers along with other sensitive information
  • But usually people hack a website simply to prove themselves or to develop trouble

If a website is online, there are always chances that this may get compromised. Making certain that the site is secure and also backed up is a way to keep the site protected from getting hacked.

Stay Away From Computer Catastrophes

It is a good idea to store a copy of the files that you have on your computer, but if the machine crashed, got lost, damaged, etc, the files will also be gone with this.

It is better to back up the files remotely if something were to happen to the computer. This is the more practical solution.

Your Updates Gone Wrong

When it comes to regular updates, this refers to updated features as well as increased security. These will not always occur as planned. Therefore, WordPress always informs you to carry out a backup before updating.

A website has different components such as plugins, themes, software, plus back-end programming. If an awry update occurs to any of these, this can take a complete website offline and for some unforeseen time also.

Impact Of Malware and Viruses

It is possible for viruses, trojan horses, along with other malware to find their way within your website via different avenues, also through third party sites which are usually safe. There are some ways that these can come and annoy you.  

  • These can be downloaded unknowingly with some theme and plugin.
  • They may even slip in via a crack within your firewall’s armor.

If you have backup files, you can be prepared in case the site begins to act in a strange way.

Human Error Happens

Human beings make mistakes. It is better to have precautions in place so that any mistake can be minimized. There is a possibility that some employees may click the wrong button or even delete an important file by accident. If you backup files, there is less chance a human error will threaten your operations.

Limit The Damage

Imagine logging onto the website you have and seeing an unfamiliar error page. Even though you continue trying, the main page still seems to not come up. One may get tense that there is something wrong.

If your site tends to be backed up as well as secure, this can bring relief when a situation like this pops up. That is why backing up a site can allow you to be stress-free concerning the worry about losing the site data.

wordpress backup

Now Let Us Look at How to Backup a Website.

Ways To Backup a Website

You may be convinced now that backing up the website is the correct thing to do. A few ways are present concerning how to do this. Read on to find out how to back up the website so as to restore it if data loss occurs.

  1. See if the web host gives website backups like a service.
  2. If someone designed your website, you can contact them and ask them if they can do this for you. They should actually have sufficient knowledge of the ways that content management systems function allowing them to pursue a manual backup for the files that you have.
  3. Employ an extra “just in case” type of backup service. There are services like these that are present. You can find these by carrying out some research. There are some that are more cost effective in comparison to others, whilst others have software which is more or even less user-friendly.
  4. You can install a helpful backup plugin upon your site. There are some backup plugins that let you schedule automatic backups, and also send the files that you have to cloud storage services such as Dropbox.
  5. For those who have smaller websites, they may just select to compress the files within a ZIP folder then email these to themselves. This works better for small websites. Therefore if your files size is bigger in comparison to how much the email provider allows one to send, or whether you think that the size of the site will expand, you may want to consider another backup choice.
  6. You may want to save a copy consisting of your files on the computer. Nevertheless you should do this with some other backup services or procedures. If you have two or above copies of the files, this is not a bad idea. It is better to be safe.

Backup Your Site Regularly

Backing up a site is not very time consuming and it does not need much cash to pursue. It is a good investment if you think about the threats which are present online. If you have not got a backup of your website, you should do this so as to avoid being a tense business-owner that must constantly restart their website from the beginning. You can consider the above website backups steps if you want peace of mind when it comes to your website files.

You can tell from the above explanation that it is important to back up your website properly if you do not want to be faced with an extra hurdle when you lose your data. You may have seen news about some high profile website crash and if you want to avoid this then take out the time to back up your website.


Or, do it the EASY way.

Let Guard Wasp manage your WordPress security and backups for you.

The post The Importance of Backing Up A Website and How to Do It appeared first on GuardWasp.

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8 Ways to Make Your WordPress Website Hack-Proof https://guardwasp.com/8-ways-to-make-your-wordpress-website-hack-proof/ Tue, 08 Aug 2023 05:14:44 +0000 https://guardwasp.com/?p=222 Security is one of the biggest issues of the modern era. It is the reason because of which you can find numerous options to make your website hack proof. It is important that you choose a reliable CMS to ensure that your website is safe from hackers. WordPress provides you with a variety of options […]

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Security is one of the biggest issues of the modern era. It is the reason because of which you can find numerous options to make your website hack proof. It is important that you choose a reliable CMS to ensure that your website is safe from hackers.

WordPress provides you with a variety of options to customize your website along with which you can also add an extra layer of security in it. If you are using WordPress as your Content Management System, you are at the right place. Here, we will be discussing some of the top ways to make your website hack proof.

Below are the top 8 tricks that can help you make sure that your site is 100% secure from hackers.

1. Two Factor Authentication

This is certainly the best way to ensure the security of your website. By implementing this method, an added layer of security will be added to your site which will request additional proof ID whenever you request for login.

2. Login Limits

Login Limits provide you with the facility to lock an account after a certain number of failed login attempts. This way hackers will have less chance of cracking into your site.

3. Replace Login URL With the Default Login

WordPress offers you a default login page through which you can manage your website. If you are looking to ensure the security of your website, you can change the login URL to something that is a bit hard to predict. iThemes security plugin allows you to implement this to make certain the security of your site.

4. Choose Secure Passwords

It is always recommended to use secure passwords because they make it difficult for hackers to guess them. You may use a combination of upper- and lower-case characters along with special characters and numbers to ensure that you are able to pick a secure password that is 10 characters long.

wordpress password

5. Protect Your WP-Admin Directory with A Password

The wp-admin directory is one of the most important directories of your website, which offers ultimate safety to the site. So, protect it with a strong password. You can use the strong password rules for implementing a password on this directory as well.

6. Switch to HTTPS

It is always preferable to use HTTPS instead of HTTP because with HTTPS your site creates an encrypted link between the browser and the web server which helps it keep secure from all kinds of hacks. To do this, you need to install an SSL Certificate.

7. Monitor Your WordPress Files

Another effective way to make your site secure is to make sure that you are able to monitor your WordPress files regularly. Plugins such Acunetix WP security, Wordfence would help you track the changes that you have made and notify you about them.

8. Make Regular Backups

Once you follow all the steps mentioned above, we are certain that your site will be secure from all kinds of hacks but if in case it still gets hacked then you would definitely not want to start from scratch. You can try to take regular backups of your site so that you are able to start from the last working point saving you loads of time.


Or, do it the EASY way.

Let Guard Wasp manage your WordPress security and backups for you.

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4 Tips to Secure Your WordPress Website In 2024 https://guardwasp.com/4-tips-to-secure-your-wordpress-website/ Sat, 08 Jul 2023 04:48:52 +0000 https://guardwasp.com/?p=216 If you have a WordPress website or are new to WordPress, you will want to keep this website secure. You will be interested in WordPress website security. It is important to secure your website and prevent hacking attacks. You need to be able to keep your content safe. Below are some simple WordPress security measures […]

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If you have a WordPress website or are new to WordPress, you will want to keep this website secure. You will be interested in WordPress website security. It is important to secure your website and prevent hacking attacks. You need to be able to keep your content safe.

Below are some simple WordPress security measures which you can consider.

1. WordPress Security Scan

It is important that you do a thorough WordPress security scan so as to see if you actually have some issue. When it comes to WordPress this tends to be the most widely employed CMS or content management system.

Why Do A Scan?

  • The popularity of WordPress allows sites hosted upon it to be a regular target particularly to brute force login type of attempts as well as other hacking attacks. This is despite them regarding security as being important.
  • These attacks tend to be automated across every hosting platform. They aim to find out WordPress security problems.
  • These try and figure out WordPress blogs that have security vulnerabilities like the employment of the default username, any weak password, use of an outdated WordPress version plus outdated themes as well as plugins.

Some Tools to Try Out

You can find different WordPress security scan tools which can be used to see if a blog has some existing vulnerability. These scan looking for malware, malicious scripts, out of date software moreover blacklist status, amongst other known security problems. You can try out the below free choices:

  • VirusTotal
  • Sucuri SiteCheck

2. Make A New User Account, Then Limit Access

It is tougher for some hacker to break into a WordPress account if the username and also password need to get cracked. Therefore you should develop a new user. Do the below as well:

  • Delete the present WordPress default “admin” user.
  • Also limit the number of individuals that have admin access to the blog. You can implement this with the helpful different roles and capabilities option that WordPress has.
  • Usernames like the default “admin” are regarded as the most frequent type of targets of these attacks. You should delete these and even not use them.

3. Have A Strong Password

Figure out strong passwords that you can use on the WordPress account. No doubt simple passwords are easy to remember, nevertheless they are even easy for hackers to crack.

The password needs to be:

  • A minimum of twelve characters long
  • Include numbers in it
  • Also have special characters
  • Include uppercase and also lowercase letters

4. Create A New Nickname

It is not a good idea to have your new username as the author name which is displayed on every post. In this way hackers can have a simple way to find the actual username that you have. They will know some details they require to log in to the admin.

Set the nickname that WordPress utilizes as author name specifically to something that is different from the username which you have.

Do this by:

  • Go to “Users” beneath “Your Profile” within the Nickname field.
  • Select a new nickname then set the “Display Name” publicly as precisely to your new nickname.

Above are just a few tips to help secure your WordPress website. It is important that you take time on the security part of your website as you do not want to be faced with any security issues.


Or, do it the EASY way.

Let Guard Wasp manage your WordPress security and backups for you.

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WordPress Website Backup: A Comprehensive Guide for Both Beginners And Webmasters https://guardwasp.com/comprehensive-guide-to-wordpress-website-backups/ Mon, 03 Jul 2023 05:27:30 +0000 https://guardwasp.com/?p=156 In the age of advanced technology, our focus is shifted to the web and internet. We are running businesses on websites and have loads of private and confidential data on the web, as well. This situation asks for an ultimate need for the security and backup measures. Although the web is a secure and all-time […]

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In the age of advanced technology, our focus is shifted to the web and internet. We are running businesses on websites and have loads of private and confidential data on the web, as well. This situation asks for an ultimate need for the security and backup measures.

Although the web is a secure and all-time available source to you, it is true that anything can happen in this world and you can experience a loss on the web as well. Any bug or virus can lead you to face a big data loss or damage to your website. In this regard, it is important to have a backup of your webpage to minimize the risks of any major loss.

Why Do You Need A Backup?

Commonly when anything is on the web, it is considered as secured but your webpage needs a backup to avoid any future damage.  Below are a few reasons to make sure you have a website backup:

Your Web Host Is Not Backing Up

It’s not your web hosting services provider’s responsibility to provide you with the backup services regularly. Sometimes, the services providers store the web content but, for their security, they are not liable to share it with you.

Storing the Original Version Is Not Enough

Sometimes when you make changes to the web page using any secondary or shared coding file, it will not reflect the changes in the original version automatically. You need to have a backup for any of the changes incorporated in the site. Furthermore, the valuable content you updated in the form of blog for the readers will only be stored on the web, no anywhere else.

Protection Against a Virus

Even after your efforts to protect your webpage from virus attacks, the backup can help you to protect your data. It helps you to turn back the clock after an attack and have the site running smoothly. It will not stop the attacks but will help you to reduce the chances of loss of data.

Backup is a Peace of Mind

When you know that something that can hit on your site and get all your efforts into a danger zone, the backup is your peace of mind. It will help you to take a back seat and relax.

Fundamentals of a Backup

Following are some of the fundamentals of backing up a website.

  • It is important to store the backup at more than one location.
  • A backup requires to be updated on regular basis.

It is, however, important to make sure that there is a local backup created on your personal device which is in your use. The other backup may be stored in a cloud or at a particular server which is meant for that purpose only. Storing a local backup may seem redundant to most of the people but it is a very effective technique to keep your data in case it is deleted from the cloud or from the server.

Nevertheless, if you don’t like local storage, it is recommended that you can use cloud storage to keep your backup. The backup for the website is dependent largely on the amount of work that is being carried out on the website. If you have an active website and you receive a lot of comments on your website, it is important to have a backup created after every week or so but if you don’t publish active content on your website, you can create a backup after every one month or so.

Backing Up a WordPress Site

WordPress is a very useful tool when it comes to innovation and ease of use. There are a number of plug-ins which can be used with WordPress in order to set up a backup, such as UpdraftPlus.

The following steps can be followed:

  1. After creating a plug-in and its activation you can go to the new tab by ‘Setting’ in the Word Press dashboard.
  2. Select the backup function from all the available options.
  3. Click on the backup you will be provided with a number of options to get things done. Just click on the recommended settings and move on with the process.
  4. Select the confirmation button and your backup will start.

It will take a minute or so, as it depends on the size of the website and the performance of the server. You can also restore your backup as well as you just need to click on the restore button. It also provides you with an option to make this process automated by helping you to schedule the time of the backup. You can also link your UpdraftPlus account to a cloud platform so that you never run out of storage and have enough space to manage your entire backup.

Backing Up Manually to the Cloud

You can also create a manual backup on the cloud to keep the data secured. The most important thing you need in all of this is to have direct access to your web server. There are two ways in which you can have access to your web server one is through FTP and the other is through hosting account file manager.

By using FTP and FileZilla, you can easily manage the backup. You just need to access a folder Public_html. In order to back up your files, you need to copy all the files in this folder and you are done with the backup.

Bottom Line:

It is very important to have a backup if you have a running website. This is very crucial to maintain the website and make it work smoothly. A few of options have been discussed in this article in order to back up your website data and avoid some critical situation with your work. This guide will help you to keep relaxed and prepare yourself for the hard times that can call up any time. By using the right backup technique, you can save time, efforts, and money too.


Or, do it the EASY way.

Let Guard Wasp manage your WordPress security and backups for you.

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