Here are the 7 ways to secure WordPress website from SQL Injection:
1. Use SQL injection vulnerability testing tool to scan the WordPress website
There are different tool and plugins available to scan the SQL injection vulnerabilities. You can use those tools to scan and detect malware and vulnerabilities. All you need to do is download any of these and do the scan.
2. Always follow security procedures and update website
It’s very normal for some WordPress sites to ignore security techniques as well as ignore to update websites with new security updates. This is because there are many non-professionals, especially in the case of websites belonging to small businesses or individual users, who don’t know such things and end up being easy targets for hackers. SQL injection attacks are the commonest of such attacks that affect such websites. So, it’s always best to keep your website up-to-date and follow all security procedures.
3. Be careful while installing plugins
Mostly plugins are seen vulnerable in WordPress and also reason to get hack. Use minimum plugins and uninstall unused and unnecessary plugins. It’s always best to avoid plugins and themes that go on with the same version for a long period; it’s better to move on to a more active and trusted plugin or theme.
4. Hide your WordPress version
It’s in every case best to keep your WordPress version hidden. If not, it would be simple for hackers to identify the vulnerabilities and exploit it. So, it’s recommended to keep the version hidden.
5. Monitoring SQL server
Keep the SQL server under monitoring and check if something unusual activities are going on because if any programming error that you might miss detecting, it could give chance to hackers to exploit the website. Hence, keep monitoring your SQL server closely, detect errors as they happen and repair them immediately.
6. Disable unnecessary functionalities and also change default change database prefix
While installing the WordPress, always change database prefix ‘wp’, it will prevent injecting SQL malware. If there is any unnecessary functionalities, it is recommended to disable it. Such unnecessary, irrelevant and unused functionalities could pave the way for SQL injection attacks.
7. If possible, store website database separately
This tip is not for preventing SQL injection attacks, but for bouncing back into action at the earliest after an attack if at all it happens. Use third-party tools and plugins and store the database of your website separately. This would serve as an easy backup. It’s advisable not to rely on the hosting company alone for website backup; some of them may not provide effective backup service.
WordPress is a common CMS to target for injecting the malware. So, always follow security procedures and host your website on verified and secure hosting provider.