Increase in wordpress sites being hacked in 2022
It’s important to note that in general terms, wordpress is a VERY secure CMS. It has updates released regularly to prevent hacking and exploits.
Creators of active plugins and themes are also generally very good at releasing security updates.
The problems arise if you (or your web developer/webhost) don’t keep wordpress websites, and their plugins and themes, up to date. Running old plugins that have not been updated for several months or years is also a big problem. If a plugin is abandonded by the creator, it makes sense to look for a new plugin that is still being actively developed.
Use Your Words have noticed an increased rate of wordpress websites being hacked in the past few months. 3 different companies have approached us in only the past 2 months to assist with removing exploits from their websites.
All of the sites we have assisted recently were running old obsolete versions of PHP on their webservers, and were running very old versions of wordpress plugins and themes.
The removal of the exploits is never simple, and each one was a different exploit, so the steps of removal changed.
But generally we are identifying exploited files and removing them. Updating wordpress, its plugins and themes, ensuring the server is running the latest PHP, and updating usernames and passwords.
If you need some help with a hacked wordpress site, feel free to get in touch today.
