WordPress runs over 810 million websites making this platform a big target for cybercriminals and hackers. However, many users don’t realize how important WordPress security scans are, leaving their sites open to attacks. To protect your site, it’s important to take proactive steps.
Websites are always at risk from hackers who are constantly looking for weaknesses to exploit, so securing your WordPress site should be a top priority. Fortunately, web hosts like Bluehost offer strong tools to help keep your site safe. Regular security scans are essential for finding issues before they turn into serious problems.
In this article, we’ll explain why security scans matter and show you how to scan your WordPress website to keep it secure.
What is a WordPress security scan?
A WordPress security scan is a tool. It checks your site for security risks, like malware, vulnerabilities, and harmful code. Since WordPress powers over 43% of websites, keeping it secure is essential. You can easily run these scans with security plugins. They monitor your site’s core files and pages. These scans help detect invisible threats that hackers could exploit.
However, while regular scans are crucial, they may not catch every new risk. That’s why pairing your scans with a backup solution like CodeGuard is recommended. CodeGuard provides automated daily backups and real-time monitoring. It allows for a quick restore if something goes wrong.
Key Benefits of WordPress Security Scans
Vulnerability detection. Security scans are designed to identify weaknesses in your WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Since 29% of vulnerabilities come from themes, detecting and fixing these issues early helps reduce the risk of attacks. By addressing these vulnerabilities quickly, you can minimize the chances of hackers exploiting your site.
Malware identification. Malware can hide within your website’s code, remaining undetected until it causes serious harm. Approximately 22% of websites are targeted through plugins, making them a prime entry point for malicious code such as backdoors or spyware. Security scans help identify and remove this code promptly, protecting both your website and its visitors.
Configuration checks. Security scans analyze your website’s configuration to ensure that software is up-to-date and server settings are secure. Weak passwords account for 8% of website hacks, and addressing these issues through configuration checks helps fortify your website against attacks.
Comprehensive reporting. After a scan, you receive a detailed report highlighting any detected issues along with clear, actionable recommendations for fixing them. This allows you to patch vulnerabilities and maintain a secure WordPress environment.
Ease and automation. Tools like CodeGuard make WordPress security easy for everyone, even non-technical users. With automated daily backups and a one-click restore option, recovering from an issue is quick and hassle-free. Real-time change monitoring ensures you’re alerted to suspicious activity, allowing you to take swift action and keep your site secure.
Why WordPress security scans are important
WordPress security scans are crucial for maintaining the safety and integrity of websites. These malware scanner play a key role in detecting vulnerabilities and potential threats before they can be exploited by hackers. Early detection allows site owners to take immediate action, strengthening their website’s defenses.
Security scans are also essential for identifying malware that may have been injected into a site, helping to protect sensitive user data from breaches. For websites handling sensitive information, regular scans ensure compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR, reducing legal risks.
Additionally, security scans can enhance site performance by identifying and fixing issues such as load times and coding errors. Continuous monitoring features, such as automated scans and real-time alerts, keep site owners informed and ready to respond to new threats quickly and provide bulletproof security.
When to Run a WordPress Security Scan
To ensure your WordPress site remains secure, integrating security scans into your regular maintenance routine is crucial. Here are specific times when it’s most effective to run a WordPress security scan:
On a regular schedule
Regularly running a security scan should be part of your maintenance routine. As WordPress sites often undergo frequent changes, these can unintentionally open security gaps. Adding a scan to the end of your maintenance process helps ensure that no new holes are left unnoticed. However, CodeGuard working in the background, daily backups are automatically created to secure changes made to your site, ensuring that even if an issue arises between scans, your data is fully protected.
Once per month at minimum
Running a WordPress security scan at least once a month ensures consistent monitoring of potential vulnerabilities. WordPress updates, while improving functionality and security, can sometimes introduce new weaknesses. A monthly scan helps detect these changes, maintaining a secure environment. With CodeGuard’s real-time monitoring, any changes to your site are instantly detected and backed up, so you always have a secure version to restore if needed.
When you suspect trouble
If you notice suspicious activity, such as unexpected traffic surges or unapproved changes to your site, running a security scan immediately is vital. These could be indicators of hacking attempts or malware infiltration. In cases like these, CodeGuard’s instant restore feature ensures you can quickly revert your site to a safe, pre-attack version, minimizing downtime and protecting your content.
After website structure changes
Making changes to your website’s structure, especially within core files, can potentially open new security vulnerabilities. Running a scan right after modifications helps ensure that your updates didn’t compromise your site’s security. When you make structural changes, CodeGuard automatically backs up these updates in real time, so if something goes wrong, you can easily restore your site to a secure previous version.
When installing new plugins
Plugins are a common entry point for vulnerabilities, even though they add important functionality. Running a security scan after installing any plugin ensures the new components are safe and haven’t introduced any risks. With CodeGuard’s daily backups in place, you can quickly revert your site to a previous version if a plugin introduces vulnerabilities, ensuring that your site stays safe while you experiment with new functionality.
How to scan your WordPress site for malware
Choose a reliable security tool
Select a WordPress scanner tools (like SiteLock, JetPack) that is reputable and well-maintained. A tool designed specifically for WordPress will effectively address new and emerging security vulnerabilities, thanks to ongoing updates from its developers.
Conduct regular scans
Incorporate regular security scans into your maintenance routine. According to cybersecurity experts, a full scan of your WordPress sites should be performed at least once a week. Increase the frequency if your site is highly visible or stores sensitive content.
Scan after updates
Run a security scan after updating WordPress core, vulnerable themes, or plugins to ensure the latest version is secure. Updates can introduce new WordPress vulnerabilities, so scanning promptly helps identify and resolve any new security risks. Additionally, monitoring for suspicious activity after updates is crucial to maintaining your site’s security.
Utilize advanced security features
Many security plugins offer additional features beyond basic scanning. Look for plugins that provide enhanced security measures, such as protection against brute force attack, limiting access to your WordPress dashboard, or monitoring user activity. Security researchers often recommend considering these additional features to strengthen your site’s overall security.
Essential Add-Ons for a Safer, More Reliable Website
Your website is a critical asset, and keeping it secure and reliable is essential. With tools like SiteLock and CodeGuard, you can protect your site against cyber threats and ensure it stays up and running smoothly.
Why Choose SiteLock?
- Comprehensive Protection: SiteLock provides an all-in-one solution to safeguard your website from hackers, malware, and other cyber threats.
- Daily Scans: Automated scans are conducted daily to detect vulnerabilities and threats before they cause harm and provide advanced reporting.
- Automated Malware Removal: If malware is detected, SiteLock automatically removes it, keeping your site clean and secure.
- Vulnerability Patching: Proactively patches weaknesses in your website’s code, reducing the risk of attacks.
- Web Application Firewall (WAF): Protects against common threats like SQL injections and cross-site scripting (XSS).
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): Improves your site’s speed and performance by delivering content from multiple global locations.
Features Choose CodeGuard
- Automated Backups: CodeGuard automatically backs up your website, so you always have a recent version to restore if needed.
- One-Click Restore: Easily revert your site to a previous version with just one click; no technical expertise is required.
- Change Monitoring: CodeGuard monitors changes to your website and alerts you to any suspicious activity.
- Data Protection: Protects against data loss due to human error, cyber threats, or system failures.
Why These Add-Ons Matter
Adding tools like website security services and backup solutions to your management toolkit is like hiring a 24/7 security team for your online presence. They work quietly in the background to ensure your site remains secure, fast, and reliable, giving you peace of mind to focus on your business.
Website owners worldwide trust these solutions for their backup and security needs. For example, after a plugin update caused a major outage, a small business owner was able to use a one-click restore feature to get their site back online in minutes, avoiding hours of downtime and potential loss of revenue. This saved them from a significant setback, allowing them to continue serving their customers without interruption.
By integrating these tools into your website management, you too can experience the assurance of knowing your site is protected and that you can recover quickly from unexpected issues.
Don’t wait—protect your WordPress site with CodeGuard now. Start your free trial today and enjoy peace of mind with 24/7 backup, monitoring, and security.
4 WordPress security plugins
Jetpack Security
Jetpack Security is a popular plugin that offers essential protection for WordPress vulnerability. It guards against brute force attacks, which are common attempts to break into your site. Jetpack also monitors your site for downtime, letting you know if your site goes offline.
It provides automatic backups that can be restored with just one click, so you don’t lose any data. Jetpack also filters out spam and scans for malware.
Shield Security
Shield Security focuses on protecting your site’s login process and keeping an eye on who is accessing your site. It protects against brute force attacks, making sure that only authorized users can log in.
It also includes tools to monitor and secure your site, such as a firewall and malware scan. Shield Security alerts you if any files on your live site are changed and keep logs of all activities to help you manage security better.
WPScan
WPScan is a specialized tool that looks for weaknesses in your WordPress website. It checks your core WordPress files, themes, and plugins for known vulnerabilities. WPScan can also find weak passwords and test them to see how easy they are to crack.
It uses a constantly updated database of vulnerabilities to keep your site secure. WPScan is available as a simple plugin or a command-line tool for more advanced users.
MalCare
MalCare is known for its quick detection and response to threats. It scans your site for potential issues and alerts you right away if something is found, so you can fix it quickly.
MalCare also offers a full range of features, including malware scanning and removal. It’s easy to use, making it a great option for both beginners and experienced users. With its ability to detect and fix vulnerabilities, MalCare is a strong choice for ongoing security.
Conclusion
Keeping your WordPress website secure is more important as cybercriminals are always out there to exploit. Regular security scans are key to finding potential security issues before they cause harm. By making security scans a regular part of your site maintenance, you can protect your website from future attacks.
Whether it’s scanning after updates, when adding a new plugin, or just routinely, staying on top of security scans helps you prevent problems. Using a trusted security tool and taking advantage of extra features can further strengthen your site’s defenses. This not only protects your site but also ensures your visitors have a safe experience.
Frequently asked questions about WordPress security scan
WordPress security helps protect your website from hackers and other threats. It keeps your site safe by blocking unauthorized access and removing harmful software, like malware. Good security also protects sensitive information, like your visitors’ data, and helps your site run smoothly. By keeping your site secure, you can focus on growing your website without worrying about security problems.
A WordPress security scanner is a tool that checks your website security issues. It scans your core WordPress software files, themes, and plugins to find any weaknesses or harmful software that hackers might use. After the scan, it gives you a report showing any problems and how to fix them. Using a WordPress scanner regularly is important to keeping your site safe.
To keep your WordPress site secure, start by using strong, unique passwords and setting up two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra protection. Always update WordPress, all the plugins and themes to the latest versions to close any security gaps.
Install a trusted security plugin to help protect your site, and make sure to back up your site regularly. Limiting login attempts and choosing a secure hosting provider are also important steps to keep your site safe.
To scan your WordPress site for malware, first install a trusted security plugin like SiteLock, Jetpack, or MalCare. Then, run a full scan using the plugin for all your WordPress websites, which will check your site’s files and database for harmful software, plugins, and themes.
After the scan, review the report to see if any malware was found. If there’s an issue, follow the steps provided by the plugin to remove the malware. It’s a good idea to run scans regularly to keep your site clean and secure.
security scan tool (like SiteLock, JetPack) that is reputable and well-maintained. A tool designed specifically for WordPress will effectively address new and emerging security vulnerabilities, thanks to ongoing updates from its developer
