Preventing WordPress SQL injection attacks is crucial to safeguarding your website’s data and maintaining the trust of your users. Here are seven actionable tips to help you secure your WordPress site:
1. Perform Site Updates Regularly and Use a Firewall
Regular updates to WordPress and plugins often include security patches. Enable automatic updates for WordPress from the Dashboard » Updates page. Additionally, using a firewall, like Sucuri, can block malicious traffic before it reaches your site.
2. Hide Your WordPress Version
Displaying your WordPress version can help hackers identify vulnerabilities. Remove the version number by adding this code to your functions.php file:
Use the WPCode plugin to safely add this code to your site.
3. Change the WordPress Database Prefix
The default prefix (wp_) is a common target. Change it to something unique by editing the $table_prefix line in wp-config.php:
$table_prefix = ‘wp_a123456_’;
Then, rename your database tables in phpMyAdmin to match the new prefix.
4. Validate User Data
Prevent malicious data submissions by validating user input. Use the Formidable Forms plugin to enforce input formats, such as requiring an ‘@’ symbol in email fields. Alternatively, use WPForms for robust spam protection and validation features.
5. Limit User Role Access and Permissions
Restrict database access by limiting user roles. Use the Remove Dashboard Access plugin to control who can access the WordPress dashboard. For more granular control, follow tutorials on modifying user role capabilities.
6. Create Custom Database Error Messages
Standard error messages can reveal sensitive information. Create a custom error page by saving the following as db-error.php and uploading it to the /wp-content/ directory:
<?php
header(‘HTTP/1.1 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable’);
header(‘Status: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable’);
header(‘Retry-After: 600’);
?>
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<title>Database Error</title>
<style>
body { padding: 20px; background: red; color: white; font-size: 60px; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
You got problems.
</body>
</html>
7. Remove Unnecessary Database Functionality
Unused tables and data can be exploited. Clean up your database with the WP-Optimize plugin, which can remove post revisions, spam comments, and other unnecessary data.
