The document provides a beginner's guide to WordPress security and performance, covering essential tips for safe website hosting and maintenance. Key recommendations include using HTTPS, strong passwords, security plugins, and regular backups. Performance improvements are suggested through content delivery networks (CDNs), caching, and SSD hosting.

1. WORDPRESS
SECURITY & PERFORMANCE
A BEGINNERS GUIDE
Carel Bekker: President/Owner

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What we’ll cover
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ClickHOST Overview
WordPress Security tips
WordPress performance tips

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ClickHOST
Blazing fast & secure Website Hosting based SSD storage
WordPress Hosting
Flex/VPS Hosting
Domain Names
Amazon Web Services Managed Hosting
Free Malware monitoring
Free Premium Spam Filtering
Free Cloudflare WAF
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5. Personal Security
Web Hosting
WordPress

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Personal Security
•Use https access where possible
•Don’t use public (including Starbucks) WiFi
unless you have to.
•Remember your smart phone connects
automatically
•Make sure you use a industrial strength spam
filter like, Gmail or SpamExperts.
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Personal Security
•Use a Password Manager
•LastPass
•Backup!
•Local -TimeMachine
•Cloud - Crashplan
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Backup Basics
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• What is a backup?
•Reliable recent copy of your website.
•Should be easy to restore from your backup.
• Why should I backup?
•Bad things happen, especially in the WWW = wild, wild west.
• How often & when should I backup?
•Before any major updates to your website
•Before updating WordPress, plugins or themes
•Daily,Weekly, Monthly.
•1-2 different backup copies.

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Website Security Myths
• 1:Who would want to hack my website
• 2: I will see when my website is hacked
• 3: My website is 100% secure
• 4: My hosting provider will have a backup for me
• 5: I use strong passwords -- I’m ok
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Top Tips to
Secure WordPress

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WordPress Security
• Easy tips:
• Update!
• Limit access to wp-admin.
• Change wp-admin URL.
• Avoid potential cross contamination.
• Delete unused WordPress installations.
• Delete unused themes
• Deactivate and delete unused plugins
• JetPack -> Protect
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WordPress Security
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• Don’t use admin as your username.
• This is the default when installing
• Almost as bad as using password for your password :)
• How to fix this!
• Create a new administrator user.
• Log out, then log in as the new admin user.
• Delete the old “admin” user.

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WordPress Security Plugins
• Most include:
• One-click hardening
• File monitoring
• Personal Firewall (IP blocking)
• Install at least one Security plugin
• Sucuri
• iThemes
• Wordfence
• Akismet for spam control
• Tip: Set Alerts only for successful actions. Not failed actions.
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WAF
• WAF:Web Application Firewall
• Sucuri CloudProxy
• Cloudflare
• AWS WAF
• Note:All traffic flows via WAF
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WordPress
performance tips

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WordPress Stack
•To understand WordPress performance, you
need to understand the WordPress stack.
•HTML/PHP
•MYSQL
•Linux
•Which component is the slowest?
•WordPress content is mostly dynamically
generated version static HTML.
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Should I use a CDN?
•What is a CDN?
•Content Deliver Network.
•Requested resources are geographically closer to you.
•Why should you use a CDN?
•Users in different parts of the world.
•Need faster loading.
•Answer: It depends…
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CDNs
•Cloudflare
•Akamai
•MaxCDN
•Amazon Cloudfront
•Great tip: JetPack Photon. Images only.
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Caching
•What is caching?
•Load cached version of HTML from memory.
•Minify Javascript, CSS files — compress & combine.
•Use Basics settings for best performance.
•Plugins:
•W3Total Cache
•SuperCache
•WPRocket
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Easy Performance tips
•Use SSD hosting for fast DB access
•Enabled gzip compression
•Fewer plugins are better
•De-active rarely used plugins.
•Use Lightweight themes or frameworks
•Optimize images: smush.it or compressor.io.
•Use JetPack->Photon image CDN.
•Prevent access to wp-admin — reduces PHP load during brute
force attacks.
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Real Performance - AWS!
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Carel Bekker
President&Owner
carel@clickhost.com
http://www.clickhost.com/
Tel: 404.220.8110
Mobile: 404.216.5201
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