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You may have noticed an increase in security notices and vulnerability warnings from your web hosting provider lately. These notifications have been coming in faster than the spam emails hitting my inbox, particularly for WordPress websites.

The reason is that hackers are increasingly using AI and automated tools to find vulnerabilities to exploit in popular plugins and software packages. At the same time, plugin developers are using similar tools to identify those problems, patch them, and release secure updates.

The result is an increasingly faster-moving game of cat and mouse. A vulnerability is discovered, developers release a fix, and website owners need to install that fix before the vulnerability can be exploited.

Don’t slack on keeping your website software updated

This faster release cycle makes regular website maintenance more important than ever, as new software updates frequently include critical security patches instead of just new features or minor improvements.

If you’re one of our maintenance clients and receive a vulnerability notice, please feel free to forward it to me. But also know that I’m already keeping an eye on your website. I regularly apply and test updates to help keep it secure and stable.

Our monthly maintenance service also includes:

• Automated daily malware scans
• Daily off-site website backups
• Regular software and plugin updates
• Testing after updates are applied

If a website were ever compromised, I would be notified by the malware scanner when it detects the problem. And in a worst-case scenario, I would have a clean, off-site backup available to restore the website.

Buckle up for more fun times ahead

Security vulnerabilities aren’t likely to disappear from the WordPress ecosystem anytime soon. That doesn’t mean you need to panic every time you receive a warning. It simply means that consistent maintenance and timely updates are an essential part of keeping a website running safely.

If you have questions about a security notice, or about website maintenance in general, feel free to reach out.