Technology has transformed education, making it easier for schools to manage student records, tuition payments, and communication using websites. Many of these schools choose WordPress for their websites due to its flexibility, ease of use, and vast plugin ecosystem.
However, like any online platform, WordPress is vulnerable to security risks if not properly managed.
The stakes for schools are high. Cybercriminals don’t just target schools for financial gain; they seek personally identifiable information that can be exploited in further attacks. A single data breach can expose student grades, personal details, health records, research documents, and financial transactions, putting both students and staff at risk.
This is not just a concern for higher education institutions — K-12 schools are equally vulnerable. Between 2016 and 2022, over 1,600 publicly disclosed cyberattacks targeted K-12 schools, leading to disruptions, financial losses, and data theft. Given these rising threats, schools must take proactive steps to secure their WordPress sites and protect sensitive data from malicious actors.
This article explores the security risks associated with using WordPress for schools and provides actionable steps to safeguard your school’s private data.
Cyberattacks that can expose your school site’s data
A school data breach can be catastrophic, exposing sensitive information about past and present students, faculty, and staff. Hackers know this, and this is why they refine their techniques to infiltrate school networks every day, and WordPress-based sites are no exception.
The following are the most common cyberattacks that can compromise your school’s website and lead to data breaches.
- Phishing
- Email compromise
- Ransomware
- Brute force attacks
- Malicious plugins
- DDoS attacks
- Misconfigured user roles
Phishing
Phishing is one of the most common ways attackers steal login credentials and gain access to a school’s WordPress site.
For example, a school administrator receives an email that looks like it’s from the IT department, warning that their account will be deactivated unless they verify their credentials. The email contains a link directing them to what appears to be the school’s official WordPress login page. Unknown to them, the link leads to a fake site controlled by hackers. The administrator enters their credentials, unknowingly handing over full access to attackers.
Once hackers obtain login details, they can alter website content, extract any student records stored on the site, or even install malware that spreads through the school network.
Email compromise
This is similar to phishing. Attackers know that school email accounts are often linked to WordPress administrative access. If a hacker manages to take control of an educator’s or administrator’s email, they can request password resets and gain unauthorized entry to the WordPress backend.
With this knowledge, an attacker may send a fake email posing as the school principal, requesting a lecturer to update their login credentials using an attached link. The moment the teacher enters their details, the attacker seizes control, resetting WordPress passwords and hijacking the school’s website.
Ransomware
Ransomware attacks encrypt a school’s website and demand payment to restore access. A school administrator might log into the WordPress dashboard only to find a ransom note stating that all records — possibly including student transcripts and financial data — have been locked.
Without proper backups, schools may be left with an impossible choice: pay the ransom and hope the attacker releases the data or rebuild their site from scratch, potentially losing critical information in the process.
Brute force attacks
Brute force attacks involve hackers using automated tools to repeatedly guess login credentials until they crack the right combination. Schools that use weak or default passwords like “password123” or “admin2025” are particularly vulnerable.
If a hacker successfully gains access to an administrator account, they can modify content, lock out authorized users, or embed malicious scripts. Without safeguards like two-factor authentication (2FA) and login attempt limits, brute force attacks remain a serious threat to school websites.
Malicious plugins
WordPress plugins add functionality, but not all plugins are safe. Schools often install free plugins to enhance their websites, but some contain vulnerabilities or hidden malicious code.
For instance, a school installs a plugin to improve website performance. However, the plugin is outdated and contains an exploit that allows hackers to create a secret administrator account. Over time, attackers use this backdoor to extract student data or inject malware that spreads to visitors.
DDoS attacks
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks flood a school’s WordPress site with excessive traffic, overloading its servers and making the site inaccessible.
Imagine a school preparing for final exams, with students relying on the website for study materials and schedules. Suddenly, the site crashes due to an overwhelming surge of traffic — except this traffic isn’t from students; it’s from a coordinated attack designed to disrupt school operations.
Without a web application firewall (WAF) to mitigate such attacks, the website could remain down for hours or even days.
Misconfigured user roles
WordPress allows different levels of access through user roles such as Administrator, Editor, and Subscriber. If these roles are not properly configured, unauthorized users may gain higher privileges than intended.
For example, a student assigned as a contributor to the school blog might discover that they have administrator privileges due to a misconfiguration. They could then access confidential teacher documents, modify website content, or even delete essential files.
10 key steps to ensure your school’s data security on WordPress
To protect your school’s website and ensure compliance with privacy regulations, you need a multi-layered security approach.
Below are the key steps to safeguard your WordPress site from potential threats while maintaining a safe and reliable digital environment for students, staff, and administrators.
1. Choose a secure hosting provider
The hosting provider you choose directly impacts your school’s website security. Many schools go for cheap shared hosting, but this often means slow performance, weak firewalls, and shared server risks. If one site on the server is hacked, others are vulnerable, too.
Premium managed hosting for WordPress like Kinsta eliminates these risks by providing built-in security features, so you don’t have to rely on extra security plugins or manual configurations.
Here’s why Kinsta is an excellent choice for securing your school’s website:
- Automated daily backups: If your site gets hacked or data is lost, you can restore everything in one click. Kinsta keeps daily backups for 30 days and allows you to create manual backups when needed.
- Server-level firewalls: These act as a protective shield, filtering out malicious traffic before it even reaches your site. Kinsta uses Cloudflare and Google Cloud Platform’s firewall, offering multiple layers of protection.
- DDoS protection and IP blocking: Kinsta actively detects and blocks brute-force attacks, bots, and suspicious IPs to keep your site safe. If an attack occurs, our team is alerted and can take immediate action.
- Free SSL certificates: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) ensures all data passing through your site is encrypted, protecting student logins, payments, and form submissions. Kinsta includes free SSL certificates with strong encryption standards (TLS 1.2 and 1.3).
- Security compliance and regular audits: Kinsta meets industry-leading security standards like SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and ISO 27018, ensuring proper data handling and protection for schools dealing with sensitive student records.
- Malware detection and removal: Kinsta monitors your site 24/7 for malware and security threats. If a site is compromised, our hack-fix guarantee means we’ll clean it up for free.
- Uptime monitoring and quick response: Every three minutes, Kinsta checks if your site is up and running. If an issue is detected, our engineers act fast to restore it before it affects students or staff.
All this is crucial for schools, as any security mistake could risk student applications, tuition payments, and private records.
2. Use SSL to encrypt data
An SSL certificate ensures that all data exchanged between a user’s browser and your website is encrypted and secure from hackers. Without SSL, sensitive information like login credentials, student records, and payment details can be intercepted and stolen.
If your hosting provider doesn’t include SSL, you need to:
- Install an SSL certificate through your hosting provider. Many offer free SSL via Let’s Encrypt.
- Update your WordPress settings by changing the site URL to HTTPS in Settings > General.
- Force HTTPS across all pages using a plugin like Really Simple Security.
If you’re using Kinsta, SSL is handled automatically — every site gets a free SSL certificate with strong encryption standards (TLS 1.2 and 1.3), so there’s no extra setup required.
To verify that SSL is working, look at your website’s URL. If it starts with HTTPS (instead of HTTP), SSL is active, and your connection is secure.
3. Strengthen login security
Weak passwords and unrestricted login attempts are the biggest entry points for hackers. Schools should enforce strict security policies to protect administrators, teachers, and student accounts.
Here are some key security measures:
- Require strong passwords: Use password managers to generate and store complex credentials.
- Enable 2FA: Even if a password is stolen, a second verification step stops unauthorized access. Use Google Authenticator for WordPress 2FA.
- Limit login attempts: A plugin like Limit Login Attempts Reloaded blocks users after multiple failed logins.
- Change the default WordPress login URL: Tools like WPS Hide Login make it harder for attackers to find the login page.
These small changes significantly reduce brute-force attacks, making it difficult for unauthorized users to access the site.
4. Keep WordPress, plugins, and themes updated
Keeping WordPress, plugins, and themes up to date is one of the most effective ways to protect your school’s website from security threats.
Updates include security patches that fix vulnerabilities before hackers can exploit them. If you fail to update, hackers can actively target outdated software, gain unauthorized access, inject malware, or steal sensitive student and staff data.
To keep everything updated safely:
- Enable automatic updates: WordPress applies minor security and maintenance updates by default. You can enable automatic updates for major releases, plugins, and themes by adding specific settings in
wp-config.phpor using plugins like Easy Updates Manager. - Use a staging site: If your school relies on many plugins, test updates in a staging environment (available with hosts like Kinsta) before applying them to the live site.
- Manually review updates: Some updates can introduce compatibility issues. Check for updates regularly in Dashboard > Updates and install them as needed.
- Remove unused plugins and themes: Even if they’re not activated, outdated, inactive themes and plugins can be easy targets for hackers.
If you use Kinsta, updating plugins and themes is fast, secure, and automated. The MyKinsta dashboard lets you update multiple sites in one click using a bulk actions tool.
Kinsta also offers Automatic Updates, a paid add-on (free for the first month, then $3 per environment/month) that updates all plugins and themes, including inactive ones, every day. It also runs visual regression tests to detect update issues and automatically restores a backup if something breaks.
5. Use trusted plugins and themes
Using only trusted plugins and themes is crucial for protecting your school’s WordPress site. Nulled (pirated) plugins and themes often contain malware, backdoors, and hidden vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to steal data or take control of your site.
Here’s how to choose safe plugins and themes:
- Download from trusted sources: Only install plugins and themes from the WordPress Plugin Repository, official developer websites, or reputable marketplaces.
- Check ratings, reviews, and update history: A plugin that hasn’t been updated in months or has poor reviews is a red flag. Look for plugins with frequent updates and active support.
- Avoid unnecessary plugins: The more plugins you install, the greater the security risk. Only keep the plugins you actually use.
- Scan for vulnerabilities: Use security tools like Wordfence, Sucuri, or WPScan to detect outdated plugins, misconfigurations, and potential threats before they can be exploited. At Kinsta, we automatically scan customer plugins and themes daily for security vulnerabilities, flagging outdated or risky ones in the MyKinsta dashboard so you can take action.
By using only trusted plugins and themes and managing them wisely, your school reduces the risk of security breaches and ensures a stable, secure site for students, teachers, and staff.
6. Backup data regularly
Even with the best security practices, things can go wrong: from human errors to cyberattacks. Having regular backups ensures you can restore your site without losing valuable student and administrative data.
Kinsta automatically backs up your site daily, with options for manual on-demand backups. For extra protection:
- Use backup plugins like BlogVault to create additional offsite backups.
- Store backups in multiple locations (like cloud storage or local hard drives). Kinsta supports automated external backups for a fee.
- Test backups regularly to ensure they can be restored without issues.
If your site is ever compromised, restoring a clean backup takes minutes, saving hours of downtime.
7. Set proper user roles and permissions
One of the biggest security risks on a WordPress site is giving users more access than they need. In a school environment, multiple people, including administrators, teachers, students, and IT staff, may need access to the site, but not everyone should have full control.
Misconfigured permissions can lead to accidental content deletions, security breaches, or even intentional abuse. WordPress has built-in user roles that allow you to control what each person can do on your site:
- Administrator: Has full control over the site, including installing plugins, changing themes, and managing all users. Only trusted IT staff should have this role.
- Editor: Can publish and manage any content but cannot change site settings or install plugins. Ideal for teachers or department heads who manage content.
- Author: Can write and publish their own posts but cannot edit others’ content. Best for staff members or guest contributors.
- Contributor: Can write posts but cannot publish them — an admin or editor must review them first. Useful for students contributing blog posts.
- Subscriber: Can only manage their profile and leave comments. Suitable for students or parents needing access to restricted content.
Here are some best practices for managing user permissions:
- Follow the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Assign users only the permissions they need and nothing more.
- Limit administrator accounts: Only IT staff or trusted personnel should have admin access.
- Use plugins for advanced role management: Plugins like User Role Editor let you customize roles and permissions if the default ones don’t fit your needs.
- Monitor and log user activity: Use plugins like Simple History to track who logs in and what changes they make, so you can detect suspicious activity.
- Remove inactive accounts: To reduce security risks, old student or staff accounts that are no longer needed should be deleted.
By properly managing user roles and permissions, your school reduces security risks, prevents unauthorized changes, and ensures that only the right people have access to sensitive areas of your WordPress site.
8. Protect against malware and attacks
Malware attacks pose a serious threat to school websites, potentially leading to data theft, site defacement, blacklisting by search engines, or unauthorized access. Schools must take proactive measures to prevent infections, detect threats early, and respond quickly to security breaches.
To prevent this:
- Use a trusted security plugin: Install plugins like Wordfence or Sucuri, to enable firewall protection, malware scanning, and brute-force prevention.
- Enable regular malware scans: Set up scheduled malware scans to detect and remove threats before they cause harm.
- Block brute-force login attempts: Use limit login attempts plugins or configure security rules to prevent repeated failed sign-ins.
- Monitor user activity: Regularly check the Users section in WordPress and remove any suspicious admin accounts.
- Keep software updated: Outdated plugins and themes are a major security risk. Enable automatic updates for security patches.
- Use a WAF: A WAF filters malicious traffic before it reaches your site, blocking DDoS attacks, spam bots, and other threats.
If your school uses a premium host like Kinsta, this won’t be an issue.
9. Use a Web Application Firewall
A WAF is one of the most effective defenses against online threats. It acts as a security filter that sits between your WordPress site and incoming traffic, blocking malicious requests before they reach your server.
For schools, a WAF is essential to prevent DDoS attacks, SQL injections, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other cyber threats. Here’s how a WAF can protect your school’s website:
- Blocks malicious traffic: A WAF analyzes incoming traffic and automatically blocks bad actors, such as bots, hackers, and brute-force attackers.
- Prevents DDoS attacks: DDoS attacks can flood your site with traffic, causing it to crash. A WAF mitigates these attacks by filtering out harmful requests before they overwhelm your server.
- Stops SQL injections and XSS attacks: Hackers attempt to inject malicious code into forms, URLs, or database queries. A WAF detects and blocks these harmful requests, keeping your data safe.
- Protects login pages from brute-force attacks: By limiting failed login attempts and blocking suspicious IPs, a WAF helps prevent unauthorized access to your WordPress admin panel.
Cloudflare, Sucuri, and Kinsta’s built-in firewalls all offer enterprise-grade protection that automatically filters out threats.
10. Educate staff and students on security best practices
Even with strong security measures in place, your school’s biggest vulnerability remains human error. Phishing attacks, weak passwords, and careless handling of sensitive data can easily lead to security breaches.
Educating staff, students, and administrators on cybersecurity best practices is just as important as technical safeguards. Security awareness shouldn’t be optional, it should be part of your school’s culture.
Set up mandatory training courses (could be online) that all staff, students, and administrators must complete. These courses should cover:
- Recognizing phishing emails and social engineering attacks: Train users to identify suspicious emails and avoid clicking on unknown links.
- Using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA): Teach users how to create unique, complex passwords and enable 2FA for added protection.
- Safeguarding personal and school data: Emphasize why data security matters and how to avoid sharing sensitive information unintentionally.
- Secure browsing habits: Educate users on avoiding public Wi-Fi for logging into school accounts and recognizing unsecured websites (sites without HTTPS).
- Best practices for handling student records: Staff handling student data should understand compliance requirements such as FERPA, GDPR, or local data protection laws.
You should also reinforce learning by:
- Conducting simulated phishing attacks to test whether staff and students can recognize suspicious emails. Follow up with training for those who fail the test.
- Requiring quarterly cybersecurity refreshers to ensure everyone stays up to date with evolving threats.
- Making security training interactive with quizzes, real-life case studies, and practical exercises.
Summary
Protecting your school’s WordPress site is essential to keep student data, staff information, and financial records secure. By following the security steps explained in this article, your school can prevent data breaches and cyberattacks.
If you’re looking to lay the perfect security foundation for your educational website and avoid costly security risks, check out Kinsta’s hosting for education.
