(Ananova News) January 20, 2023.

Often spammers leave malicious links in comments or use someone’s else image without permission (hotlinking). Miscreants very conveniently steal images and use the image URL directly on the website, which is served from the original location. Most images have licensing restrictions attached to them like no commercial use under any circumstances. Without paying for the license, the hotlinking allows them to use the image. Digital assets need proper attribution to the original creator.

To disable comments and hotlinking, log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the “Settings” section.

• From there, click on the “Discussion” tab and scroll down to the “Other Comment Settings” section.
• Uncheck the box next to the “Allow people to post comments on new articles” option and click on the “Save Changes” button.

To disable hotlinking, you will need to add a few lines of code to your website’s .htaccess file.
WordPress.com uses CDN to speed up the delivery of your assets with hotlink protection.
Technical experts always suggest keeping software (theme, plugins, third-party add-ons, and WordPress Core) updated and up-to-date with the latest fixes. Always use strong and unique logins and passwords to secure accounts. Hence, it is always suggested to have managed WordPress hosting, as the provider monitors website security, takes regular backups, and keeps them up.

Companies like WordPress.com have the expertise to protect hosted websites from cyber attacks, breaches, hacking, identity and access management (IAM), malware and vulnerabilities, and phishing. They take care of updating WordPress core, themes, plugins, and PHP, disabling external URL requests, and implementing SSL. They keep regular backups, which ensure business continuity. A secured website has a good online reputation, so businesses prioritise security. Every eCommerce store and business website needs protection against cyberattacks, malware, and viruses. Businesses want to protect data as well as sensitive information and thus want to ensure website functionality and online reputation. Hence, it asks for crucial security measures. Google penalises or blacklists malicious or phishing websites.