Free WordPress Themes – Security Threat?
WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world. It is free, open source and has thousands of powerful plugins to improve functionality. And there are thousands of free WordPress themes as well, letting you change the look of your web site in a few moments.
I love WordPress and use it for many of my web sites. In the past, I used to use free themes, but not anymore…
Unfortunately some hackers are using free WordPress Templates to bypass your security and gain access to your WordPress site. Once they have done this, they can add inappropriate affiliate links, backlink farms, malicious programming code and even send email from your system!
Wow – this is definitely a concern. Has it happened to me? Yup. One of the free themes I used started showing some links to porn after a couple of months. Good thing I caught it early.
The theme directory web site owner may be legitimate and not aware of the problems. In some cases, the original designer of the theme may not even be the one adding the malicious code. The original theme may have the bad code added by a hacker and then uploaded to the theme directory.
So now, I only use two types of WordThemes:
- Professional WordPress Themes: Premade themes from professional sources.
- Custom WordPress Themes: I have a number of quality WordPress graphic designers who create custom themes for myself and my clients with coding I can trust.
If you are using a free WordPress theme, here is an excellent tool to test it for problems. Install the Theme Authority Checker plugin in your WordPress plugins area and it will test your theme for hidden or malicious code and links.
If you need help with your WordPress theme or web site, contact me – I am happy to help.
Garland Coulson, Internet Marketing Coach
This is extremely good information and well received… Thank you.
Thanks for the warning. Many people do not know about this threat. Thanks again for the good work you are doing. GOD BLESS YOU,
Lancelot