WordPress Security Keys Explained: What They Are, Why They Matter, and How to Use Them
Do you want to keep your WordPress website secure and protected against hackers? One crucial tool in your WordPress security arsenal is security keys – a set of random variables that encrypt your login information and cookies.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll dive into exactly what WordPress security keys and salts are, why they‘re so important, and a step-by-step walkthrough of how to set them up and manage them on your own site. Whether you‘re a beginner or an experienced WordPress user, understanding security keys is essential for keeping your site safe.
What are WordPress Security Keys and Salts?
WordPress security keys are a set of random variables that are used to encrypt information on your site, like passwords and cookies. Technically, WordPress uses the security keys in combination with a hashing algorithm to create salts – random strings of characters that are added to the information before it is encrypted and stored in the database.
There are eight different keys that WordPress uses:
- AUTH_KEY
- SECURE_AUTH_KEY
- LOGGED_IN_KEY
- NONCE_KEY
- AUTH_SALT
- SECURE_AUTH_SALT
- LOGGED_IN_SALT
- NONCE_SALT
The keys encrypt different types of information, like login credentials and cookies that keep you logged in as you browse the site. The salts add extra randomness to make the encrypted data even harder to crack.
When you (or anyone) logs into your WordPress site, their username and password are encrypted using these keys before the encrypted strings are stored in the database or cookies. Without the keys, it‘s nearly impossible to decrypt that data, keeping it secure even if hackers manage to access the encrypted information.
Why Security Keys are Critical for WordPress Security
So why are WordPress security keys so important? In short, they make your login information and cookies exponentially harder to crack, protecting your site against brute force attacks and unauthorized access.
To illustrate, let‘s say your WordPress admin password is a moderately strong password like "Tr0ub4dor&3". Without security keys, that password would be stored in plain text in the database. A hacker could gain access to your database and simply read your password to log in.
However, with security keys enabled, that password would instead be stored as an encrypted string of random characters like "$P$B55eZxf1CkNJPSLrgFPFKv/ifLwr.t1". That string is created using your specific AUTH_KEY to encrypt the password. Without knowing your AUTH_KEY, it‘s virtually impossible to decrypt that string back into your password. The only way to check if a password is correct is to encrypt the password guess using the AUTH_KEY and see if it matches the stored string.
Brute force attacks work by systematically guessing thousands of passwords until one matches. But with security keys, hackers would need to guess both your password and your AUTH_KEY in order to generate a match. With strong keys that are difficult to guess, this makes brute force attacks far harder and protects your login information.
According to a 2022 study by Wordfence, a whopping 58% of hacked WordPress sites were still using default or weak WordPress security keys. Don‘t let your site become another statistic – using strong security keys and salts is one of the most important things you can do to harden your WordPress site‘s security.
How to View and Update Your WordPress Security Keys
Now that you understand how critical security keys are, let‘s walk through how you can view and manage the keys on your own WordPress site.
WordPress automatically generates random security keys when you first install WordPress. These keys are stored in your site‘s wp-config.php file. You can access this file via SFTP/SSH or through the file manager in your hosting control panel.
In the wp-config.php file, look for this section:
define(‘AUTH_KEY‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
define(‘SECURE_AUTH_KEY‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
define(‘LOGGED_IN_KEY‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
define(‘NONCE_KEY‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
define(‘AUTH_SALT‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
define(‘SECURE_AUTH_SALT‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
define(‘LOGGED_IN_SALT‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
define(‘NONCE_SALT‘, ‘put your unique phrase here‘);
If your keys are still set to the default phrases like ‘put your unique phrase here‘, that means they haven‘t been properly configured and your site is vulnerable.
To generate a new set of random keys, you can use the WordPress Security Key Generator tool:
https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/
This tool will generate a new random set of keys and salts that you can copy and paste into your wp-config.php file, replacing the default placeholders. Be sure to hit "Save" after updating the file.
After changing your security keys, all existing cookies and login sessions will be invalidated. This means all users will be immediately logged out and required to log in again. While this can be mildly inconvenient, it‘s an important security measure. Whenever you suspect your site may have been compromised, regenerating your keys is a key step in locking out any unauthorized access.
Managing Security Keys with Plugins
For greater control over your security keys, you can use a plugin like Sucuri Security or Salt Shaker. These plugins allow you to generate new keys directly from your WordPress dashboard instead of editing files. They also allow you to schedule regular security key rotations to automatically generate a fresh set of keys weekly or monthly.
We recommend all WordPress site owners rotate their keys on a periodic basis for optimal security. Plugins make this process quick and easy.
To use the Sucuri Security plugin:
- Install and activate the free plugin
- Go to Sucuri Security > Settings > Post-Hack tab
- Under "Update Secret Keys", click the button to generate a new set of keys
- To schedule automatic key regeneration, select a frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.) under "Automatic Secret Keys Update Frequency"
- Click "Submit" to save your settings
The setup process is very similar in Salt Shaker and other security key management plugins. The ability to automate key updates is a huge advantage over manual key changes.
However, keep in mind that the plugin itself, along with any scheduled tasks, are only functional when the plugin is active. If you deactivate the plugin, you‘ll need to take over managing keys manually. For this reason, we recommend using Sucuri Security for more complete security features beyond key rotation.
The Risks of Outdated or Weak Security Keys
Using security keys alone is not enough to guarantee your WordPress site‘s security. Those keys need to be strong, random, and updated regularly. Using outdated, weak, or known keys leaves your site vulnerable.
When you don‘t change your security keys for a long period of time, you‘re at greater risk of those keys being discovered and exploited. Hackers may find opportunities to access your wp-config.php file or decompile it from plugins/themes and read your keys. If you‘re using key values that are known to be defaults, hackers can easily look those up and use them to decrypt information they‘ve harvested from your database or network traffic.
So what makes a security key "strong"? Security keys should be:
- Random: Generated using a secure, pseudo-random number generator to make them virtually impossible to guess
- Unique: Don‘t use the same keys across multiple sites – each site should have its own unique set of random keys
- Long: Longer keys are harder to crack – WordPress keys should be at least 64 characters long
- Complex: Keys should include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
- Private: Treat your security keys like passwords – never share them with untrusted parties and restrict access to your wp-config.php file
By using a key generator tool or plugin, you can ensure your WordPress keys meet these criteria for maximum strength.
Symptoms of Security Key Problems
Sometimes security issues aren‘t glaringly obvious. Here are some symptoms that could indicate your WordPress site‘s security keys are outdated, weak, or compromised:
- You or other users are unexpectedly logged out of the WordPress admin
- You notice suspicious user accounts that you don‘t recognize in your Users list
- Your site is suddenly displaying spam content, pop-ups, or redirects that you didn‘t add
- Your site‘s search engine ranking has tanked due to search engines flagging it as hacked or containing malware
- Web security scans by tools like Sucuri SiteCheck are showing warnings or known malware on your site
If you notice any of these issues, immediately regenerate your WordPress security keys. However, this should be done in addition to a full security scan and cleanup to patch whatever vulnerability allowed the site to be hacked in the first place.
Security Keys Are Just One Piece of the Puzzle
While WordPress security keys play a critical role in protecting your site, they‘re just one piece of a comprehensive security strategy. Using security keys doesn‘t make your site hack-proof – it just makes it much, much harder to hack.
To truly keep your WordPress site secure, you need to implement security best practices across your server, network, software, and user access. Some key WordPress security best practices include:
- Choosing a secure web host and hosting plan
- Keeping your WordPress core, plugins, and themes updated to patch known vulnerabilities
- Using strong passwords and requiring the same for all user accounts
- Installing an SSL certificate and enforcing HTTPS across your entire site
- Setting up a web application firewall (WAF) to filter malicious traffic
- Using brute force protection to block repeated failed login attempts from the same IP
- Implementing two-factor authentication (2FA) for all WordPress user logins
- Regularly backing up your full WordPress site so you can quickly recover from an attack
Start Taking Security Keys Seriously
WordPress security keys may be a behind-the-scenes mechanism that you don‘t see or think about often – but that doesn‘t mean you can afford to ignore them. Taking a few minutes to check your site‘s security keys and regenerate them with a WordPress security key generator can have an enormous impact on protecting your site against hackers and brute force attacks.
Don‘t put off securing one of your site‘s most fundamental defenses. Use the steps in this guide to audit your WordPress security keys and put a system in place to regularly update them. Your site, your users, and your sanity will thank you for keeping those keys strong and private.
