Protect Your WordPress Website: Beware of the Latest Scam Email!

In the vast landscape of the internet, WordPress website owners are often targeted by various cyber threats due to it being the most popular website software in the world. One recent scam email referencing a WordPress ‘CVE-2024-46188’ patch has been making the rounds, attempting to exploit the vulnerabilities of unsuspecting website administrators. This urgent blog post aims to raise awareness about the scam email and provide crucial information to safeguard your WordPress website.

Wordpress scam email 2024 01

Above: picture of the scam email content, only included here so you can easily identify it and delete it, do not follow these instructions – you have been warned!

⚠ Beware of the WordPress Vulnerability Email

If you’ve received an email with the alarming subject line, “Immediate Action Required: Vulnerability found – Your website is at risk!” – consider it a red flag. The email may claim that your website is at risk due to a supposed vulnerability and instruct you to take immediate action. However, it’s crucial to be aware that this is a scam designed to compromise your website.

🚨 Potential Risks

If you follow the instructions in the scam email it could lead to severe consequences, including the compromise of your website’s security and data. To avoid falling victim to this scam, delete the email straight away and refrain from following any provided instructions. If you have any doubts or concerns, get in touch with Design for Digital as we’d be happy to help ease your mind.

🕵‍♂️ No Official ‘CVE-2024-46188’ Patch

The scam email may mention a fictitious patch labeled ‘CVE-2024-46188.’ It’s essential to note that there is no such official patch. WordPress updates are released through the official channels, and any communication claiming otherwise should be treated with suspicion.

🔄 Stay Updated

As of 11th January 2024 when this blog article was written, the current version of WordPress is 6.4.2. It’s vital to obtain WordPress updates only from official sources which will help you avoid being a victim of these types of email scams. It’s also crucial to ensure that you regularly backup, test WordPress updates on a development server first and then carry out live updates of your WordPress website once you’re happy no new bugs or issues are present. Failing to update your website software could lead to hackers compromising your website and customer data.

💻 Design for Digital – Your WordPress Experts

For those who prefer professional assistance in maintaining and updating their WordPress websites, Design for Digital is here to help. Our experts specialise in WordPress and can ensure that your website stays up-to-date and secure. If you have any concerns or questions about your website’s security, feel free to reach out to us.

📞 Contact Design for Digital

Contact Design for Digital today via https://www.designfordigital.com/contact/. Let us assist you in safeguarding your business website and ensuring that your WordPress experience is smooth and secure.

Cyber threats are ever-evolving, and staying vigilant is crucial to safeguard your WordPress website. By being aware of potential scams and seeking professional support, you can protect your online presence and maintain a secure digital environment for your business. Remember, when in doubt, always verify the authenticity of communications related to your website’s security.



Why choose a WordPress website?

WordPress has been a popular website building platform for almost two decades now. Here at Design for Digital, we’re passionate about WordPress design and development and now focus solely on the platform to deliver business websites, e-commerce solutions and develop custom features for our WordPress clients. Today, WordPress powers over 35% of all websites on the internet. It’s an open-source content management system (CMS) that’s highly flexible, customisable, and easy to use. If you’re thinking of building a website, WordPress should be your go-to choice. In this post, we’ll explore why.

WordPress.org is free, open-source software. There’s no subscription costs or software costs to use it, meaning you can download WordPress and begin building your site straight away. The content you create remains your own and it is not stuck inside a ‘paid’ ecosystem unlike some other solutions. You can also customise a WordPress site to your heart’s content.

WordPress is search engine friendly. It’s designed to use clean code that search engines can read easily. It also has built-in features, such as permalinks, easy tagging, and categories that help search engines understand the structure of your site and the content it contains.

1. Easy to use content management system

One of the key decision factors leading businesses to choose a WordPress website is the platform’s user-friendly content management system. Recognised as a leading platform for web design, SEO, development, and e-commerce, WordPress provides an intuitive and streamlined content editing experience. With WordPress, even non-technical users can easily add pages, posts, images, and videos without requiring programming or coding expertise, through visual page builders or the built-in block-based editor Gutenberg. This is achieved through a back-end editor, which simplifies website content management, making it accessible to individuals without prior web development experience.

2. Mobile friendly and responsive design

Mobile friendly and responsive design is a crucial aspect of any website in today’s digital age. With the majority of internet users accessing websites on their mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is no longer optional. Fortunately, WordPress offers web design and development options that cater to mobile users, resulting in a seamless user experience across all devices. With a mobile responsive design, you can ensure that your website is accessible to all users, from the smallest mobile device to the largest desktop monitor. Additionally, a mobile-responsive WordPress website can improve your SEO rankings, as search engines now prioritise mobile-friendly websites in their search results. Having a mobile-friendly WordPress website is essential for eCommerce businesses, as it can help drive sales and attract more customers.

3. Highly secure and reliable

When it comes to web design, development, SEO, and eCommerce, security and reliability are two of the most critical factors to consider. Luckily, WordPress has both of these bases covered. WordPress is highly secure by design, and it is regularly updated to ensure its security protocols remain ahead of the curve. With frequent software patches and improvements, we can confidently say that WordPress is one of the most secure content management systems (CMS) out there. Additionally, the reliability of WordPress is unparalleled. With its vast and active developer community, any issues that arise are quickly resolved, and its intuitive interface ensures that even non-technical users can manage their website with ease. Choosing WordPress for your website development needs will give you an unrivalled level of security and reliability that will benefit your business in the long run.

A professional web development team can handle all your WordPress updates, ensuring your site remains secure and running smoothly. This includes updating your e-commerce platform, so that transactions remain secure and your customers can always enjoy a smooth checkout process. Beyond the technical aspects, regular updates can also help with SEO efforts by ensuring website content is fresh and relevant. Overall, choosing a WordPress website provides a powerful and flexible platform to build your online presence. However, it’s critical to have ongoing support from a web development team to ensure your site stays secure, functional, and optimised for success.

4. Extensibility with plugins and themes

One of the main reasons to choose a WordPress website is the unparalleled level of extensibility it provides through plugins and themes. WordPress is one of the most versatile web design platforms available, making it an excellent choice for businesses and individuals looking to create a website that meets their specific needs. With a diverse range of SEO, development, and ecommerce tools (such as WooCommerce) available as well, WordPress has made it possible for even the smallest businesses to take control of their online presence. The addition of plugins and themes allows businesses to modify and extend their existing websites. For many businesses, this flexibility can be instrumental in building and maintaining a successful online presence.

Will you choose a WordPress website?

In conclusion, WordPress offers an exceptional set of benefits that make it an attractive choice for businesses of all sizes. With its ease of use, customisability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, it’s no wonder that WordPress powers so much of the web’s content. Whether you’re a small business owner, content creator, or developer, WordPress has something to offer everyone. By choosing WordPress, you can create a professional website that is scalable, secure, and optimised for the search engines. So, why choose anything else?

Get in touch with us if you’re looking to create a new, WordPress website for your business, or redesign and refresh your current WordPress site. We’re Bath’s WordPress web design and development experts, who’ve worked with high profile clients from Corgi to Hachette. See for yourself what our clients think of our WordPress services below.

Florian Finot - Hachette“Very professional relation. We trust Design for Digital to run our projects in the best way and know we can count on them to deal with any situation and to always warn us of any issue.”

Florian Finot, Hachette


SSL Certificate Bug Affects 3m Let’s Encrypt Websites

Weds 4th March 2020: Major SSL certificate bug means 3 million website security certificates revoked.

This issue has affected one of the world’s largest SSL providers Let’s Encrypt. Browser security warnings will appear in websites affected according to the BBC, meaning visitors will lose confidence in using these websites until they’re fixed. SSL certificates help encrypt data transmissions on websites keeping important data safe, such as credit card transactions and personal data. To correct this issue SSL certificates that have been revoked will require reinstallation. The security warning should then go away.

Design for Digital have already successfully tested all of our client websites and found no issues. Unfortunately, Let’s Encrypt only gave its customers 75 minutes notice before revoking these affected SSL certificates which far from ideal. More warning to all those affected would have been better business practice and easier for those affected to ensure their site is kept online.

Check your website for SSL issues

If you’re concerned about whether your website is affected by the SSL certificate bug you can check it online by visiting https://checkhost.unboundtest.com. If it is, please get in touch with us as soon as possible and we can help get your site back online.

Let’s Encrypt has revolutionised the way websites use secure transmissions and SSL certificates. However, it is vulnerable to these bugs and frequently has issues with recertification which is required every 3 months. Buying a dedicated SSL certificate not only helps prevent these types of issues but also brings a further layer of confidence to your visitors when installed. Displaying a ‘green’ padlock in Chrome browsers provides further trust for visitors when viewing your website, especially when taking e-commerce transactions. Take the next level of security for your website’s data and enhance trust for customers. Get in touch today and we can help install a dedicated SSL certificate for your website.

Website Maintenance Packages

Maintaining a healthy website is paramount to our philosophy as a website design agency in Bath. Not only do we design and develop engaging WordPress based websites, but we also provide affordable monthly Website Maintenance packages to help our clients concentrate on their own business. We ensure that your customer’s 1st point of contact – your website – is working effectively each day.

Take away the stress of website compatibility and security from your workload. Let the website experts at Design for Digital help your business’s website keep purring along confidently. Contact us today to get a website health check and quote on keeping your site healthy and secure each month.