In early 2013 a global brute-force attack began hitting WordPress installations on almost every WP hosting server in existence.

These attacks were caused by networks of infected computers programmed to attack other vulnerable installations (botnets).

(WordPress often comes under attack by hackers)

On March 11, 2014, many technology sites reported that over 162,000 WordPress websites had been hacked.

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 2014. Image: Blog Defender)

According to the Cnet report,

“With some old-fashioned trickery, hackers were able to get more than 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered Web sites to mount a distributed-denial-of-service attack against another Web site.”

(Source: cnet.com/news/ddos-attack-is-launched-from-162000-wordpress-sites)

According to leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

Whenever brute force attacks on WordPress sites are reported in the media, it’s natural for website owners to start questioning if WordPress really is a safe software for building and running websites.

Powering millions of sites worldwide makes WordPress an obvious target for attempted hacking attacks. But do you really need to be concerned about WordPress as a secure web platform?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should definitely choose WordPress if you are at all concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at some facts …

Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year … not just WordPress sites!

The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and the situation is getting worse.

It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time before someone attempts to hack into your site … regardless of the web platform your website has been built with!

Since it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when before a malicious user tries to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Are “Open Source” Software Applications Safe?

Many people argue that WordPress is not a safe platform for building and running a website or blog because its open source code means that anyone can view how the software application code works.

Open-source CMS software like WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are free to use and anyone has access to the entire underlying software code.

The argument against using WordPress, then, goes something like this: If everyone can view the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can easily obtain the code and study every single line, searching for vulnerabilities that could be exploited …

(It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when before someone will attempt to hack your website … WordPress or no WordPress!)

While it’s true that WordPress is a free application and hackers can easily go through the code looking for security vulnerabilities or weaknesses that can be exploited (hackers can do the same with any software application), the fact that WordPress is a free, open software platform actually makes it more secure in several ways.

This is because WordPress is supported by a global volunteer community that consists of hundreds of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help to improve the program and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, a large community of web developers is responsible for keeping the core application maintained and updated. Image: WordPress.org)

WordPress continually evolves through the effort of a global community working around the clock to fix issues. It benefits from hundreds of minds who are dedicated to improving the application, fixing bugs and making it safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built and maintained by an open community of volunteer members. Image source: WordPress.org)

As soon as any security problems are discovered by developers or users, the WordPress development team are then notified …

(WordPress is continually being improved upon by a huge community community of web developers and users. Screenshot source: make.wordpress.org)

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is quite formidable and anybody can help contribute to securing the platform.

For example:

• If you discover bugs or security weaknesses, you can report these by sending an email to security@wordpress.org.
• If you find any issues in a plugin, you can report these by emailing plugins@wordpress.org.

This is one of the reasons why the WordPress team is constantly releasing new version updates, and why you continually need to keep your WordPress sites and blogs regularly maintained …

(WordPress frequently releases new version updates to address any security exploits found)

WordPress Vs Proprietary Applications

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS technology like WordPress with proprietary platforms where often the responsibility for maintaining software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will quickly understand the value of using WordPress to run your business presence online on a secure platform.

The WordPress CMS is 100% free to download, use and modify, and thousands of volunteers and expert developers are continually working to improve the platform. Can a proprietary technology company afford to employ as many developers and programmers and still deliver you a completely free application that you can download, use and modify as you wish?

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source Applications

(CMS Platforms include WordPress, Joomla and Drupal)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management applications, there is valid research to support the fact that WordPress is safer than other leading Open Source CMS platforms like Drupal and Joomla.

For example, here is one study showing how many security vulnerabilities were found in popular CMS platforms …

(WordPress experiences fewer security vulnerabilities than other leading CMS applications. Image source: National Vulnerability Database)

Other studies show that, because WordPress is quite easy to use and keep updated, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security vulnerabilities, sites built with WordPress had fewer exposure to risk …

(BlogDefender.com – CMS Tests. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)

WordPress Should Not Be Blamed

When WordPress sites are attacked, users shouldn’t be quick to blame WordPress.

According to security organizations Commtouch and StopBadware in a published report entitled “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective“, many website owners have no idea about the threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or how to deal with compromised web security.

In fact, over 60% of webmasters surveyed in this report didn’t even know how their sites were compromised after an attack …

(Many webmasters don’t know how their sites get hacked. Image: StopBadware.org)

Of more immediate concern for WordPress users, however, is the fact that many security issues seem to be related to site owners forgetting to upgrade their WordPress software to the latest version …

(Many WordPress users have not upgraded their sites. Source: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only around between 20% – 30% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in third-party code are found in the WordPress CMS core, while 65% – 75% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally for WordPress …

(WordPress Security Issues. Screenshot image: WebDesign.org)

Like many web applications, WordPress is updated regularly in order to deal with new security risks that can arise. Improving security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep your WordPress software, themes, and plugins up-to-date.

WordPress … Secure Enough For Banks To Use!

The amount of misinformation about how secure WordPress is has even led the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, to chime into the online discussion.

In an article entitled “A Bank Website on WordPress” posted on April 15, 2015, Matt wrote the following about WordPress security …

There’s a thread on Quora asking “I am powering a bank’s website using WordPress. What security measures should I take?” The answers have mostly been ignorant junk along the lines of “Oh NOES WP is INSECURE! let me take my money out of that bank”, so I wrote one myself, which I’ve copied below.

I agree there’s probably not a ton of benefit to having the online banking / billpay / etc portion of a bank’s website on WordPress, however there is no reason you couldn’t run the front-end and marketing side of the site on WordPress, and in fact you’d be leveraging WordPress’ strength as a content management platform that is flexible, customizable, and easy to update and maintain.

Matt then goes on to provide a couple of security tips, before stating the following …

For an example of a beautiful, responsive banking website built on WordPress, check out Gateway Bank of Mesa AZ. WordPress is also trusted to run sites for some of the largest and most security-conscious organizations in the world, including Facebook, SAP, Glenn Greenwald’s The Intercept, eBay, McAfee, Sophos, GNOME, Mozilla, MIT, Reuters, CNN, Google Ventures, NASA, and literally hundreds more.

As the most widely used CMS in the world, many people use and deploy the open source version of WordPress in a sub-optimal and insecure way, but the same could be said of Linux, Apache, MySQL, Node, Rails, Java, or any widely-used software. It is possible and actually not that hard to run WordPress in a way that is secure enough for a bank, government site, media site, or anything.

Millions of businesses around the world choose WordPress to build their websites, including banks, leading brands, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Factors That Can Affect WordPress Security

Other issues that can affect security include areas like:

• No platform is completely protected from security threats. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to software that is out of date.
• The biggest security weakness in all web platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant monitoring. All security systems need constant monitoring, testing, updating and improvement.
• Hosting server setup. For example, sites on shared hosting are only as safe as the least safe site on the hosting grid, so if someone else has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then every site on the server is potentially vulnerable to being hacked also.

There Is No Reason Not To Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you commit to implementing basic security measures and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there is no reason to avoid using WordPress to power your web site or blog.

WordPress Security – Practical Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute force attacks see this article:  Protect Your WordPress Site Or Blog From Brute Force Attacks

An unsecured blog offers malicious users with a valuable platform to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender makes your WordPress site invisible to botnets and hackers. Learn more about this plugin here:

• Hide Your WordPress Blog From Hackers

If you are currently using an outdated WordPress version remember to back up your WordPress site fully before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here: Backup, Clone & Protect Your WP Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator WP Plugin

References

For more information on the above, refer to the sites below:

• ITProPortal.com
• National Vulnerability Database
• BlogDefender.com
• UpAndUpStudios.com
• StopBadware.org
• Sucuri.net
• WebDesign.org
• Quora.com
• Ma.tt

Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of problems that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you build a better business online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business web site please see other posts published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles or tutorials are published.

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