In early 2013, WordPress installations around the world were subjected to a global-scale brute force attack.

These attacks were caused by infected computer networks programmed to attack other sites (called “botnets”).

(Powering millions of websites and blogs around the world makes WordPress an obvious target for attempted hacker attacks)

In March 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that 160,000+ WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Screenshot: 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)

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

When attacks on WordPress sites increase in frequency, it’s natural for website owners to question if WordPress really is a secure software for running their sites.

WordPress often comes under attack by hackers, due to its global popularity. But should you be concerned about WordPress as being a secure web platform?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should definitely consider choosing WordPress if you have any concerns about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start with some facts …

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

The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and the situation is only going to get worse.

It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s inevitable that at some point in time someone will attempt 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 your website is targeted by malicious hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Are “Open Source” Software Programs Safe?

Many people often argue that WordPress is not a secure platform for building and running a website or blog because it is a freely available open source software.

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

The argument against WordPress, then, goes something like this: If anyone can examine the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily get hold of the code and go through it in detail, searching for security holes that they can exploit …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but a matter of when before your website will be targeted by hackers … WordPress or no WordPress!)

While it’s true that WordPress is a free program and hackers can easily access it and study the code searching for security vulnerabilities and weaknesses that can be exploited (hackers can do the same with any software application), the fact that WordPress is a free, open platform actually makes it more secure in a number of ways.

This is because WordPress has the support of a huge volunteer community of thousands of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who constantly help improve the program and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, an open community of web developers is responsible for keeping the platform maintained and updated. Image: WordPress.org)

WordPress continually evolves because of the effort of a huge volunteer community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from hundreds of individuals who are dedicated to improving the software and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(WordPress is built and maintained by a global community of experienced web developers. Image: WordPress.org)

The moment any security vulnerabilities are discovered by developers or users, these are normally reported in user forums and addressed by the WordPress developers …

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

The WordPress community support system is very responsive and anybody can contribute to the process of getting vulnerabilities plugged.

For example:

• If you come across bugs and security holes, you can report these by emailing security@wordpress.org.
• If you find issues in a WP plugin, you can also report these by emailing plugins@wordpress.org.

This is why the core development team releases new updates so frequently, and why you need to keep your sites and blogs regularly updated …

(WordPress continually releases new version updates to plug security exploits)

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Applications

Compare the benefits of using an open source CMS technology like WordPress with proprietary CMS 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 security benefits of using WordPress to run your website or blog on a secure platform.

The WordPress CMS is 100% free to download, modify and use, and thousands of volunteers and expert developers work on improving the platform. Can a proprietary technology company afford to employ as many developers and programmers and still deliver users a completely free application that they can download, use and modify as they wish?

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source Platforms

(CMS Platforms)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management systems, research shows that the WordPress CMS is actually safer than other Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

For example, the chart below shows how many security vulnerabilities were found in each of these open source platforms during a given period …

(WordPress has fewer security vulnerabilities than other leading CMS platforms. Screenshot source: National Vulnerability Database)

Other studies also show that, because WordPress is easy to use and keep up-to-date, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security issues, sites run on WordPress had a significant degree of less exposure to risk …

(WordPress users are less exposed to security risks than other CMS platform users. Image: BlogDefender.com)

It’s Easier To Blame Technology When Things Go Wrong

If someone hacks into your WordPress site, don’t be quick to blame WordPress.

According to a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises called StopBadware and security vendor Commtouch in a published report entitled “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective“, a large number of website owners are not fully aware of the threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or deal with web security compromises.

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

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

Of more immediate concern for WordPress users, however, is the fact that most security problems seem to be related to site owners not upgrading their WordPress software to a newer version …

(Many security issues come from sites running outdated WordPress versions. Image source: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only around between 25% – 30% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in 3rd-party code are actually found in the WordPress CMS core, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally for WordPress …

(WordPress Security Issues. Source: WebDesign.org)

Like all robust web applications, WordPress is regularly updated in order to deal with new security risks that could arise. Improving security is an ongoing concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress software, plugins, themes, etc..

WordPress Is Secure – Just Ask Any Bank That Uses It!

The amount of misinformation about how secure WordPress is has even caused Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, to chime in and reply to posts online.

In a blog post 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, including banks, large organizations and e-commerce sites choose WordPress to build their websites, not just bloggers.

Other Issues That Can Affect WordPress Site Security

Other areas that can affect WP website security include factors like:

• No platform is completely immune to hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to using software that is out of date.
• The main risk of all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. An example of this is users ignoring strong password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant monitoring. Security systems need to be frequently monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Hosting setup. For example, sites on shared webhosting are only as secure as the least safe site on the hosting grid, so if someone else on your shared server gets their site hacked into, then every site on the shared server is potentially vulnerable to being hacked as well.

There’s No Reason Not To Use WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you commit to implementing basic web security measures and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) up-to-date, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t choose WordPress.

WordPress Security – Practical Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute-force attacks see this article:  Preventing WordPress Brute-Force Attacks

A vulnerable site offers malicious users with a valuable resource for launching denial of service attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft. Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to malicious attacks from hackers and botnets. Learn more about it here:

• How To Make Your Websites Hidden To Botnets And Hackers With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are using outdated WordPress versions remember to back up everything before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore things back to their former settings.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of WordPress plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Back Up, Clone & Keep Your WP Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

References

The above statistics were referenced from various sources, including those listed 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 issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you get better business results online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business website or blog please see other articles published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles are published.

***