In 2013 a global brute-force attack began hitting WordPress installations across almost every host server in existence.

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

(WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS making it an obvious target for hacking attacks)

On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 WordPress sites had been hacked.

(Over 160,000 WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)

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 WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

Whenever global brute force attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for people to ask if WordPress really is a safe application for running websites.

Powering millions of websites worldwide makes WordPress an obvious target for attacks by hackers. But do you really need to be concerned about WordPress as being a secure platform for building your business web presence?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should consider using WordPress if you are at all concerned 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 sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and it’s getting 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 you use!

Since it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when before your website will be targeted by hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

”How Can Open Source Software Programs Be Secured?”

Many people argue that WordPress should not be used for building and running a web presence because it’s a freely available open source software program.

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

The argument against using WordPress, then, goes something like this: If anyone can access the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily get hold of all of the code and go through it in great detail, searching for security weaknesses they could exploit …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but when before a malicious user will try to hack your website … WordPress or no WordPress!)

While it’s true that WordPress is free and hackers can easily go through the code looking for holes and weaknesses they can exploit (hackers can do the same with any software application), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source application actually makes it more secure in many ways.

This is because WordPress is supported by a huge community comprised of thousands of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help to improve the software and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, the software platform is built, maintained and updated by a community of hundreds of volunteers. Screenshot source: WordPress.org)

WordPress continually evolves largely through the effort of a huge volunteer community working around the clock to fix issues. It benefits from hundreds of individuals who, at any one time, are focused on improving the application and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built by a large community of users. Screenshot source: WordPress.org)

The moment that a security hole is identified by developers or users, the WordPress developers are then notified …

(WordPress is continually being improved by an open community of web developers and users. Screenshot source: WordPress.org)

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

For example:

• If you notice bugs and a security exploit, you can report these by emailing security@wordpress.org.
• If you find any issues in a WP plugin, you can also report these by sending an email to plugins@wordpress.org.

This is one of the reasons why the core development team is constantly releasing new security updates, and why you need to keep your WordPress site up-to-date …

(WordPress continually releases new updates to address any security vulnerabilities found)

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Applications

Compare what we have just discussed above with proprietary platforms where often a smaller team with limited resources is responsible for developing, monitoring and improving software security, fixing bugs, etc., and you will quickly realize the value of using WordPress to run your website or blog on a secure platform.

WordPress is free to download, modify and use, and hundreds of volunteers and expert developers are continually working to improve the technology. Can a proprietary CMS 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 Vs Other Open Source Applications

(CMS Platforms include WordPress, Joomla and Drupal)

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

For example, the chart below shows the number of security vulnerabilities discovered in popular CMS platforms …

(National Vulnerability Database – Security Vulnerabilities IN CMS Applications. Screenshot image: National Vulnerability Database)

Other research shows that, because WordPress is quite easy to use and to maintain, when sites across different CMS platforms were tested for security vulnerabilities, WordPress sites had less exposure to risk …

(WordPress has less exposure to risk than other leading CMS platforms. Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)

It’s Not WordPress’ Fault

If someone compromises the security of your WordPress site, don’t be too quick to place the blame on the WordPress CMS platform.

According to security vendor Commtouch and StopBadware, a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises in a published report entitled “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective“, a large number of webmasters are not fully aware of the security 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 know how their sites had been compromised by hackers after an attack …

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

Of immediate concern is the fact that most security problems seem to be related to site owners running sites with an outdated version of WordPress …

(Many security issues come from sites running an outdated version of WordPress. Screenshot: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were examined in more detail, it was found that only between 20% – 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 …

(WordPress Security Issues. Image source: WebDesign.org)

Like many modern software applications, WordPress is updated regularly to address new security risks that can arise. Improving software 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 Used By Many Security-Conscious Businesses!

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

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, including banks, global corporations and e-commerce sites choose WordPress to build their presence online, not just bloggers.

Other Factors That Can Affect Blog Security

Other issues that can affect WP security include things such as:

• No platform is safe from hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to being attacked, mostly due to outdated software.
• The biggest threat in all web platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security practices.
• Lack of constant monitoring. Security systems need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Hosting setup. For example, sites on shared webhosting are only as secure as the least safe site on the grid, so if another user has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then all sites on your server become vulnerable.

There Is No Reason To Avoid Choosing WordPress

As this article has hopefully shown, WordPress is as secure as most other leading web platforms being used by businesses of all sizes to build their presence online. As long as you commit to implementing basic website security measures and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) regularly updated, there is no reason to avoid using WordPress.

WordPress Security – Useful Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute-force attacks see this article:  Ten Security Measures That Can Help To Prevent Brute Force Attacks On Your WordPress Site

An unsecured web site provides hackers with a resource for distributed attacks, spreading malware and as a source of information theft. Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to botnets and hackers. Go here to learn more:

• How To Prevent Hackers From Finding And Attacking Your Web Sites With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are using older WordPress versions make sure to back up your site fully before updating your software to protect your site from the latest security threats. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, there are a number of free and paid plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here: Backup, Clone & Protect Your WP Website With Backup Creator WP Plugin

Article References

The facts quoted in this article were sourced from the following sites:

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

Hopefully, this information has given you a better understanding of problems that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you improve your business online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business website please see other posts published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications whenever new articles are published.

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