In April 2013, WordPress installations around the world were subjected to a worldwide brute-force attack.

These attacks were caused by computer networks infected with malware and programmed to attack other installations (botnets).

(WordPress is the world’s most used content management system which makes it a natural target for hackers)

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

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 2014. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)

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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When brute force attacks on WordPress sites happen, it’s natural for people to start questioning just how safe and secure the WordPress platform is for running an online presence.

Being the world’s most popular content management system makes WordPress an obvious target for attacks by hackers. But should you really be concerned about WordPress as being a secure platform for building your business presence online?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should definitely consider using WordPress if you have any concerns 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 worldwide is rising, and things are only going to get worse.

It’s probably safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time before someone does 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 someone will try to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

The “Open Source” Software Argument

Some people will often try to argue that WordPress is not a safe platform for running a web presence because it’s a freely available open source software program.

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

The argument against using WordPress, then, goes something like this: If everyone can view the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily get hold of all of the code and study every single line, searching for holes and weaknesses that they can exploit …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but a matter of when before your website is targeted by hackers … 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 holes and weaknesses (hackers can do the same with any program), the fact that WordPress is a free, open platform actually makes it a whole lot more secure in a number of ways.

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

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

WordPress evolves because of the effort of hundreds of committed individuals working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from thousands of web developers, designers and users who, at any one time, are focused on improving the application, identifying and fixing security vulnerabilities and making it safer for every user …

(WordPress is built by a large community of experienced web developers. Screenshot source: make.wordpress.org)

As soon as security holes are identified by developers or users, these are noted in user forums and addressed by the WordPress development team …

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

The WordPress community support system is quite formidable and anyone can help contribute to improving the platform.

For example:

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

This is why the core development team is constantly releasing new security updates, and why you continually need to keep your site updated …

(WordPress frequently releases new version updates to plug any security weaknesses found)

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Applications

Contrast what we have just discussed above with proprietary platforms where often a small team with limited time and resources is responsible for developing, monitoring and improving software security, fixing bugs, etc., and you will very quickly understand the security benefits of using WordPress to run your websites and blogs on a secure platform.

The WordPress CMS is 100% 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 free application that they can download, use and modify as they wish?

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source Applications

(CMS Platforms - WordPress, Joomla and Drupal)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management applications, there is valid research showing that WordPress is actually safer than other leading Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

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

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

Other studies also show that, because WordPress is quite easy to use and keep up-to-date, when sites across different CMS platforms were tested for security issues, sites run on WordPress had fewer exposure to risk …

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

WordPress Is Not At Fault

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

According to a report called “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective,” published by a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises called StopBadware and security vendor Commtouch, most webmasters have no idea about the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or deal with 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. Screenshot: StopBadware.org)

Of more immediate concern is the fact that many security problems seem to be related to site owners simply not upgrading their CMS software to the latest version …

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

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only between 20% – 35% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in third-party code are found in the WordPress core software, while 65% – 80% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally for WordPress …

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

Like all robust web applications, WordPress is updated regularly in order to deal with new security vulnerabilities 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.

WordPress Is Used By Many Security-Conscious Businesses!

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

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

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 use WordPress to build their web presence, including banks, large organizations, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Issues That Can Affect WordPress Blog Security

Other factors that can affect security include:

• No platform is immune to hacking. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to being attacked, mostly due to using software that is out of date.
• The biggest weakness of all web platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security processes need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, sites on shared hosting servers are only as safe as the least safe site on the grid, so if another user 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 Why You Shouldn’t Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you implement basic website security measures (which all website owners should do) and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) up-to-date, there is really no reason not to use WordPress to drive your web site or blog.

WordPress Security – Useful Tips

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

A vulnerable blog offers malicious users with a platform to launch distributed attacks, spread malware and use your site to steal information from innocent people. Blog Defender Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to botnet and hacker attacks. Go here to learn more:

• Prevent Malicious Cyber-Attacks On Your WordPress Website From Botnets & Hackers With Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress

If you are using outdated WordPress versions remember to back up your site before updating your software to protect your site from the latest security risks. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore.

If you don’t want to back up your data manually, there are many WordPress plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Back Up, Duplicate & Keep Your WP Web Site Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

Article References

The above statistics were referenced from various online 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 website and how WordPress can help you expand your business online. To learn more about the security benefits of using WordPress for a business web site please click on links to visit our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new content is published.

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