In early 2013 a global brute-force attack struck WordPress installations on almost every WP hosting server in existence around the world.

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

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

On March 11, 2014, technology sites began reporting that over 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.

(Over 160,000 WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 2014. Image: 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 flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When brute-force attacks on WordPress sites increase in frequency, it’s natural for website owners to start asking just how secure the WordPress platform is for running their websites.

WordPress often comes under attack by hackers, due to its popularity. But do you really need to be concerned about WordPress as a secure platform for building your business website?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should use 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 around the world is rising, and this is getting worse.

You can safely assume that if your website or blog hasn’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 no longer a matter of if, but a matter of when before your website will be targeted by malicious hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

How Vulnerable Are “Open Source” Programs?

Some people argue that WordPress should not be used for running a business online because its “open source” code is freely available.

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

The argument against using WordPress, then, goes something like this: If everyone can access the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily download the code and go through every single line in great detail, searching for security holes in the code that could be exploited …

(It’s not 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 to download and hackers can easily go through the code searching for holes and vulnerabilities (hackers can do the same with any software application), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source platform actually makes it a lot more secure in many ways.

The reason for this is that WordPress has the support of a volunteer community that consists of hundreds of people such as software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help improve the program and make WordPress more secure …

(WordPress is built, maintained and updated by a global community of thousands of developers. Source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves largely through the effort of a huge volunteer community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from hundreds of web developers, designers and users who, at any one time, are focused on improving the software and making WordPress safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built and maintained by an open community of volunteers. Screenshot: WordPress.org)

The moment any security holes are discovered by developers or users, the WordPress core developers are then made aware of it …

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

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is very responsive and anybody can help contribute to fixing the software.

For example:

• If you find bugs or security exploits, you can report these by notifying 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 the reason why the WordPress community is constantly releasing new updates, and why you need to keep your WordPress sites and blogs updated …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary Applications

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS technology like WordPress with proprietary technologies where often the responsibility for improving software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will quickly understand the value and advantages of using WordPress to power your site on a secure platform.

The WordPress CMS is free to download, use and modify, and hundreds 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 software that is 100% free to download, use and modify as you wish?

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source CMS Applications

(CMS Platforms - 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 safer than other Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

For example, the chart below shows how many security vulnerabilities were discovered in popular CMS platforms …

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

Other research shows that, because WordPress is quite easy to use and to keep updated, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security issues, WordPress sites had fewer exposure to risk …

(WordPress is more secure than other leading CMS platforms. Image source: BlogDefender.com)

It’s Not WordPress’ Fault

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

According to a report called “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective,” which is published by security organizations Commtouch and StopBadware, many webmasters have no idea about the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or deal with security compromises.

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

(Most webmasters don’t even know how their sites get hacked. Screenshot: StopBadware.org)

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

(Many WordPress sites are running on outdated versions. 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 third-party code are found in the WordPress CMS core, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally …

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

Like all robust software applications, WordPress is regularly updated in order to deal with new security vulnerabilities that may arise. Improving security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress.

WordPress … Secure Enough For Banks To Use!

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

In a blog post entitled “A Bank Website on WordPress” published 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 use WordPress to build their presence online, including banks, global corporations, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Factors That Can Affect Site Security

Other factors that can affect WordPress security include areas like:

• No platform is completely immune to hackers. 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 main threat of all CMS platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore strong password security practices.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security processes need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Hosting setup. For example, sites on shared webhosting are only as safe as the least safe site on the grid, so if someone else on your shared server gets their site hacked into, then every site on your server is potentially vulnerable.

There’s No Reason To Avoid Using WordPress

As this article has hopefully shown, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you commit to implementing basic security measures (which all website owners should do, regardless of their chosen web platform) and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) up-to-date, there’s really no reason not to choose WordPress.

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 website provides malicious users with a valuable platform to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to bots and hackers. Go here to learn more:

• How To Prevent Hackers From Attacking Your Websites With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are using older WordPress versions remember to make a backup 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 many plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here: Back Up, Clone And Keep Your WP Site Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

References Used In This Article

The facts quoted in this article 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 problems 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 website please see our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications whenever new articles or tutorials are published.

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