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

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

(Being the world’s most used CMS makes WordPress a target for hacker attacks)

On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that 160,000+ legitimate WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.

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

As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites 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 questioning if WordPress really is a secure platform for running their websites.

Powering millions of websites around the world makes WordPress an obvious target for hacking. But should you really 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 are at all concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start with the facts …

Thousands of websites are hacked every year … not just WordPress sites!

The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and the situation is 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 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 someone attempts to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Are “Open Source” Applications Secure?

Many people will often argue that WordPress cannot be a secure platform for running web sites because its “open source” code is freely available.

Open-source CMS platforms 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 examine the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily download the code and study every line, looking for security weaknesses that could be exploited …

(It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when before someone 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 vulnerabilities or weaknesses (hackers can do the same with any software application), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source application actually makes it a whole lot more secure in a number of ways.

The reason for this is that WordPress is supported by a global community that consists of hundreds of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help to improve the platform and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, a huge community of thousands of developers worldwide is responsible for keeping the core application code maintained and updated. Image: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress continually evolves because of the effort of a global community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. It benefits from hundreds of individuals who are dedicated to improving the application and making it safer for every user …

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

The moment that a security vulnerability is identified by developers or users, the WordPress developers are then made aware of it …

(WordPress is continually being improved upon by thousands of committed individuals community of web developers and users. Screenshot: WordPress.org)

The WordPress community support system is solid and formidable and anybody can help contribute to the process of addressing vulnerabilities.

For example:

• If you find bugs and security exploits, 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 why the WordPress community is constantly releasing new updates, and why you need to keep your sites and blogs up-to-date …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary Applications

We’ve just seen that one of the security advantages of using an ”open” platform like WordPress is that users benefit from a large community of developers who continually contribute to make the code more secure. By contrast, proprietary or “closed-source” CMS applications are normally built by a small team of developers with limited time and resources to provide continuous security monitoring, software maintenance, bug fixes and software fixes.

The WordPress CMS is 100% free to download, use and modify, and thousands of volunteers and expert developers work on improving the software. Can a proprietary technology company afford to employ as many developers and programmers and still deliver users a completely free CMS software 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, 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 open source platforms during a certain period …

(WordPress has less security vulnerabilities than other leading CMS platforms. Image: 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 exploits, WordPress sites had less exposure to risk …

(WordPress is safer to use than other CMS platforms. Source: BlogDefender.com)

Don’t Blame WordPress When Things Go Wrong

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

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“, many website owners are not fully aware of the threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or how to deal with compromises.

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

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

Of immediate concern for WordPress users, is the fact that many security problems seem to be related to site owners forgetting to upgrade their CMS software to a newer version …

(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 actually found in the WordPress core software, while 70% – 75% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally …

(WordPress Security Issues. Screenshot: WebDesign.org)

Like many modern web platforms, WordPress is updated regularly to address new security problems that may arise. Improving security is an ongoing concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress.

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

The amount of misinformation online about WordPress security has even caused the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, 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 around the world, including banks, global corporations and e-commerce sites choose WordPress to build their websites, not just bloggers.

Other Areas Affecting Security

Other issues that can affect security include things such as:

• 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 using software that is out of date.
• The main security weakness of all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. All security processes require regular monitoring, testing, updating and improvement.
• Server setup. For example, sites on shared hosting servers are only as safe as the least safe website on the grid, so if another user has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then all sites on the server become vulnerable to being hacked also.

There Is No Reason Why You Should Not Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you remember to implement basic web security measures and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) up-to-date, there’s 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:  WordPress Brute Force Attack Prevention Measures

A vulnerable site provides hackers with a platform to launch distributed attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender makes your WordPress site invisible to attacks from hackers and bots. Learn more about it here:

• Prevent Hackers From Finding Your Web Sites With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are using outdated WordPress versions make sure to make a complete backup before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore things back to their former state.

If you don’t want to back up your data manually, there are a number of free and paid WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here: Backup, Copy And Protect Your WordPress Website With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

References Used In This Article

The facts quoted above 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, the above article has given you a better understanding of issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you get better results online. To learn more about the security benefits of using WordPress for a business website please click on links to visit other articles published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles are published.

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