In 2013 a worldwide brute-force attack hit WordPress installations on virtually every WP hosting server in existence.

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

(Powering millions of websites worldwide makes WordPress a target for attacks by malicious users)

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

(Over 160,000 WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Screenshot source: 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 websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When brute force attacks on WordPress sites happen on such a wide scale, it’s natural for website owners to ask if WordPress really is a secure platform for building and running their websites.

WordPress often is targeted by hackers, due to its popularity. But should you be concerned about WordPress as a secure platform for building your business web presence?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should use 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 hacked 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 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 when before a malicious user tries to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

”Isn’t Open Source Software Extremely Vulnerable?”

Many people often argue that WordPress is not a safe platform for running web sites because it’s an “open source” and freely available application.

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

The argument against WordPress, then, goes something like this: If anyone can view the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily obtain the code and study it, looking for vulnerabilities that could be exploited …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but when before a malicious user will attempt 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 looking for security vulnerabilities or weaknesses they can exploit (hackers can do the same with any software application), 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 community comprised of hundreds of people such as software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help to improve the software and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, a large community of volunteers around the world is responsible for keeping the platform maintained and updated. Screenshot source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves largely through the effort of thousands of committed individuals working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. It benefits from thousands of individuals dedicated to improving the application, fixing bugs and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(WordPress is built by an open community of experienced web developers. Image: WordPress.org)

The moment any security weaknesses are identified by developers or users, the WordPress development team are then notified …

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

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

For example:

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

This is the reason why the WordPress community is constantly releasing new security updates, and why you need to keep your site frequently updated …

(WordPress continually releases new version updates to plug any security holes found)

WordPress Vs Proprietary Platforms

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS platform like WordPress with proprietary CMS technologies where often a much smaller team with limited resources is responsible for developing, monitoring and improving software security, fixing bugs, etc., and you will quickly realize the value and advantages of using WordPress to power your web presence on a secure platform.

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

WordPress Vs Other Open Source Applications

(CMS Platforms)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management applications, there is valid research to support the fact that the WordPress CMS 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 found in popular open source CMS platforms …

(National Vulnerability Database – Security Vulnerabilities IN CMS Applications. Image source: National Vulnerability Database)

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

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

It’s Not WordPress’ Fault

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

According to security organizations Commtouch and StopBadware in a published report entitled “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective“, a large number of webmasters are not fully aware of the threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or how to deal with compromised web security.

In fact, over sixty percent of webmasters surveyed for the report didn’t know how their websites had been compromised by hackers after an attack …

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

Of more immediate concern, however, is the fact that most security-related issues come from users not upgrading their CMS software to the latest version …

(Many WordPress users have not upgraded their WP sites. Image: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were examined in more detail, it was found that only a small percentage of vulnerabilities discovered in 3rd-party code are actually found in the WordPress CMS core, while 65% – 85% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally for WordPress …

(WP Security Issues. Screenshot: WebDesign.org)

Like all robust software applications, WordPress is regularly updated in order to deal with new security problems that can 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 – Even Banks Are Using It!

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

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

Other Areas That Can Affect Security

Other research on issues that affect WordPress security point to areas like:

• No platform is completely protected from hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to outdated software.
• The main risk of all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security practices.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. All security systems need to be frequently monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Webhosting server setup. For example, websites on shared hosting are only as safe as the least secure website on the hosting grid, so if someone else has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then all sites on the server can potentially become vulnerable.

There’s No Reason To Avoid Using WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is as secure as most other leading web platforms being used by businesses to build their presence online. As long as you continue to implement basic security measures and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) up-to-date, there’s really no reason not to use WordPress to drive your website or blog.

WordPress Security – Useful Tips

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

A compromised web site provides malicious users with a resource to launch distributed attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to bots and hackers. Learn more about this plugin here:

• How To Prevent Malicious Cyberattacks On Your WP Website From Botnets And Hackers

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

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, 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: Backup, Duplicate And Keep Your WordPress Website Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

References Used In This Article

The above facts 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 get better business results online. To learn more about the security benefits of using the WordPress website publishing platform please click on links to visit our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles or tutorials are published.

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