In early 2013 a global brute-force attack hit WordPress installations on virtually every WP host server in existence around the world.

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

(WordPress is often the target of malicious attacks by hackers)

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

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. 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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

Whenever worldwide attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for people to start asking just how secure the WordPress platform is for running their websites.

WordPress powers millions of websites worldwide, making it a target for hacker attacks. But should you be concerned about WordPress as a secure web platform?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should consider using WordPress if you have any concerns 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 around the world is rising, and the situation is getting 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 your website has been built with!

Since it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when before a malicious user attempts to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

The “Open Source” Argument For Security Vulnerabilities

Many people often argue that WordPress is not a safe platform for running a website or blog because having open source code means that anyone can view how the software application works.

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

The argument against WordPress, then, goes something like this: If anyone can study the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can also easily download all of the code and study every single line in great detail, looking for security vulnerabilities that they can exploit …

(It’s not a matter of if, but when before your website is targeted by malicious hackers … WordPress or no WordPress!)

While it’s true that WordPress is a free program and hackers can easily access it and study the code searching for security holes or weaknesses they can exploit (hackers can do the same with any program), the fact that WordPress is a free, open application actually makes it a whole lot more secure in several ways.

This is because WordPress is supported by a huge 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, the core application is built, maintained and updated by a large community of thousands of developers. Image: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves through the effort of a global community working around the clock to fix issues. It benefits from hundreds of minds dedicated to improving the code, fixing bugs and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(WordPress is built and maintained by an open community of users. Source: make.wordpress.org)

As soon as any security issue is discovered by developers or users, the WordPress core developers are then notified …

(WordPress is continually being improved by a huge community community of developers and users. Screenshot source: make.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 or security exploits, you can report these by emailing security@wordpress.org.
• If you find issues in a plugin, you can report these by notifying plugins@wordpress.org.

This is why the WordPress community is constantly releasing new updates, and why you continually need to keep your site frequently up-to-date …

(WordPress frequently releases new updates to plug security weaknesses)

WordPress Vs Proprietary Applications

Contrast what we have just discussed above with proprietary CMS platforms where often the responsibility for maintaining software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will very quickly realize the value of using WordPress to run your site on a secure platform.

WordPress is 100% free to download, use and modify, 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 software that is 100% free to 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 showing 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 discovered in each of these open source CMS platforms …

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

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

(Blog Defender – CMS Tests. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)

WordPress Is Not Always To Blame

When WordPress sites are attacked en masse, don’t be quick to place the blame on the WordPress CMS platform.

According to a report called “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective,” which is published by security organizations Commtouch and StopBadware, many website owners are not fully aware of the threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or deal with web security compromises.

In fact, over 60% of webmasters surveyed for the report didn’t know how their websites were compromised by hackers after an attack …

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

Of more immediate concern, however, is the fact that most security issues seem to be related to users running WordPress on outdated versions of the software …

(Many WordPress sites are running on outdated versions. Screenshot source: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only between 25% – 30% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in third-party code are found in the WordPress core software, while 70% – 85% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and extensions created by 3rd-party developers …

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

Like all robust software platforms, WordPress is updated regularly to address new security risks that can arise. Improving software security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress software, plugins, themes, etc..

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

The amount of misinformation about WordPress security has even caused Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, 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 …

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, leading brands and e-commerce sites use WordPress to build their web presence, not just bloggers.

Other Areas Affecting Website Security

Other issues that can affect security include things 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 outdated software.
• The biggest risk of all web platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore strong password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant monitoring. All security processes need constant monitoring, testing, updating and improvement.
• Hosting server setup. For example, sites on shared webhosting servers are only as safe as the least secure site on the grid, so if someone else has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then every site on the shared server can potentially become vulnerable.

There’s No Reason Not To Use WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you commit to implementing basic website security measures (which all website owners should do, regardless of their chosen technology platform) and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) regularly updated, there’s no reason not to use WordPress to power your website or blog.

WordPress Security – Tips

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

A vulnerable website provides malicious users with a resource for distributed attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft. Blog Defender Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets. Go here to learn more:

• Blog Defender Review – How To Make Your Blog Unseen By Hackers

If you are currently using an outdated version of WordPress make sure you make a complete backup before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore things back to their former configuration.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many free and paid WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Backup, Duplicate And Protect Your WordPress Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

References

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 information has given you a better understanding of problems that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you build a better business online. To learn more about using the WP software please see other articles published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications whenever new content is published.

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