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

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

(WordPress is frequently the target of malicious attacks by hackers, due to its global popularity)

In March 2014, technology sites began reporting that over 160,000+ WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.

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

Whenever worldwide brute force attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for people to start questioning just how secure the WordPress platform is for building and running their sites.

WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system making it an obvious target for hacker attacks. But do you really need to be concerned about WordPress as being a secure web platform?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should choose WordPress if you are concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at 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 massive, and things are 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 you use!

Since it’s no longer a matter of if, but when before someone will try to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Is “Open Source” Software Secure?

Many people argue that WordPress should not be used for building and running a business online because it’s an “open source” and freely available application.

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

The argument, then, goes something like this: If everyone can view the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can easily get hold of all of the code and go through all of it in detail, looking for security holes they could exploit …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but a matter of when before someone will attempt to hack your website … WordPress or no WordPress!)

While it’s true that WordPress is free to download and hackers can easily access it and study the code looking for vulnerabilities and weaknesses (hackers can do the same with any software program), the fact that WordPress is a free, open application actually makes it more secure in a number of ways.

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

(A volunteer community of web developers build and maintain. Screenshot: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves through the effort of thousands of committed individuals working around the clock to fix issues. It benefits from hundreds of individuals who, at any one time, are focused on improving the code, identifying and fixing security vulnerabilities and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built and maintained by a large community of users. Screenshot: WordPress.org)

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

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

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is very responsive and anyone can contribute to securing the software.

For example:

• If you notice bugs and security exploits, you can report these by notifying security@wordpress.org.
• If you find issues in a WP plugin, you can also report these by notifying plugins@wordpress.org.

This is one of the reasons why the WordPress team releases new version updates so frequently, and why you need to keep your WordPress sites and blogs regularly up-to-date …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Platforms

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS technology like WordPress with proprietary technologies where often the responsibility for maintaining software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a much smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will very quickly realize the security benefits of using WordPress to run your business presence online on a secure platform.

The WordPress CMS is 100% free to download, modify and use, and thousands of volunteers and expert developers work on improving the technology. Can a proprietary technology company afford to employ as many developers and programmers and still deliver users a completely free CMS platform 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 systems, there is valid research showing that the WordPress CMS is actually safer than other Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

For example, the chart below shows the number of security vulnerabilities discovered in popular open source platforms during a given period …

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

Other studies also show that, because WordPress is quite easy to use and to update, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security issues, sites built with WordPress had significantly less exposure to risk …

(WordPress users are not as exposed to security risks as other CMS platform users. Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)

It’s Not WordPress’ Fault

Whenever WordPress sites are subjected to brute-force attacks, you shouldn’t be too quick to blame the WordPress CMS platform.

According to security vendor Commtouch and StopBadware, a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises in a published report entitled “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective“, a large number of webmasters are not fully aware of the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or how to deal with web security compromises.

In fact, 63% of webmasters surveyed for the report didn’t even know how their sites were compromised after an attack …

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

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

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

When WordPress security issues were examined in more detail, it was found that only a small percentage 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 for WordPress …

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

Like many software platforms, WordPress is updated regularly in order to address new security risks that could arise. Improving security is an ongoing concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress software, themes, plugins, etc..

WordPress Is Used By Many Security-Conscious Organizations!

The amount of misinformation online 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” published 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 choose WordPress to build their websites, including banks, global corporations, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Factors That Can Affect WordPress Security

Other issues that can affect website security include:

• No platform is safe from security threats. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to using outdated software.
• The biggest threat of all web platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant monitoring. All security processes need to be frequently monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Webhosting setup. For example, sites on shared webhosting are only as secure as the least safe website on the hosting grid, so if someone else has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then every site on your shared server is potentially vulnerable.

There’s No Reason Not To Use 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 website security measures and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there is really no reason why you should not choose WordPress.

WordPress Security – Tips

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

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

• Prevent Botnets & Hackers From Attacking Your Website

If you are currently using an outdated WordPress version make sure you make a full site backup 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 site manually, there are a number of plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Backup, Copy And Protect Your WP Web Site With Backup Creator WP Plugin

References

The above facts 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, now you have a better understanding of problems that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you improve your business online. To learn more about using the WP web content management platform please click on links to visit our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications whenever new content is published.

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