In 2013 a worldwide brute force attack began hitting WordPress installations across almost every WP host server in existence.

These attacks were caused by computer networks infected with malware and programmed to attack other vulnerable sites, also commonly known as “botnets”.

(WordPress is frequently the target of attacks by hackers)

On March 11, 2014, many leading technology sites reported that over 160,000+ WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.

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

When attacks on WordPress sites gain worldwide attention, it’s natural for website owners to ask if WordPress really is a safe platform for building and running websites.

WordPress is the world’s most used content management system making it a frequent target for hackers. But should you be concerned about WordPress as being a secure platform for building your business presence online?

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

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at 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 increasing on a daily basis, and it’s only going to get worse.

You can safely assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time … regardless of the web platform your website has been built with!

Since it’s no longer a matter of if, but when before your website will be targeted by hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Are “Open Source” Software Applications Safe?

Some people will often argue that WordPress should not be used for running a web presence because it is “open source” and freely available software program.

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

The argument, then, goes something like this: If everyone can examine the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can also easily obtain all of the code and study it, searching for vulnerabilities that they can exploit …

(It’s no longer 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 free to download and hackers can easily access it and study the code searching for holes or weaknesses they can exploit (hackers can do the same with any program), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source software platform actually makes it a lot more secure in a number of ways.

This is because WordPress has the support of a volunteer community comprised of hundreds of people such as software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help improve the platform and make WordPress more secure …

(A global community build, maintain and update. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves largely through the effort of a huge community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from hundreds of individuals who, at any one time, are focused on improving the application, identifying and fixing security holes and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built and maintained by an open community of users. Screenshot image: make.wordpress.org)

As soon as a security vulnerability is identified by developers or users, the WordPress developers are then notified …

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

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is solid and formidable and anyone can help contribute to the process of getting vulnerabilities plugged.

For example:

• If you notice bugs or a security vulnerability, you can report these by sending an email to security@wordpress.org.
• If you find issues in a plugin, you can also report these by sending an email to plugins@wordpress.org.

This is the reason why the WordPress community releases new updates on a regular basis, and why you continually need to keep your sites and blogs updated …

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

WordPress CMS Vs Proprietary Applications

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

WordPress is free to download, modify and use, 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 a completely free CMS software that they can download, use and modify as they wish?

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source CMS Applications

(CMS Platforms)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management systems, there is valid research to support the fact that the WordPress CMS is actually 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 each of these open source CMS platforms …

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

Other research shows that, because WordPress is easy to use and update, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security exploits, sites run on WordPress had a significant degree of less exposure to risk …

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

Don’t Blame The Technology

When WordPress sites are attacked, don’t be quick to blame WordPress.

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

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

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

Of more immediate concern for WordPress users, is the fact that most security issues seem to be related to users forgetting to update their CMS software to the latest version …

(Many security issues come from sites running an outdated WordPress version. Screenshot 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 found in the WordPress CMS core, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and extensions …

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

Like all robust software applications, WordPress is updated regularly to deal with new security threats that may arise. Improving security is an ongoing concern, and to that end, you should always keep your WordPress software, plugins, and themes up-to-date.

WordPress Is Used By Many Security-Conscious Organizations!

The amount of misinformation about WordPress security has even caused the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, to chime in and reply to posts online.

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

Other Factors Affecting Security

Other research on issues that play a role in WordPress security point to things like:

• No platform is immune to hacking. 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 biggest security weakness of all web platforms seems to be the users themselves. An example of this is users ignoring strong password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security systems need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, websites on shared hosting accounts are only as secure as the least secure site on the hosting grid, so if someone else on your shared server gets their site broken into, then all sites on that server can potentially become vulnerable to hacking as well.

There’s No Reason To Avoid Choosing WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you implement basic website security measures (which all website owners should do) and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) up-to-date, there’s no reason to avoid choosing WordPress to power your website or blog.

WordPress Security – Practical Tips

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

A vulnerable web site offers malicious users with a resource to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender makes your WordPress site invisible to malicious attacks from hackers and bots. Learn more about this plugin here:

• Blog Defender – How To Make Your Site Hidden To Hackers

If you are currently using an outdated WordPress version make sure you back up your WordPress site files and data before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore everything to its previous settings.

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 fully automate your backup process here: Backup, Clone And Protect Your WP Web Sites With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

Article References

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 web site and how WordPress can help you build a better business online. To learn more about the security benefits of using the WP CMS platform please see our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles are published.

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