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

These attacks were caused by networks of infected computers programmed to attack other installations, also commonly known as “botnets”.

(WordPress powers millions of websites and blogs worldwide, making it a frequent target for hacker attacks)

On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that 162,000 WordPress web sites had been hacked.

(Over 160,000 WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Screenshot: BlogDefender site)

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)

According to leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When attacks on WordPress sites seem to increase, it’s natural for people to question if WordPress really is a secure application for running a business web presence.

WordPress is frequently the target of malicious attempts by hackers. But should you really 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 definitely consider using WordPress if you are concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at facts …

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

The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and things are getting worse.

It’s safe to assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time before someone does attempt to hack into your site … 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 malicious hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

”How Can Open Source Programs Be Protected From Hacking?”

Many people will often try and argue that WordPress cannot be a secure platform for building and running websites or blogs because it’s a freely available open source software program.

Open-source CMS programs 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 code for WordPress, then hackers can easily get hold of the code and go through every single line, searching for weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the code that they can exploit …

(It’s not a matter of if, but when before a malicious user will try to hack your website … WordPress or no WordPress!)

While it’s true that WordPress is a free application and hackers can easily access it and study the code searching for security holes and vulnerabilities they can exploit (hackers can do the same with any software), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source application actually makes it more secure in a number of ways.

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

(With WordPress, a volunteer community of web developers is responsible for keeping the code updated. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress continually evolves because of the effort of a huge volunteer community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from thousands of web developers, designers and users who are dedicated to improving the code, fixing bugs and making it safer for every user …

(WordPress is built by a global community of users. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

As soon as a security hole is discovered by developers or users, these are recorded 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. Source: make.wordpress.org)

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

For example:

• If you find bugs or a security vulnerability, you can report these by notifying security@wordpress.org.
• If you find any issues in a plugin, you can also report these by notifying plugins@wordpress.org.

This is the reason why WordPress releases new version updates so often, and why you need to keep your site up-to-date …

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

WordPress CMS Vs Proprietary CMS Platforms

Contrast what we have just discussed above with proprietary technologies where often the responsibility for improving software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a small team of developers with limited resources and you will quickly realize the value and advantages of using WordPress to run your business web presence on a secure platform.

WordPress is 100% free to download, use and modify, and thousands of volunteers and expert developers are continually working to improve the platform. Can a proprietary technology company afford to employ as many developers and programmers and still deliver users a free CMS application that they can download, use and modify as they wish?

WordPress Vs Other Open Source CMS Applications

(CMS Platforms)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management systems, there is valid research showing that the WordPress CMS is actually safer than other leading Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

For example, the chart below shows the number of security vulnerabilities found in each of these open source CMS platforms …

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

Other studies also show that, because WordPress is quite easy to use and keep updated, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security issues, WordPress sites had fewer exposure to risk …

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

Don’t Blame WordPress

If someone hacks into your WordPress site, don’t be quick to place the blame on 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 properly secure a website, or how to deal with compromised web security.

In fact, 63% of webmasters surveyed in this report didn’t even know how their websites were hacked after an attack …

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

Of immediate concern is the fact that most security issues seem to be related to website owners forgetting to upgrade their WordPress software to the latest version …

(Many WordPress users have not updated their 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 found in the WordPress core software, while 70% – 80% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and extensions …

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

Like many web platforms, WordPress is regularly updated in order to deal with new security issues that can arise. Improving security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress.

WordPress Is Used By Many Security-Conscious Organizations!

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

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 around the world, including banks, leading brands and e-commerce sites use WordPress to build their websites, not just bloggers.

Other Factors Affecting Security

Other areas that can affect blog security include issues like:

• No platform is immune to hacking. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to outdated software.
• The biggest risk in all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security practices.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security systems need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, websites on shared hosting are only as safe as the least secure website on the hosting grid, so if another user on your shared server gets their site hacked into, then all sites on the server can potentially become vulnerable.

There’s No Reason Why You Shouldn’t Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you commit to implementing basic web security measures and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) up-to-date, there is no reason why you should not choose WordPress for your website or blog.

WordPress Security – Tips

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

A vulnerable web site offers malicious users with a platform to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and use your site to defraud online users. Blog Defender Security Plugin for WordPress Blogs makes your WordPress site invisible to malicious attacks from hackers and bots. Go here to learn more:

• How To Prevent Malicious Cyberattacks On Your WordPress Site By Hackers And Bots With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are using older WordPress versions remember to back up your WordPress site fully before updating your software to protect your site from the latest security risks. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, 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, Clone & Keep Your WordPress Websites Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

References Used In This Article

For more information on the above, refer to the sites 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 build a better business online. To learn more about using the WP web site management platform please click on links to visit other articles published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles or tutorials are published.

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