In 2013 a global brute-force attack struck WordPress installations across almost every host server in existence around the world.

These attacks were caused by computer networks infected with viruses and programmed to attack other sites (called “botnets”).

(WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system which makes it a target for malicious attacks by hackers)

In March 2014, many technology sites began reporting that 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Screenshot image: 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 WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When worldwide attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for people to start questioning if WordPress really is a safe application for running an online presence.

WordPress often comes under attack by hackers, due to its global popularity. But should you be concerned about WordPress as being a secure platform for building your business web presence?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should definitely choose 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 around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and this is only going to get worse.

It’s safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time before someone attempts to hack into your site … regardless of the web platform you use!

Since it’s not 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?

Is “Open Source” Secure?

Some people will often argue that WordPress cannot be a secure platform for building and running a business online because it’s an “open source” and freely available software program.

Open-source CMS programs 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 everyone can view the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily download all of the code and go through every single line, searching for security weaknesses in the code that they can exploit …

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

While it’s true that WordPress is a free program and hackers can easily go through the code looking for weaknesses and vulnerabilities that can be exploited (hackers can do the same with any program), the fact that WordPress is a free, open platform actually makes it a whole lot more secure in several ways.

The reason for this is that WordPress is supported by a huge community consisting of thousands of people such as software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help improve the software and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, a huge community of developers worldwide is responsible for keeping the software code up-to-date. Source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress continually evolves because of the effort of thousands of committed volunteers working around the clock to fix issues. Everyone benefits from hundreds of minds who are dedicated to improving the code, fixing bugs and making it safer for every user …

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

As soon as security vulnerabilities are identified by developers or users, these are immediately noted in user forums and addressed by the WordPress core developers …

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

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

For example:

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

This is the reason why the core development team releases new security updates so frequently, and why you continually need to keep your site up-to-date …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Platforms

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS technology like WordPress with proprietary CMS platforms where often the responsibility for improving software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a much smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will quickly realize the value and advantages of using WordPress to power your website or blog on a secure platform.

WordPress 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 software that is 100% free to download, use and modify as they wish?

WordPress Vs Other Open Source CMS Applications

(CMS Platforms - WordPress, Joomla and Drupal)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management systems, there is valid research to support the fact that the WordPress CMS is safer than other Open Source CMS platforms like Drupal and Joomla.

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

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

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

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

Don’t Blame WordPress When Things Go Wrong

Whenever WordPress sites get attacked en masse, users shouldn’t be too quick to blame WordPress.

According to a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises called StopBadware and security vendor Commtouch 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 deal with compromised web security.

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

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

Of more immediate concern is the fact that most security-related problems come from site owners forgetting to upgrade their WordPress software to the latest version …

(Many WordPress sites use outdated versions. Screenshot image: Sucuri.net)

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

(WordPress Security Issues. Screenshot: WebDesign.org)

Like many software platforms, WordPress is regularly updated to deal with new security problems that may arise. Improving software security is an ongoing concern, and to that end, you should always keep your WordPress software, plugins, and themes updated to the latest version.

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

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

In a post entitled “A Bank Website on WordPress” posted 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 use WordPress to build their web presence, not just bloggers.

Other Factors Affecting Site Security

Other research on issues that play a role in website security point to areas such as:

• No platform is safe from security threats. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to being attacked, mostly due to using outdated software.
• The biggest weakness of all content management systems seems to be the users themselves. An example of this is users ignoring strong password security practices.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security processes need to be regularly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, websites on shared hosting servers are only as secure as the least safe website on the hosting grid, so if another user on your shared server gets their site hacked into, then all sites on your server become vulnerable to hacking as well.

There Is No Reason Why You Should Not Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you commit to implementing basic website security measures and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there is really no reason not to choose WordPress.

WordPress Security – Practical Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute force attacks see this article:  10 Security Measures That Can Prevent Brute Force Attacks On WordPress

An unsecured web site presents hackers with a valuable resource to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender makes your WordPress site invisible to bot and hacker attacks. Go here to learn more:

• Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Websites & Blogs

If you are using older WordPress versions remember to make a complete 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 everything to its previous configuration.

If you don’t want to back up your files manually, there are a number of free and paid plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Backup, Copy & Protect Your WordPress Site With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

Article References

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, now you have a better understanding of problems that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you expand your business online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business web site please click on links to visit other posts published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new content is published.

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