In early 2013, WordPress installations around the world were subjected to a global-scale brute force attack.

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

(Being the world’s most used CMS makes WordPress a target for hacking)

In March 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 160,000+ WordPress-powered websites 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)

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.

Whenever worldwide attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for website owners to question just how safe and secure WordPress is as a platform for building and running websites.

WordPress powers millions of websites and blogs worldwide, making it a natural target for hackers. But should you really be concerned about WordPress as being a secure web platform?

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 attacked every year … not just WordPress sites!

The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and it’s only going to get worse.

It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time … regardless of the web platform you use!

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

Are “Open Source” Software Programs Secure?

Some people will often try and argue that WordPress should not be used for building and running a business online because having open source code means that anyone can view how the program was built.

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

The argument, then, goes something like this: If anyone can access the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can also easily obtain the code and go through every line, searching for security weaknesses that could be exploited …

(It’s not a matter of if, but when before someone tries to hack your website … WordPress or no WordPress!)

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

This is because WordPress is supported by a large volunteer community consisting of hundreds of people such as software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who constantly help improve the platform and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, a community of hundreds of volunteers around the world is responsible for keeping the software code maintained and updated. Image source: WordPress.org)

WordPress continually evolves through the effort of thousands of committed individuals working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. It benefits from hundreds of individuals who, at any one time, are focused on improving the application, fixing bugs and making WordPress safer for every user …

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

The moment that a security issue is discovered by developers or users, the WordPress core developers are then notified …

(WordPress is continually being improved upon by thousands of committed individuals community of users and developers. Image source: WordPress.org)

The WordPress community support system is very responsive and anybody can help contribute to securing the software.

For example:

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

This is the reason why the core development team releases new version updates so frequently, and why you need to keep your site updated and maintained …

(WordPress frequently releases new updates to address security holes)

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Platforms

Contrast what we have just discussed above with proprietary 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 understand the value and advantages of using WordPress to power your business web presence on a secure platform.

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

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source Platforms

(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 leading Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

For example, the chart below shows the number of security vulnerabilities discovered in each of these platforms during a given period …

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

Other research indicates that, because WordPress is easy to use and keep up-to-date, when sites across different CMS platforms were tested for security vulnerabilities, sites run on WordPress had less exposure to risk …

(WordPress users are less exposed to risks than other CMS platform users. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)

Don’t Blame WordPress When Things Go Wrong

If someone compromises the security of your WordPress site, don’t be 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 have no idea about the security 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 in this report didn’t even know how their sites had been hacked after an attack …

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

Of immediate concern for WordPress users, however, is the fact that most security-related problems arise from website owners running sites with an outdated version of WordPress …

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

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only around between 25% – 35% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in 3rd-party code are found in the WordPress core software, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally …

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

Like many software applications, WordPress is regularly updated to address new security threats 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 – Even Banks Use It!

The amount of misinformation online about how secure WordPress is has even caused the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, 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 web presence, including banks, leading brands, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Factors That Can Affect Blog Security

Other areas that can affect site security include factors such as:

• No platform is protected from security threats. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to being attacked, mostly due to software that is out of date.
• The biggest risk in all content management systems seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. All security processes need to be frequently monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, websites on shared webhosting are only as secure as the least secure website on the hosting grid, so if another user has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then all sites on that server can potentially become vulnerable to being hacked also.

There’s No Reason To Avoid Choosing WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you remember to implement basic web security measures (which all website owners should do, regardless of their technology platform) and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there’s no reason not to use WordPress to drive your web site 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 Or Blog From Brute Force Attacks

A vulnerable website offers hackers with a resource for launching denial of service attacks, spreading malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to hackers and bots. Go here to learn more:

• Prevent Bots And Hackers From Attacking Your WP Web Site With Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin

If you are using older WordPress versions remember to back up your site fully 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 state.

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

Article References

For more information on the above, see the following sources:

• 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 get better business results online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business website or blog please see other articles we have published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles are published.

***