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

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

(Powering millions of websites and blogs worldwide makes WordPress a target for attempted attacks by malicious users)

On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that over 162,000 WordPress websites 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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When attacks on WordPress sites take place on a global scale, it’s natural for people to ask if WordPress really is a safe platform for building and running websites.

WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS which makes it a natural target for hacking 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 with the 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 the situation is only going to get worse.

It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’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 your website has been built with!

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

”Isn’t Open Source Software Highly Vulnerable?”

Many people will often argue that WordPress should not be used for running websites and blogs because its “open source” code is freely available.

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

The argument, then, goes something like this: If anyone can access the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can easily obtain all of the code and study every line in detail, looking for holes and weaknesses that can be exploited …

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

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

The reason for this is that WordPress has the support of an open volunteer community comprised of thousands of people such as software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who constantly help improve the program and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, a global volunteer community of web developers is responsible for keeping the core application code maintained and updated. Screenshot image: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves because of the effort of a huge community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from hundreds of minds who are dedicated to improving the application, identifying and fixing security issues and making WordPress safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built and maintained by an open community of WordPress users. Source: WordPress.org)

The moment any security weaknesses are discovered by developers or users, these are reported in user forums and addressed by the WordPress core developers …

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

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is quite formidable and anyone can contribute to the process of addressing security issues.

For example:

• If you discover bugs or a security weakness, you can report these by emailing security@wordpress.org.
• If you find any issues in a plugin, you can report these by emailing plugins@wordpress.org.

This is the reason why the core development team is constantly releasing new version updates, and why you continually need to keep your site regularly maintained …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary Applications

Contrast what we have just discussed above with proprietary CMS platforms where often the responsibility for maintaining software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will very 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 work on improving the software. 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 Vs Other Open Source CMS Applications

(CMS Platforms)

Whilst on the topic of Open Source content management applications, research shows that the WordPress CMS is safer than other leading Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

For example, the chart below shows how many security vulnerabilities were found in popular CMS platforms …

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

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

(WordPress users are not as exposed to security exploits as other CMS platform users. Image source: BlogDefender.com)

Don’t Blame The Technology

If someone compromises the security of your WordPress site, don’t be quick to blame the WordPress CMS platform.

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 website owners 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 sixty percent of webmasters surveyed for the report didn’t know how their websites had been hacked after an attack …

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

Of more immediate concern, however, is the fact that many security-related issues come from site owners running WordPress on outdated versions of the software …

(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 actually found in the WordPress core software, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally for WordPress …

(WordPress Security Issues. Image: WebDesign.org)

Like many modern web applications, WordPress is regularly updated to address new security issues that can arise. Improving software security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep your WordPress software, plugins, and themes up-to-date.

WordPress … Secure Enough For Banks To Use!

The amount of misinformation online about how secure WordPress is 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” 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 research on issues that play a role in WordPress security point to factors like:

• No platform is completely safe from hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to being attacked, mostly due to outdated software.
• The biggest vulnerability of 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 systems require constant monitoring, testing, updating and improvement.
• Server setup. For example, sites on shared webhosting servers are only as secure as the least secure site on the hosting grid, so if another user has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then all sites on the server can potentially become vulnerable.

There’s No Reason Not To Use WordPress

As this article has hopefully shown, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you implement basic security measures (which all website owners should do) and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there is no reason why you shouldn’t use WordPress to power your web site or blog.

WordPress Security – Tips

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

A compromised site presents hackers with a resource for denial of service attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft. Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets. Learn more about this plugin here:

• Prevent Malicious Attacks On Your WP Websites From Hackers & Botnets With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are using older versions of WordPress make sure you make a full site backup before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore your website to its previous settings.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, there are a number of plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Back Up, Duplicate & Keep Your WordPress Sites Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

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 web site and how WordPress can help you improve your business online. To learn more about the security benefits of using WordPress for a business website please see other articles we have published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles or tutorials are published.

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