In April 2013 a worldwide brute-force attack struck WordPress installations across virtually every web host in existence.

These attacks were caused by botnets (computers infected with malware and programmed to attack other sites with security vulnerabilities).

(WordPress is often the target of attacks by hackers, due to its global popularity)

On March 11, 2014, many technology sites reported that 160,000+ WordPress sites had been hacked.

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Image source: BlogDefender website)

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 sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When attacks on WordPress sites take place on a worldwide scale, it’s natural for people to start asking if WordPress really is a secure platform for running an online presence.

WordPress powers millions of websites and blogs worldwide, making it a natural target for hacker attacks. But do you really need to 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 consider using WordPress if you are at all concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at some facts …

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

The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and it’s getting worse.

It’s probably 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 a matter of when before your website will be targeted by malicious hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Is “Open Source” Safe?

Many people often argue that WordPress should not be used for running websites and blogs because having open source code means that anyone can view how the application code works.

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

The argument against using WordPress, then, goes something like this: If anyone can study the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can easily download the code and study it, looking for vulnerabilities that could be exploited …

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

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

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

(A large volunteer community of web developers worldwide build, maintain and update. Screenshot source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves largely through the effort of a huge volunteer community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. It benefits from thousands of minds dedicated to improving the code, fixing bugs and making it safer for every user …

(WordPress is built and maintained by an open community of web developers. Screenshot image: make.wordpress.org)

As soon as a security hole is discovered by developers or users, these are reported in user forums and addressed by the WordPress developers …

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

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

For example:

• If you come across bugs or security vulnerabilities, you can report these by notifying security@wordpress.org.
• If you find any issues in a WP plugin, you can report these by notifying plugins@wordpress.org.

This is why the WordPress team releases new version updates so frequently, and why you continually need to keep your sites and blogs regularly updated …

(WordPress continually releases new version updates to plug security vulnerabilities)

WordPress CMS Vs Proprietary CMS Applications

We’ve just seen that one of the security advantages of using an open source 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 is developed by a small team of developers with limited time and resources to provide continuous security monitoring, software maintenance, bug fixes and updates.

The WordPress CMS is free to download, use and modify, 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 you a completely free platform that you can download, use and modify as you wish?

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source Applications

(CMS Platforms - WordPress, Joomla and Drupal)

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

For example, here is one study showing the number of security vulnerabilities discovered in each of these open source CMS platforms …

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

Other research indicates that, because WordPress is easy to use and keep up-to-date, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security exploits, sites built with WordPress had fewer exposure to risk …

(Blog Defender – CMS Tests. Image source: BlogDefender.com)

WordPress Is Not At Fault

Whenever WordPress sites are subjected to brute-force attacks, don’t be too quick to place the blame on WordPress.

According to a report called “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective,” which is published by security organizations Commtouch and StopBadware, most website owners have no idea about the threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or deal with security compromises.

In fact, over 60% of webmasters surveyed for the report didn’t know how their sites had been compromised after an attack …

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

Of immediate concern, however, is the fact that most security issues seem to be related to website owners running sites with an outdated version of WordPress …

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

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only around between 20% – 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 extensions created by third-party developers …

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

Like all robust software applications, WordPress is updated regularly in order to deal with new security problems that could 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, themes, plugins, etc..

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

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

In a blog 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, global corporations and e-commerce sites choose WordPress to build their web presence, not just bloggers.

Other Factors Affecting Security

Other areas that can affect blog security include:

• 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 using outdated software.
• The main security vulnerability of all CMS platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant monitoring. Security processes need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Hosting server setup. For example, websites on shared webhosting accounts are only as secure as the least secure website on the grid, so if another user has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then every site on your server can potentially become vulnerable.

There Is No Reason Why You Should Not Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is as secure as most of the leading web platforms being used by businesses of all sizes to build their presence online. As long as you remember to implement basic web security measures and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there’s no reason not to use WordPress to run your web site or blog.

WordPress Security – Useful Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute-force attacks see this article:  10 Things You Can Do To Help Prevent Brute-Force Attacks On WordPress

A vulnerable web site offers 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 attacks from hackers and botnets. Go here to learn more:

• Prevent Hackers From Attacking Your Blogs With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are using older WordPress versions make sure to back up your site fully 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.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many free and paid WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here: Back Up, Copy And Protect Your WordPress Sites With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

Article References

The above statistics 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 issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you grow your business online. To learn more about the security benefits of using the WordPress web site management platform please see our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles are published.

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