In 2013, WordPress installations around the world were subjected to worldwide brute-force attacks.

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

(Being the world’s most popular content management system makes WordPress a target for hacking)

On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that 160,000+ WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 2014. Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)

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

When global attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for website owners to start asking just how secure WordPress is as a platform for running a business web presence.

Powering millions of websites around the world makes WordPress an obvious target for hackers. But should you really be concerned about WordPress as a secure web platform?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should definitely choose WordPress if you have any concerns about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start with the facts …

Thousands of websites are attacked 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 only a matter of time … regardless of the web platform your website has been built with!

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

Is An “Open Source” Software Safe?

Many people will often try and argue that WordPress cannot be a safe platform for running a web presence 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 software code.

The argument, then, goes something like this: If anyone can view the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can also easily obtain the code and study every single line, looking for security holes in the code that could be exploited …

(It’s no longer 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 program and hackers can easily go through the code looking for holes and weaknesses that can be exploited (hackers can do the same with any software), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source software platform actually makes it a whole lot more secure in a number of ways.

The reason for this is that WordPress has the support of a community that consists of hundreds of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who constantly help to improve the software and make WordPress more secure …

(An open volunteer community of web developers worldwide is responsible for maintaining and updating WordPress. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress continually evolves because of the effort of hundreds of committed volunteers working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. It benefits from hundreds of web developers, designers and users dedicated to improving the code and making it safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built by an open community of volunteer members. Image source: WordPress.org)

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

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

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is solid and formidable and anybody can help contribute to improving the platform.

For example:

• If you come across bugs or security weaknesses, you can report these by sending an email to security@wordpress.org.
• If you find any issues in a WP plugin, you can also report these by sending an email to plugins@wordpress.org.

This is one of the reasons why the WordPress team is constantly releasing new version updates, and why you continually need to keep your sites and blogs regularly updated …

(WordPress continually releases new updates to address security exploits)

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Platforms

Contrast what we have just discussed above with proprietary technologies where often a smaller team with limited resources is responsible for developing, monitoring and maintaining software security, fixing bugs, etc., and you will quickly understand the value and advantages of using WordPress to run your websites and blogs on a secure platform.

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

WordPress Vs Other Open Source CMS Applications

(CMS Platforms)

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

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

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

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

(WordPress is safer to use than other CMS platforms. Image source: BlogDefender.com)

It’s Easier To Blame Technology When Things Go Wrong

When WordPress sites get attacked, don’t be quick to blame WordPress.

According to a report called “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective,” which is published by a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises called StopBadware and security vendor Commtouch, many webmasters are not fully aware of the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or how to deal with compromised web security.

In fact, over 60% of webmasters surveyed in this report didn’t even know how their websites were hacked after an attack …

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

Of more immediate concern for WordPress users, however, is the fact that many security problems seem to be related to users running sites with an outdated version of WordPress …

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

When WordPress security issues were examined in more detail, it was found that only around between 20% – 35% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in 3rd-party code are actually found in the WordPress CMS core, while 70% – 80% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and extensions created by 3rd-party developers …

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

Like all robust web applications, WordPress is updated regularly to deal with new security threats that may arise. Improving 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 … Good Enough For Banks To Use!

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

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, including banks, global corporations and e-commerce sites choose WordPress to build their websites, not just bloggers.

Other Areas That Can Affect WP Site Security

Other areas that can affect blog security include:

• No platform is completely immune to hacking. 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 in all CMS platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore strong password security practices.
• Lack of constant monitoring. Security systems need frequent monitoring, testing, updating and improvement.
• Server setup. For example, sites on shared hosting are only as safe as the least secure website on the grid, so if someone else has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then all sites on that server are potentially vulnerable to being hacked as well.

There Is No Reason Not To Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you commit to implementing basic security measures and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) updated, there is really no reason to avoid using WordPress for your website or blog.

WordPress Security – Useful Tips

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

A vulnerable site offers hackers with a platform for distributed attacks, spreading malware and as a source of information theft. Blog Defender makes your WordPress site invisible to botnets and hackers. Go here to learn more:

• Prevent Malicious Cyber-Attacks On Your WP Website From Botnets & Hackers

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

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

References

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

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