In early 2013 a worldwide brute force attack struck WordPress installations on almost every WP hosting server in existence.

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

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

In March 2014, many technology sites reported that over 160,000+ legitimate WordPress 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 WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

Whenever brute-force attacks on WordPress sites increase in frequency, it’s natural for people to question just how secure WordPress is as a platform for running their websites.

Powering millions of sites around the world makes WordPress a target for malicious attempts by hackers. But do you really need to be concerned about WordPress as a secure web platform?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should consider using WordPress if you are concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at facts …

Thousands of websites 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 the situation is getting worse.

It’s 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 you use!

Since it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when before your website is targeted by hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

The “Open Source” Argument For Security “Weakness”

Some people often argue that WordPress should not be used for running a business online because it is “open source” and freely available software program.

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

The argument, then, goes something like this: If anyone can view the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can easily get hold of the code and study it, searching for vulnerabilities in the code that can be exploited …

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

While it’s true that WordPress is free to download and hackers can easily access it and study the code searching for security holes and vulnerabilities (hackers can do the same with any software program), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source platform actually makes it more secure in a number of ways.

This is because WordPress has the support of a huge community consisting of hundreds of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help to improve the platform and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, the core application is built, maintained and updated by a community of web developers around the world. Screenshot source: WordPress.org)

WordPress evolves because of the effort of thousands of committed individuals working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from hundreds of minds who, at any one time, are focused on improving the code, identifying and fixing security issues and making it safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built by a large community of volunteer members. Screenshot image: WordPress.org)

As soon as any security issue is identified by developers or users, the WordPress development team are then made aware of it …

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

The WordPress community support system is quite formidable and anyone can help contribute to improving the software.

For example:

• If you find bugs and security issues, 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 why the core development team releases new updates on a regular basis, and why you continually need to keep your site up-to-date …

(WordPress frequently releases new updates to address any security exploits found)

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Platforms

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

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

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source CMS Platforms

(CMS Platforms)

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

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

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

Other research shows that, because WordPress is easy to use and maintain, when sites across 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)

It’s Easier To Blame Technology When Things Go Wrong

When WordPress sites get attacked en masse, users shouldn’t be too quick to blame the WordPress CMS platform.

According to security organizations Commtouch and StopBadware in a published report entitled “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective“, a large number of website owners are not fully aware of the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or how to deal with security compromises.

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

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

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

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

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only a small percentage of vulnerabilities discovered in third-party code are actually found in the WordPress CMS core, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally …

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

Like many modern web platforms, WordPress is updated regularly to deal with new security threats that can arise. Improving software security is an ongoing concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress software, themes, plugins, etc..

WordPress Is Used By Many Security-Conscious Organizations!

The amount of misinformation online about WordPress security has even led Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, to chime in and reply to posts online.

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

Other Factors That Can Affect Blog Security

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

• No platform is safe from hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to being attacked, mostly due to using outdated software.
• The main risk in all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. An example of this is users ignoring strong password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security systems need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, websites on shared webhosting are only as secure as the least safe site on the hosting grid, so if someone else has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then every site on the shared server can potentially become vulnerable to being hacked as well.

There Is No Reason Not To Use WordPress

As this article has hopefully shown, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you continue to implement basic web security measures (which all website owners should do) and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) regularly updated, there is no reason to avoid choosing WordPress.

WordPress Security – Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute force attacks see this article:  Preventing WordPress Brute Force Attacks

A compromised blog provides malicious users with a valuable resource to launch distributed attacks, spread malware and use your website to steal information from innocent people. Blog Defender Security Plugin for WordPress makes your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets. Go here to learn more:

• Secure Your WP Web Sites From Hackers

If you are currently using an older WordPress version make sure you make a backup before updating your software to protect your site from the latest security risks. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore things back to their previous state.

If you don’t want to back up your data 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 backup process here: Back Up, Copy And Keep Your WP Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

References Used In This Article

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 web site 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 our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles or tutorials are published.

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