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

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

(WordPress often is targeted by hackers, due to its popularity)

In March 2014, many technology sites reported that over 162,000 WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.

(Over 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)

As reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When attacks on WordPress sites are reported in the media, it’s natural for website owners to ask if WordPress really is a secure application for building and running their sites.

WordPress is the world’s most used content management system making it a frequent target for malicious attempts by hackers. But should you 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 at all concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at some facts …

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

The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and things are only going to get worse.

You can safely 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 will be targeted by hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

”How Can Open Source Software Applications Prevent Hacking?”

Some people argue that WordPress should not be used for running websites because it’s a freely available open source software.

Open-source CMS programs 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 code for WordPress, then hackers can also easily download the code and study all of it in detail, searching for weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the code that can be exploited …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but when before your website is targeted by malicious hackers … WordPress or no WordPress!)

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

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

(A large volunteer community is responsible for building and updating the WordPress software platform. Image source: WordPress.org)

WordPress evolves because of the effort of thousands of committed individuals working around the clock to fix issues. It benefits from thousands of web developers, designers and users dedicated to improving the code, identifying and fixing security issues and making WordPress safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built by a large community of users. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

As soon as security weaknesses are discovered by developers or users, the WordPress development team are then notified …

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

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

For example:

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

This is the reason why WordPress is constantly releasing new version updates, and why you need to keep your site frequently updated …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary Applications

Compare what we have just discussed above with proprietary technologies where often the responsibility for improving software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will quickly realize the value of using WordPress to run your business web presence 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 platform. Can a proprietary technology 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 Applications

(CMS Platforms include 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 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 CMS platforms …

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

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

(BlogDefender.com – CMS Tests. Source: BlogDefender.com)

It’s Easier To Blame Technology When Things Go Wrong

If someone breaks into your WordPress site, don’t be quick to place the blame on WordPress.

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 are not fully aware of the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or deal with compromised web security.

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

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

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

(Many WordPress users have not updated their sites. Image source: 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 found in the WordPress core software, while 65% – 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 software platforms, WordPress is updated regularly to address new security issues that could 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.

WordPress … Secure Enough For Banks To Use!

The amount of misinformation about WordPress security has even caused the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, to chime into the 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 choose WordPress to build their presence online, including banks, global corporations, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Areas That Can Affect Website Security

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

• No platform is safe from hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to outdated software.
• The main security weakness of all web platforms seems to be the users themselves. An example of this is users ignoring good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant monitoring. Security processes need to be frequently monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, websites on shared webhosting are only as safe as the least secure site on the grid, so if someone else has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then every site on your shared server can potentially become vulnerable.

There Is No Reason Not To Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is as secure as most of the leading web platforms being used by businesses to build their presence online. As long as you commit to implementing basic security measures (which all website owners should do) and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there is really no reason why you should not use WordPress to power 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:  WordPress Brute-Force Attack Prevention Measures

A compromised blog presents hackers with a resource to launch distributed attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender makes your WordPress site invisible to attacks from hackers and bots. Learn more about it here:

• Protect Your WordPress Site From Hackers And Bots With Blog Defender

If you are using outdated WordPress versions remember to back up everything before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore your web site or blog to its previous state.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, there are a number of free and paid WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here: Back Up, Clone & Protect Your WordPress Sites With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

Article References

The above statistics were sourced from the following sites:

• ITProPortal.com
• National Vulnerability Database
• BlogDefender.com
• UpAndUpStudios.com
• StopBadware.org
• Sucuri.net
• WebDesign.org
• Quora.com
• Ma.tt

Hopefully, the above information has given you a better understanding of problems that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you grow your business online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business web site please see our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications whenever new articles are published.

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