In 2013 a worldwide brute force attack hit WordPress installations on almost every host server in existence.

These attacks were caused by botnets (computer networks infected with viruses and programmed to attack other computers).

(WordPress is often the target of malicious attacks by hackers)

In March 2014, technology sites began reporting that over 160,000+ WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.

(Over 160,000 WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 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 reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

Whenever global attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for people to start questioning if WordPress really is a safe platform for running a business web presence.

WordPress is frequently the target of attacks by hackers. But do you really need to be concerned about WordPress as being a secure platform for building your business web presence?

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 by looking at some 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 massive, and this is getting worse.

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

Are “Open Source” Software Applications Safe?

Some people argue that WordPress is not a secure platform for running websites or blogs because it is a freely available open source software program.

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

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

(It’s not a matter of if, but when before someone 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 security holes or weaknesses (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.

This is because WordPress is supported by a large community of hundreds of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who constantly help to improve the platform and make WordPress more secure …

(The WordPress platform is built, maintained and updated by a large community of developers. Source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves through the effort of a huge community working around the clock to fix issues. Everyone benefits from hundreds of minds who are dedicated to improving the software and making WordPress safer for every user …

(WordPress is built and maintained by a large community of volunteers. Screenshot image: make.wordpress.org)

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

(WordPress is continually being improved by thousands of committed individuals community of web developers and users. Screenshot source: make.wordpress.org)

The WordPress community support system is solid and formidable and anyone can help contribute to securing the platform.

For example:

• If you find bugs and security issues, you can report these by emailing security@wordpress.org.
• If you find issues in a WordPress plugin, you can report these by notifying plugins@wordpress.org.

This is the reason why the core development team is constantly releasing new version updates, and why you need to keep your site up-to-date …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Platforms

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS technology like WordPress with proprietary technologies where often a smaller team with limited time and resources is responsible for developing, monitoring and maintaining software security, fixing bugs, etc., and you will quickly understand the security benefits of using WordPress to power your web presence on a secure platform.

WordPress is 100% free to download, use and modify, 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 a completely free application that you can download, use and modify as you wish?

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source CMS Applications

(CMS Platforms)

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

For example, here is one study showing the number of security vulnerabilities discovered in popular platforms during a certain period …

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

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

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

It’s Easier To Blame Technology When Things Go Wrong

When WordPress sites are subjected to brute-force attacks, users shouldn’t be too quick to blame 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“, most webmasters are not fully aware of 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 even know how their sites had been compromised after an attack …

(Many webmasters don’t know how their sites were hacked. Screenshot source: StopBadware.org)

Of immediate concern for WordPress users, however, is the fact that many security problems seem to be related to website owners running WordPress on outdated versions of the software …

(Many WordPress users have not upgraded their WP software. Image source: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were looked at 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% – 75% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally for WordPress …

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

Like many modern software applications, WordPress is regularly updated in order to deal with new security vulnerabilities that may 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.

WordPress … Secure 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 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 use WordPress to build their web presence, including banks, leading brands, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Issues That Can Affect WordPress Site Security

Other studies on issues that affect WordPress security point to things such as:

• No platform is completely safe from security threats. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to using software that is out of date.
• The biggest risk in all content management systems seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore strong password security practices.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. All security systems need to be regularly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Webhosting setup. For example, websites on shared hosting are only as safe as the least secure website on the hosting grid, so if someone else on your shared server gets their site broken into, then all sites on your server become vulnerable to being hacked as well.

There’s No Reason Why You Should Not Use WordPress

As this article has hopefully shown, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you continue to implement basic web security measures and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) updated, there’s really no reason to avoid choosing WordPress to power your website or blog.

WordPress Security – Practical Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute-force attacks see this article:  Ten Ways To Prevent Brute-Force Attacks On WordPress

A vulnerable blog provides hackers with a valuable platform for launching denial of service attacks, spreading malware and engage in information theft. Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to botnets and hackers. Learn more about it here:

• How To Prevent Malicious Attacks On Your WordPress Website From Bots And Hackers

If you are currently using an older WordPress version make sure you back up your site files and data before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore things back to their previous configuration.

If you don’t want to back up your files manually, there are a number of plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Backup, Clone & Protect Your WordPress Web Sites With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

Article References

The above facts were referenced from various 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, this post has given you a better understanding of issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you build a better business online. To learn more about using WordPress please see other posts published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications whenever new content is published.

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