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

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

(WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system which makes it a frequent target for malicious attacks by hackers)

In March 2014, many leading technology sites reported that over 162,000 legitimate WordPress websites had been hacked.

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 2014. Source: 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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

Whenever global brute-force attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for website owners to start asking if WordPress really is a safe application for running their websites.

Powering millions of websites worldwide makes WordPress a target for hacking. But do you need to be concerned about WordPress as being a secure web platform?

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 with the facts …

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

The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and things are getting worse.

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

Is An “Open Source” Software Really Safe?

Many people argue that WordPress cannot be a secure platform for running a website or blog because its “open source” code is freely available.

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

The argument against WordPress, then, goes something like this: If anyone can view the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can also easily get hold of the code and go through it, looking for holes and weaknesses in the code that could be exploited …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but a matter of 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 go through the code looking for security vulnerabilities and weaknesses (hackers can do the same with any software), the fact that WordPress is a free, open platform actually makes it a lot more secure in many ways.

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

(With WordPress, a volunteer community of web developers is responsible for keeping the platform code up-to-date. Screenshot source: WordPress.org)

WordPress evolves through the effort of a huge community working around the clock to fix issues. Everyone benefits from hundreds of web developers, designers and users dedicated to improving the application, identifying and fixing security issues and making it safer for every user …

(WordPress is built and maintained by a large community of contributors. Source: make.wordpress.org)

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

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

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is quite formidable and anyone can help contribute to the process of fixing security issues.

For example:

• If you discover bugs and a security hole, you can report these by notifying security@wordpress.org.
• If you find issues in a WP plugin, you can report these by sending an email to plugins@wordpress.org.

This is the reason why the WordPress team releases new updates regularly, and why you continually need to keep your WordPress site updated …

(WordPress frequently releases new updates to plug security issues)

WordPress Vs Proprietary CMS Applications

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS platform like WordPress with proprietary platforms where often the responsibility for improving software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a small team of developers with limited resources and you will very quickly realize the value and advantages of using WordPress to power your web presence on a secure platform.

The WordPress CMS is 100% free to download, modify and use, and thousands of volunteers and expert developers work on improving the software. Can a proprietary CMS 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 CMS Vs Other Open Source Applications

(CMS Platforms)

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

For example, the chart below shows how many security vulnerabilities were found in popular CMS platforms …

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

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

(WordPress users are less exposed to exploits than other CMS platform users. Source: BlogDefender.com)

WordPress Should Not Be Blamed

Whenever WordPress sites get subjected to brute-force attacks, you shouldn’t be quick to place the blame on the WordPress CMS platform.

According to security organizations Commtouch and StopBadware in a published report entitled “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective“, many webmasters have no idea about the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or how to deal with compromises.

In fact, over sixty percent of webmasters surveyed in this report didn’t even know how their websites had been hacked after an attack …

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

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

(Many WordPress users have not updated their WP sites. Image: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were examined in more detail, it was found that only around between 25% – 30% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in 3rd-party code are actually found in the WordPress core software, while 65% – 75% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally for WordPress …

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

Like all robust web platforms, WordPress is updated regularly in order to address new security threats that can arise. Improving security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress.

WordPress Is Secure – Just Ask Any Bank Using It!

The amount of misinformation about WordPress security has even led 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 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 presence online, not just bloggers.

Other Areas That Can Affect WordPress Security

Other issues that can affect WordPress security include:

• No platform is safe 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 biggest security vulnerability in all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. An example of this is users ignoring strong password security practices.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security processes need to be regularly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, sites on shared webhosting are only as safe as the least safe website on the grid, so if another user has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then every site on your server is potentially vulnerable.

There’s No Reason Why You Should Not Use 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 website security measures and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) up-to-date, there is no reason why you shouldn’t 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:  10 Security Measures That Can Prevent Brute Force Attacks On WordPress

An unsecured website provides hackers with a resource for launching denial of service attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft. Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to botnet and hacker attacks. Learn more about this plugin here:

• Make Your Website Unseen By Hackers With Blog Defender

If you are using outdated WordPress versions remember to back up your website fully 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 former state.

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

References

The above facts 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 issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you grow your business online. To learn more about using WordPress please see other articles we have published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new content is published.

***