In 2013 a worldwide brute-force attack began hitting WordPress installations on virtually every host server in existence around the world.

These attacks were caused by computer networks infected with malware and programmed to attack other vulnerable sites (called “botnets”).

(WordPress powers millions of websites around the world, making it a frequent target for hacking attacks)

On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.

(Over 160,000 WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Image 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 WordPress sites 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 people to question if WordPress really is a safe platform for running a business web presence.

Powering millions of sites around the world makes WordPress a target for hacking attempts. But do you need to be concerned about WordPress as being a secure platform for building your business presence online?

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

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start with some facts …

Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year … not just WordPress sites!

The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and this is getting worse.

You can safely assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time … 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 Vulnerable Are “Open Source” Software Applications?

Some people often argue that WordPress cannot be a secure platform for running a web presence 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, then, goes something like this: If everyone can view the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can easily download all of the code and go through it in great detail, searching for security vulnerabilities in the code that can be exploited …

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

While it’s true that WordPress is a free program and hackers can easily access it and study the code searching for security holes or vulnerabilities (hackers can do the same with any program), the fact that WordPress is a free, open-source application actually makes it a whole lot more secure in many ways.

This is because WordPress is supported by an open community consisting of thousands of people such as software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who are constantly working to help improve the platform and make WordPress more secure …

(With WordPress, the core application is built, maintained and updated by an open community of developers around the world. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves largely through the effort of thousands of committed individuals working around the clock to fix issues. Everyone benefits from hundreds of individuals who are dedicated to improving the software and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built and maintained by a global community of contributors. Screenshot source: WordPress.org)

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

(WordPress is continually being improved by an open community of users and developers. Image: 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 and a security exploit, you can report these by emailing security@wordpress.org.
• If you find issues in a WP plugin, you can also report these by sending an email to plugins@wordpress.org.

This is why the WordPress team releases new updates so frequently, and why you need to keep your sites and blogs frequently up-to-date …

(WordPress frequently releases new updates to plug security weaknesses)

WordPress CMS Vs Proprietary CMS Applications

We’ve just seen that one of the security advantages of using an ”open” platform like WordPress is that users benefit from a large community of developers who continually contribute to improve code security. By contrast, a proprietary or “closed-source” software application is typically built by a small team of developers with limited time and resources to provide continuous security monitoring, software maintenance, bug fixes and software fixes.

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

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source Platforms

(CMS Platforms include WordPress, Joomla and Drupal)

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

For example, here is one study showing how many security vulnerabilities were found in popular open source platforms during a given period …

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

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

(BlogDefender.com – CMS Tests. Image source: BlogDefender.com)

Don’t Blame WordPress When Things Go Wrong

Whenever WordPress sites are subjected to brute-force attacks, don’t be too quick to place the blame on WordPress.

According to a report called “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective,” published by a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises called StopBadware and security vendor Commtouch, many webmasters have no idea about the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or deal with compromised web security.

In fact, 63% of webmasters surveyed in this report didn’t even know how their websites were compromised by hackers after an attack …

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

Of immediate concern, however, is the fact that many security-related problems result from website owners running sites with an outdated version of WordPress …

(Many security issues come from sites running outdated WordPress versions. Screenshot image: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only between 20% – 35% percent 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 …

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

Like all robust web 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 your WordPress software, plugins, and themes up-to-date.

WordPress … Good Enough For Banks To Use!

The amount of misinformation online about how secure WordPress is has even caused Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, to chime in and reply to posts online.

In a 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 around the world choose WordPress to build their presence online, including banks, leading brands, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Factors Affecting Security

Other research on issues that play a role in WordPress security point to factors such as:

• No platform is protected from hackers. 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 main weakness in all content management systems seems to be the users themselves. An example of this is users ignoring strong password security practices.
• Lack of constant monitoring. Security processes require constant monitoring, testing, updating and improvement.
• Server setup. For example, sites on shared hosting accounts are only as secure 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 the server can potentially become vulnerable to being hacked as well.

There Is No Reason Why You Shouldn’t Choose WordPress

As you can see, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you remember to implement basic website security measures and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) up-to-date, there’s no reason not to use WordPress.

WordPress Security – Practical Tips

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

A vulnerable blog presents hackers with a platform for distributed attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft. Blog Defender Security Plugin makes your WordPress site invisible to bot and hacker attacks. Go here to learn more:

• Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin

If you are using older WordPress versions remember to back up your site before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here: Backup, Copy And Keep Your WP Websites And Blogs Protected 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 article has given you a better understanding of issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you improve your business online. To learn more about the security benefits of using the WP web site management software please click on links to visit our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles are published.

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