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

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

(Powering millions of websites and blogs worldwide makes WordPress a target for malicious attempts by hackers)

In March 2014, technology sites began reporting that 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 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 websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

When brute-force attacks on WordPress sites increase in frequency, it’s natural for website owners to start asking if WordPress really is a secure platform for running a business web presence.

WordPress often is targeted 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 definitely consider choosing WordPress if you are concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at facts …

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

The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and it’s 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 no longer a matter of if, but a matter of when before your website will be targeted by malicious hackers, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Is “Open Source” Safe From Hacking?

Some people argue that WordPress cannot be a secure platform for running websites because its “open source” code is freely available.

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 against WordPress, then, goes something like this: If everyone can access the Open Source code for WordPress, then hackers can also easily obtain all of the code and go through all of it in detail, looking for security holes that they could exploit …

(It’s not 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 free to download and hackers can easily access it and study the code searching for weaknesses or vulnerabilities (hackers can do the same with any software program), 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 is supported by a global volunteer community of hundreds of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who constantly help to improve the software and make WordPress more secure …

(A large volunteer community is responsible for building, maintaining and updating WordPress. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves largely through the effort of a global volunteer community working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. Everyone benefits from hundreds of individuals who, at any one time, are focused on improving the code and making WordPress safer for every user …

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

As soon as any security hole is identified by developers or users, the WordPress core developers are then notified …

(WordPress is continually being improved upon by an open community of web developers and users. Image source: make.wordpress.org)

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

For example:

• If you come across bugs or a security issue, you can report these by emailing security@wordpress.org.
• If you find any issues in a WordPress plugin, you can report these by emailing plugins@wordpress.org.

This is one of the reasons why the core development team is constantly releasing new version updates, and why you continually need to keep your sites and blogs regularly updated …

(WordPress continually releases new version updates to plug security exploits)

WordPress Vs Proprietary Applications

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

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 technology company afford to employ as many developers and programmers and still deliver you a free CMS 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 applications, there is valid research showing that the WordPress CMS is safer than other Open Source CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla.

For example, here is one study showing how many security vulnerabilities were discovered in popular CMS platforms …

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

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

(WordPress has less exposure to risk than other leading CMS platforms. Image: BlogDefender.com)

Don’t Blame The WordPress CMS

If someone compromises the security of your WordPress site, don’t be too quick to blame WordPress.

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 secure a website, or deal with compromised web security.

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

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

Of more immediate concern for WordPress users, however, is the fact that many security-related issues arise from website owners running sites with an outdated version of WordPress …

(Many security issues come from sites running an outdated WordPress version. 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 found in the WordPress CMS core, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally …

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

Like all robust web platforms, WordPress is updated regularly to address new security problems that could arise. Improving security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep up to date with the latest version of WordPress software, plugins, themes, etc..

WordPress … Secure Enough For Banks To Use!

The amount of misinformation about how secure WordPress is has even led the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, to chime into the debate.

In an article entitled “A Bank Website on WordPress” published 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 use WordPress to build their web presence, including banks, global corporations, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Areas That Can Affect Security

Other factors that can affect WP website security include areas like:

• No platform is protected from security threats. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to outdated software.
• The main threat in all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore good password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. Security processes need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, sites on shared hosting are only as secure as the least secure site on the hosting grid, so if another user has a weak FTP password on your shared server, then all sites on the server are potentially vulnerable.

There’s No Reason Why You Shouldn’t Choose WordPress

As this article has hopefully shown, WordPress is a secure web platform. As long as you remember to implement basic security measures (which all website owners should do, regardless of their chosen web platform) and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) regularly up-to-date, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t use WordPress.

WordPress Security – Useful Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute-force attacks see this article:  Ten Things You Can Do To Prevent Brute-Force Attacks On Your WordPress Site

An unsecured blog offers hackers with a resource for launching denial of service attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft. Blog Defender makes your WordPress site invisible to botnets and hackers. Go here to learn more:

• Prevent Hackers From Finding Your Web Sites With Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin

If you are using older WordPress versions make sure you back up everything before updating your software to protect your site from the latest security risks. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, there are a number of plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here: Back Up, Duplicate & Protect Your WP Websites With Backup Creator WP Plugin

References

The statistics quoted in this article were referenced from various online 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, now you have a better understanding of issues that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you build a better business online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business website or blog please click on links to visit our related posts section or subscribe to receive updates and notifications whenever new articles are published.

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