In April 2013 a global brute-force attack hit WordPress installations on almost every host server in existence around the world.

These attacks were caused by infected computer networks programmed to attack other installations, also commonly known as “botnets”.

(WordPress is frequently the target of attacks by hackers, due to its popularity)

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

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in March 2014. Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)

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 flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.

Whenever brute force attacks on WordPress sites are reported in the media, it’s natural for website owners to start asking just how secure the WordPress platform is for building and running their sites.

WordPress is often the target of attacks by hackers, due to its global popularity. But should you really be concerned about WordPress as being a secure platform for building your business website?

In this article, you will learn some of the main reasons why you should definitely consider choosing WordPress if you have any concerns about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start by looking at facts …

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

The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and it’s 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 your website has been built with!

Since it’s not a matter of if, but when before a malicious user attempts to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

How Secure Are “Open Source” Software Programs?

Many people often argue that WordPress is not a safe platform for building and running a web presence because having open source code means that anyone can view how the program was built.

Open source CMS software like WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are free to use and anyone can access 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 easily download all of the code and go through every line in detail, looking for vulnerabilities in the code that could be exploited …

(It’s no longer a matter of if, but a matter of when before someone will attempt to hack your website … WordPress or no WordPress!)

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

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

(The WordPress software platform is built, maintained and updated by a huge community of thousands of volunteers around the world. Image: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress continually evolves through the effort of hundreds of committed individuals working around the clock to fix issues. It benefits from hundreds of minds committed to improving the code and making WordPress safer for every user …

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

The moment any security issues are identified by developers or users, the WordPress core development team are then made aware of it …

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

The WordPress community support system, therefore, is solid and formidable and anybody can help contribute to fixing the software.

For example:

• If you find bugs and security exploits, you can report these by emailing 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 why the WordPress community is constantly releasing new security updates, and why you need to keep your WordPress site regularly up-to-date …

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

WordPress Vs Proprietary Platforms

Contrast the benefits of using an open source CMS platform like WordPress with proprietary technologies where often the responsibility for improving software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a small team of developers with limited resources and you will quickly understand the value of using WordPress to run your site on a secure platform.

The WordPress CMS is 100% free to download, modify and use, and hundreds 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 you software that is 100% free to download, use and modify as you wish?

WordPress Vs Other Open Source CMS Platforms

(CMS Platforms include WordPress, Joomla and Drupal)

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

For example, here is one study showing the number of security vulnerabilities discovered in each of these open source CMS platforms …

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

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

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

Don’t Blame WordPress

If someone hacks into your WordPress site, don’t be quick to blame WordPress.

According to a report called “Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective,” which is published by security vendor Commtouch and StopBadware, a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises, a large number of website owners are not fully aware of the security threats their websites are exposed to, how to properly secure a website, or deal with compromised web security.

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

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

Of more immediate concern is the fact that many security-related problems arise from site owners running sites with an outdated version of WordPress …

(Many WordPress sites use outdated versions. Screenshot image: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were looked at in more detail, it was found that only between 20% – 30% percent of vulnerabilities discovered in third-party code are actually found in the WordPress core software, while most security issues are found in plug-ins and extensions …

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

Like many modern web applications, WordPress is regularly updated to address new security risks that could arise. Improving security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep your WordPress site, themes, and plugins updated to the latest version.

WordPress … Secure Enough For Banks To Use!

The amount of misinformation about how secure WordPress is has even led Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, 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 …

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 web presence, including banks, leading brands, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Factors That Can Affect Security

Other factors that can affect security include:

• No platform is completely immune to hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to being attacked, mostly due to using outdated software.
• The main risk in all content management platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore strong password security practices.
• Lack of constant monitoring. All security processes need to be constantly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Webhosting server setup. For example, websites on shared hosting servers are only as safe as the least secure site on the grid, so if someone else on your shared server gets their site broken into, then every site on that shared server becomes vulnerable to being hacked as well.

There Is No Reason Why You Shouldn’t Use WordPress

As this article has hopefully shown, WordPress is quite secure. As long as you continue to implement basic web security measures (which all website owners should do) and keep your WordPress software (and themes, plugins, etc.) regularly updated, there is no reason why you should not choose WordPress.

WordPress Security – Practical Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute force attacks see this article:  10 Security Measures That Can Help To Prevent Brute Force Attacks On WordPress

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

• Prevent Malicious Cyber-Attacks On Your WP Web Site From Botnets & Hackers

If you are currently using an older version of WordPress make sure to make a backup before updating your software to protect your site from the latest security threats. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore things back to their former state.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of WordPress plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here: Back Up, Copy And Keep Your WordPress Website Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

References Used In This Article

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 improve your business online. To learn more about using WordPress please see other posts we have published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles or tutorials are published.

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