In early 2013 a global brute-force attack hit WordPress installations across virtually every host server in existence.

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 making it a frequent target for hacker attacks)

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

(160,000+ WordPress sites were attacked in a massive DDoS attack in early 2014. Screenshot: 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)

According to 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 worldwide brute force attacks happen on WordPress sites, it’s natural for website owners to question just how safe and secure WordPress is as a software for running their sites.

Being the world’s most used CMS makes WordPress a target for hacking attacks. 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 using WordPress if you are concerned about website security.

WordPress Security Explained

Let’s start with some facts …

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

The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and the situation is getting 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 someone will attempt to hack your website, are there any advantages that WordPress can offer you in terms of security?

Is “Open Source” Secure?

Some people will often try to argue that WordPress should not be used for building and running a business online because it is a freely available open source software program.

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

The argument against using WordPress, then, goes something like this: If everyone can access the Open Source software code for WordPress, then hackers can easily obtain the code and go through it, looking for weaknesses and vulnerabilities that can be exploited …

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

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

The reason for this is that WordPress has the support of a global volunteer community comprised of thousands of software programmers, plugin developers and theme designers who constantly help to improve the software and make WordPress more secure …

(WordPress is built, maintained and updated by a community of volunteers around the world. Screenshot: make.wordpress.org)

WordPress evolves because of the effort of thousands of committed volunteers working around the clock to fix any issues detected by users. It benefits from hundreds of web developers, designers and users who, at any one time, are focused on improving the application, identifying and fixing security issues and making the WordPress platform safer for every user …

(The WordPress core software is built and maintained by an open community of volunteer web developers. Screenshot image: make.wordpress.org)

As soon as security issues are discovered by developers or users, these are normally reported 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 quite formidable and anybody can help contribute to improving the platform.

For example:

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

This is the reason why the core development team releases new security updates so often, and why you need to keep your sites and blogs regularly updated …

(WordPress frequently releases new updates to address security issues)

WordPress CMS Vs Proprietary Platforms

Compare what we have just discussed above with proprietary technologies where often the responsibility for improving software security, fixing bugs, etc. falls to a smaller team of developers with limited resources and you will very quickly understand the value and advantages of using WordPress to run your business presence online on a secure platform.

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

WordPress CMS Vs Other Open Source Platforms

(CMS Platforms)

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

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

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

Other research shows that, because WordPress is quite easy to use and to keep up-to-date, when sites using different CMS platforms were tested for security vulnerabilities, sites built with WordPress had less exposure to risk …

(WordPress is more secure than other CMS applications. Source: BlogDefender.com)

It’s Not WordPress’ Fault

If someone breaks into your WordPress site, don’t be quick to blame the WordPress CMS platform.

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 website owners are not fully aware of the threats their websites are exposed to, how to secure a website, or how to deal with compromised web security.

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

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

Of more immediate concern is the fact that many security-related problems result from website owners running WordPress on outdated versions of the software …

(Many WordPress sites are running on outdated versions. Image source: Sucuri.net)

When WordPress security issues were examined in more detail, it was found that only a small percentage of vulnerabilities discovered in third-party code are actually found in the WordPress core software, while 70% – 85% percent of all security issues are found in plug-ins and developed externally …

(WordPress Security Issues. Screenshot: WebDesign.org)

Like many software applications, WordPress is regularly updated in order to deal with new security problems that may arise. Improving software security is always a concern, and to that end, you should always keep your WordPress software, themes, and plugins updated to the latest version.

WordPress Is Secure – Even Banks Use It!

The amount of misinformation online about WordPress security has even led 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 websites, including banks, leading brands, and e-commerce sites, not just bloggers.

Other Issues That Can Affect WordPress Security

Other factors that can affect site security include things such as:

• No platform is safe from hackers. As many as 90% of all websites across all platforms are vulnerable to attack, mostly due to software that is out of date.
• The biggest security risk of all CMS platforms seems to be the users themselves. For example, many users ignore strong password security recommendations.
• Lack of constant system monitoring. All security systems need to be regularly monitored, tested, updated and improved.
• Server setup. For example, websites on shared hosting servers 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 every site on your shared server becomes vulnerable to hacking also.

There’s No Reason Why You Shouldn’t 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 web security measures and keep your WordPress software (and plugins, themes, etc.) regularly updated, there is no reason not to choose WordPress to run your website or blog.

WordPress Security – Tips

To learn about ways to protect your WordPress site from brute-force attacks see this article:  WordPress Brute Force Attack Prevention Measures

An unsecured site provides hackers with a platform for launching distributed attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft. Blog Defender Security Plugin for WordPress Web Sites makes your WordPress site invisible to hackers and bots. Learn more about it here:

• Protect Your WordPress Site From Hackers With Blog Defender Security Plugin

If you are currently using an outdated version of WordPress make sure to make a backup before updating your software to benefit from the latest security updates. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore.

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

References Used In This Article

For more information on the above, see the following sources:

• 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 problems that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you get better business results online. To learn more about the security benefits of using WordPress for a business website or blog please click on links to visit other articles we have published on this site or subscribe to receive updates and notifications when new articles are published.

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