WordPress Security Issues

Is WordPress safe to use? Will I face any security issues?

What is WordPress

At its core, it’s a content management system. This implies that it’s a tool to manage the important aspects of your website i.e., the content, without needing to know a whole lot about programming. WordPress has become the easiest and most popular way to create your own website or blog. It powers over 40% of all websites on the Internet. This means that over one in four websites are likely powered by WordPress.

Some big names that have used WordPress to build and power their websites are –

· Whitehouse.gov — Yes, the official site for the White House is also powered by WordPress.

· BBC America

· PlayStation

· Skype

· The Rolling Stones

Since it powers many millions of sites, it’s the most hacked as well. A study in 2018 showed that around 90% of hacked CMS-powered websites were hosted by WordPress, amounting to about 90,000 attacks per minute. If you use WordPress, this may make you want to consider an alternative. However, hackers aren’t getting in due to vulnerabilities in the latest WordPress core software but instead, they’re happening because of easily preventable issues like unchallenging passwords and outdated software.

WordPress runs on open-source software and hence has a team specifically dedicated to finding, identifying and getting rid of any security issues that may arise in the code. As the vulnerabilities are closed, fixes are immediately pushed out to patch any security issues. That’s why keeping WordPress updated to the latest version is incredibly important to the overall security of the website.

Now, I’m going to explain 5 WordPress security and vulnerability issues, why they affect your site and some steps you can take to ensure you aren’t affected by them and feel safe using WordPress as your CMS.

Brute Force

Brute force refers to the practice of trial and error of user credentials. This practice involves trying multiple combinations of username and password over and over until the right combination is found. This method exploits the simplest way to get access over your website — your WordPress login screen. This way accounts for almost 16% of hacked sites. Once a malicious attacker gains the key to your front door, it doesn’t matter how secure your WordPress website is.

However, WordPress is actually good a pretty good job at mitigating this risk by automatically suggesting strong and secure passwords, but in the end, it’s up to the user to keep those passwords or use their own ones.

Another thing that users can do to protect themselves through these attacks is two-factor authentication. This requires users to verify login through another device.

Outdated Software

I’ve mentioned this in this article before but updating your WordPress software is very important for the overall security of your website. Outdated core software leaves sites vulnerable because updates are usually designed to address critical security issues. WordPress developers usually roll out updates every three months and it is highly recommended that all users download these updates as soon as they become available. However, the onus falls onto the users since the updates aren’t automatic.

It would be very convenient if WordPress had automatic downloads for updates but it doesn’t have that and hence you should stay on top of the update schedules. The Updates tab in the WordPress dashboard typically displays a notification bubble when there is an update available. You can always press “Check Again” to be sure.

Malware

Malware is a wide-ranging word that is short for ‘malicious software’. It is code that is planted on legitimate sites to gain unauthorized access to gather any sort of data or in general, wreak havoc. Being vulnerable to malware is dependent on some other issues as well. This includes outdated plugins and themes. Attackers can take advantage of a security problem in plugins and themes, imitate existing ones or even create new add-ons for placing harmful code onto your website.

What you can do to avoid this is to examine each and every plugin and theme that you install on your website. Wordpress.com lists useful stats for all plugins like version, last updated, WordPress version and even active installations. Along with this, you should also keep conducting security scans to find any potential malware. There are some plugins that automate this process for you including scanning the damaged file and fixing any damages.

SQL Injections

SQL is a programming language that is used to access your WordPress website’s database. An SQL injection takes place when a hacker gains the ability to directly interact with your database. They can use this to create admin-level user ID’s and modify your database. In addition, they can add, delete, leak and edit data, this can be used to add links to malicious and unsafe websites.

The course of action to attack this is to be sceptical of any sort of user input. Any form of submission onto your website is a way for attackers to submit malicious information directly to your database.

Phishing

This comes from the word fishing, where people cast out a line in hopes that something bites. With phishing, hackers keep sending out spam links hoping that at least one person will click on it and have their personal information compromised. Most of the people on the internet have heard of it and some, unfortunately, have been exposed to these phishing attacks. WordPress is not immune to these spamming practices.

Since phishing takes place through outdated plugins and themes, the best way to protect yourself from it is to conduct regular updates, monitor site activity, and use secure passwords. You can also add some security plugins to your website to protect yourself against spammy phishing bots.

There’s no content management site that’s 100% secure. WordPress is doing everything that it can to provide security in its core software. Most attacks happen due to users not following basic security practices like constantly updating core software, using secure passwords, choosing correct plugins and themes. If you do these things as well as those mentioned above, your WordPress powered websites should be hack-free!

But if you ever need help with managing your website, head on over to our website and get in touch. We maintain websites for our clients that are WordPress based, so we know what we’re doing!

Thank You for Reading!

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Inheaden is a young IT and software startup based in Darmstadt, Germany. As an “Idea and Tech Factory”, we have set out to be a driving force of innovation, digitization, and automation with a focus on the areas of services, products, and research. Under the Inheaden brand, we work on individual “high performance” software solutions that bring a change. Modern designs, innovative technology approaches, and IT security for our partners and customers are important components of our work profile.