But, WordPress Will Get Hacked?!?
This is one of those, "If I had a nickel for every time I heard...". Everyone who is not familiar with WordPress or prefers another platform always throws out the "Ohhh WordPress, if you use that, you will definitely get hacked."
To give you the real answer to this, we need to first take a look at the numbers. WordPress accounts for 25% of the entire web... that is insane! Can you believe that 25% of all websites are using WordPress, that accounts for that fact that 57% of websites don't use a Content Management System (CMS) at all. So, in reality if you only count CMS based websites, WordPress has about a 60% market share.
What does this have to do with hacking?
My expert advise is that any neglected website is going to get hacked. This means that the web developer or owner is not keeping up with updates, or there is an issue with a website that does not allow updates easily.
So, since WordPress has such a huge market share, obviously there are going to be more neglected websites that get hacked as compared to the 2.8% market share that Joomla has.
Why Is An Up To Date Site More Secure
No matter if we are talking WordPress, Joomla, Magento, or Drupal, the most secure site is the most up to date site. Hackers and Spammers are constantly figuring out new ways to hack servers. When the bad guys figure out a hack, the good guys push out a patch. This is the way it is and always will be, no server or website is ironclad. But, if you regularly update your site, it will appear to be!
Why I love WordPress Security
So, just because I use WordPress and make sure it's coded properly so you can update regularly (key aspect!)... my site just updated to include eight new patches for issues that effect all PHP based websites!
p.s. 82.5% of all websites use PHP, all the popular CMS' like Drupal and Joomla use PHP.
Back to that Key Aspect
Now, since you read this far I will give you a plug for our services! It's very important to make sure your WordPress site is built by professionals. WordPress has tons of standardized methods on how to handle programming, it's basically a rule book on how to build WordPress sites.
If you follow these rules, you will have a smooth experience and be able to easily update whenever WordPress pushes out these security patches. So, contact us to make sure you have a professional built WordPress site that helps your business be successful!
I agree, WordPress gets a bad rap, but if you take steps to secure it then you will have a strong system. This is why you need a professional developer, not a weekend warrior.
Do you do any advanced security measures to protect your WordPress sites?
I’ve tried a bunch of plug-ins, but they are all confusing and I don’t know what they are doing.
Tony, thanks for asking this. We do use a few plug-ins to make sure our sites are secured. The plug-ins we use change a bit based on sites, servers, and desired functionality. The one we like the best is “Defender” by wpmudev. They have a great suite of plug-ins and also keep them up to date.
Another thing to remember is that you should only install plug-ins from reputable sources (like wpmudev!). Most issues we’ve seen with WordPress security have to do with using poorly coded plug-ins.
Check out wpmudev, I trust all of their plug-ins: https://premium.wpmudev.org/
I’ve be using WordPress for years and have never been hacked. I think it’s funny how people try to say it’s insecure…. fools!