Hi there! If you run a WordPress site, you may have heard horror stories about sites being hacked through unpatched security holes. With WP now powering over 40% of all websites, it’s become an increasingly attractive target for attackers.
But here’s the good news—by understanding the most common vulnerabilities in WP, you can take targeted actions to lock things down. In this guide, I’ll overview the top security loopholes in WP and provide practical fixes to help keep your site safe.
An Introduction to WordPress Security Risks
First, some quick background. As an open-source CMS, WordPress core along with its 50,000+ plugins and themes are under constant review by security researchers. In 2021 over 2,500 vulnerabilities were disclosed across the WP landscape. And new issues crop up daily.
While the WP security team does great work patching reported holes, staying on top of every site running WP is impossible. This leaves websites potentially vulnerable to a number of entry vectors:
- Exploiting known software bugs
- Guessing weak user passwords
- Hijacking privileged user accounts
- Injecting malicious code into databases
- Launching denial of service attacks
And when a hacker gains access, they can do serious damage:
- Stealing sensitive customer data and emails
- Injecting spam or malware into sites
- Ransoming site access
- Corrupting databases and backups
The good news? By understanding and properly safeguarding against the most common WP security loopholes, you can eliminate the vast majority of attack vectors. Let’s get to it!
#1 Using Weak Passwords
The simplest way for an attacker to break into a WP site is by guessing weak user passwords. Research shows compromised passwords account for over 80% of WP hacks.
Armed with brute force tools that can make hundreds of login attempts per second, it’s trivial for hackers to break short passwords under 8 characters. And password lists from past website breaches provide loads of credentials to attempt.
Once logged in with an admin account, the site is fully under their control. This highlights why using strong, unique passwords over 12 characters is so critical. Here are a few best practices to help bulletproof your WP logins:
- Never use a password under 12 chars or reused on other sites
- Include upper/lowercase letters, numbers and symbols
- Use a password manager to generate and store passwords
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for all users
- Limit login attempts via plugins to thwart brute force attacks
Following these steps makes compromised passwords through guessing exponentially harder.
Plugins to Limit Login Attempts
Plugins like Limit Login Attempts allow instantly banning IPs after a defined number of failed logins. This can halt thousands of brute force attempts in their tracks.
Combined with strong passwords, rate limiting login attempts is a proven way to slash the most common WP attack vector.
#2 Running Outdated Software
The next major threat comes from using outdated WP software containing known security holes.
Per Sucuri’s Incident Response data, outdated WP core, plugins and themes account for 85% of hacked sites they investigated in 2021.
Sucuri Incident Response data on hacked WP sites causes
This happens because when researchers discover vulnerabilities in WP codebases, hackers can quickly weaponize these before sites get around to patching.
Some high severity holes enable remote code execution, allowing malicious PHP to be run. Others permit cross-site scripting (XSS) or dangerous SQL queries. All provide direct pathways to compromise sites.
So why do sites fall behind on updates?
- Fear of breaking changes from major version updates
- Custom coded plugins/themes failing on updates
- Lack of testing/staging environments
- Overwhelmed admins struggling to stay current
But given outdated software accounts for the vast majority of WP breaches, getting on top of updates is critical. Here are a few best practices that can help:
- Enable auto-updates for WordPress core plus themes/plugins
- Have staging sites to test compatibility before updating production
- Monitor for known vulnerable software via tools like Wordfence
- Sign-up for security bulletin lists for critical update alerts
Keeping WP and plugins current eliminates huge swaths of security risk. Combined with the aforementioned password hygiene, these two steps get you 90% there.
Auto Update Plugins
Plugins like WordPress Automatic Upgrade simplify enabling auto-updates across your installed plugins and themes. This ensures you’re always running the latest secure versions.
Set it and forget it. Just be sure to test on staging sites first!
#3 Using Insecure Web Hosts
Your web host and server environment form the foundation for WP security. A surprising number of mainstream hosts have lapses like:
- Allowing outdated PHP versions with vulnerabilities
- Not isolating sites allowing infections to spread
- Permitting directory listings exposing wp-config.php and sensitive data
- Running unpatched operating systems and software
- Failing to detect or block malicious traffic and behavior
These seemingly small oversights open big security holes. And clearing up infections when they spread server-wide takes ages compared to individual sites.
That’s why I recommend using managed WordPress hosts like WPEngine, Kinsta or Pagely. For slightly higher cost, you benefit from:
- Hardened environments completely focused on WP security
- Application rulesets blocking exploit attempts
- Server side firewalls detecting malware communications
- ISO-certified physical security on data centers
- 24/7 security monitoring and DDoS mitigation
The extra investment in enterprise-grade hosting goes a very long way for keeping WP sites secured. Think of it like getting a full-time security team, for less cost than a single IT pro!
Cleaning Up Insecure Host Problems
Migrating hosts can be painful, especially for lots of sites. An alternative is running a security plugin like Wordfence to provide enhanced detection and response capabilities plus blockchain-based file integrity monitoring.
While not as comprehensive as managed WP hosting, Wordfence paired with good passwords and updated software makes a solid security stack.
#4 Omitting SSL/HTTPS
Another area I see many WP sites lag is getting on HTTPS via SSL certificates. Migrating to SSL should be one of the first security steps taken.
Without encryption, all traffic flowing to your site is exposed, including passwords and sensitive user data. This opens the door to snooping via man-in-the-middle attacks.
Further, more browsers are starting to label HTTP-only sites as insecure which erodes user trust. And powerful web platform APIs like geolocation, push notifications, and service workers require HTTPS to function properly.
Thankfully getting an SSL certificate installed is relatively easy nowadays:
- Many managed WP hosts include free SSL as part of plans
- The LetsEncrypt Certificate Authority provides free basic SSL certs
- Paid certificates start around $60/year for extended validation and warranties
Once installed, redirect all requests to HTTPS and you’re set! Just be sure to have it cover www AND non-www domains (and any others you may use).
I suggest reading my full guide on implementing WordPress SSL for steps getting up and running. Shielding your traffic from prying eyes is tablestakes these days!
In Closing
I hope this overview has provided a useful summary of risks facing WordPress sites along with practical ways you can help reduce them. Think of security as layers – with vigilant monitoring, strong passwords, updated software and secure hosting you can mitigate 80-90%+ of entry vectors.
While I‘ve shared my top recommendations based on years securing WP sites, this is still just a starting point. As threats evolve, so must our defenses. I encourage you to keep reading, keep learning and keep those sites locked down tight!
Have questions? Want to share your own security battle stories? Hit reply – I’d be happy to help any way I can!
Talk soon,
[Your Name]
