Protect your WordPress site

We recently discussed the topic: CMS platforms, which enable the creation of websites, can be subject to security vulnerabilities. These weak points are risk factors that regular updates help to resolve.
Given that more than 30,000 sites are hacked every day, those updates become all the more important.

Where do these security vulnerabilities come from?

Being a particularly well-known CMS, WordPress benefits from a large community of developers who contribute numerous additional tools (a form, a newsletter module, a theme, etc.).
In the case of free tools, it is worth knowing that there is a risk the developer may no longer support their creation in the medium or long term. A free module would therefore not keep pace with the site's regular updates and would become obsolete, no longer adapted to the evolving standards of the web.
A security vulnerability can therefore stem from a quality problem in one of these tools, due to the fact that it is no longer maintained and updated.
Furthermore, a CMS is designed to evolve. The core of WordPress is updated by a qualified, volunteer team of developers. This is how WordPress progresses from one version to the next — from version 2.3.1 to 3.3.1, for example.
Some updates are minor and remedial. Others affect WordPress's structure in depth and reorganise its elements. This allows WordPress to incorporate the latest web standards and recommendations.
As a consequence, all the additional tools that optimise a site must adapt to remain compatible. This requires regular work from the developers who designed them.

What are the risks of a security vulnerability?

Hackers can always find vulnerabilities, much like burglars who manage to pick a lock. Updates allow the CMS's security to be reinforced by fixing the flaws hackers have discovered.
This is all the more important because, when a cybercriminal spots a security vulnerability, they probe every site using the module that contains the flaw in order to hack them.
To put it simply, a cybercriminal uses bots that thoroughly analyse the code of many sites. When the bot finds a vulnerability somewhere, it then attacks all sites likely to contain that same flaw.
WordPress is particularly exposed due to its reputation.
Indeed, hackers and spammers target well-known CMS platforms, recognised for concentrating a large number of users. So if they discover a vulnerability in such a widely used CMS, the number of sites they can reach will be all the greater.

Notable examples of vulnerabilities

In recent years, several significant vulnerabilities have been discovered and quickly resolved.
In 2015, the MailPoet plugin, which handles newsletter sending, contained a serious vulnerability. Being a widely used tool on WordPress sites, the threat extended to several thousand hacked sites.
In mid-2016, another widely publicised vulnerability threatened 1 million sites, this time through the Jetpack plugin. The vulnerability discovered at the time allowed any hacker to inject malicious code into a site's comments. As soon as an internet user viewed the infected comment, the hacker gained the keys to do as they pleased: control user accounts, redirect visitors, send spam, and more.
This is just one example among many of the risks facing a poorly secured site.

WordPress maintains intensive monitoring and vulnerabilities are quickly identified and fixed through updates. These patches are produced all the more rapidly for serious or dangerous flaws.

How to secure your site?

WordPress maintains intensive monitoring and vulnerabilities are quickly identified and then fixed through updates. These patches are produced all the more rapidly for serious or dangerous flaws.

Keeping your site up to date is therefore essential to protect yourself from any risk. In addition to improving the tool, updates also strengthen it.

A site secured easily through a maintenance contract

At Http5000, we offer maintenance contracts in addition to website creation.
With a maintenance contract, you do not need to worry about the risks to your site. We take care of keeping it online, regularly updated, and therefore protected against any threat. In the event of an attack, we also know how to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Security vulnerabilities are an important factor to take into account. Indeed, in addition to putting yourself at risk, you also put any other site hosted on the same server as yours at risk.

This is why Http5000 aims for optimal security by always offering two solutions. First, the maintenance contract, which prevents risks. Then, in cases where a maintenance contract is not possible, by migrating your site to a hosting server that is exclusively yours.
In this second scenario, you manage your own site and keep it updated yourself, without putting any third-party site at risk — since you will be the sole occupant of your server.

Stop taking risks with your site — take out a maintenance contract.