When I used to work in internet security, I loathed WordPress, Joomla and a few other platforms because they were the websites that were always being hacked. It surprised me though when I started really developing my own sites how much I loved WordPress because it was easy to teach others. So why do I have such polarising views of the same platform?
The reason I know that platforms like WordPress are horrible for security, actually isn’t because of WordPress itself but because of the lack of understanding by those who use it.
How often do you update your theme/plugin/WordPress itself? How often do you check the reviews of plugins before using them?
Yes, having to update things can be a pain in the butt when you don’t really have the time to focus on it or if you don’t know how. It often seems like once a site is built, that people forget to look at it again.
So why should you do it?
Each of those sites that I would investigate for the internet security company had one thing in common… they were using something that was outdated.
The reason WordPress gets you to update semi regularly, is because as they become aware of security vulnerabilities, they plug the hole and send an update out to all their users. Similarly with plugins. Old plugins can have the hole that a hacker can exploit.
But I love the ease of developing within WordPress and being able to teach users how to look after their own site. However, one of the things I always reiterate once I build a website is to keep your website backed up and to keep it up to date.
It’s simple why I recommend that you do so, having backed up information means if the worst was to happen, it won’t take you forever to get the site back up and running but keeping it up to date will hopefully minimise the chance of the worst happening.
If you have issues with knowing what to do with your website to keep it up to date or just don’t want to deal with it yourself, I am happy to assist you with it. Maintainence is something I offer to my clients.