Study Reveals Huge WordPress Security Issues

WordPress may be one of the most popular website builders in the world, but a recent study found that it’s plagued with a wide range of substantial security vulnerabilities that never get patched.

With security breaches, ransomware attacks, and phishing scams becoming part of everyday life on the web, cybersecurity has never been more important to businesses around the world. Subsequently, the best website builders are expected to have the infrastructure to at least provide the basics when it comes to protecting its users.

Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case at WordPress, as security flaws apparently run rampant throughout the popular website builder’s websites.

The State of WordPress Security

One of the best aspects of WordPress is that it allows for a wide range of plug-ins, which can customize the website and provide helpful functionality for businesses trying to attract customers, produce content, and generally engage online. Unfortunately, that’s one of the biggest downfalls for WordPress when it comes to security.

“Vulnerabilities from plugins and themes remain as one of the biggest threats to websites built on WordPress.”

According to the study from Patchstack, there has been a 150% increase in WordPress vulnerabilities since last year, which as researchers put it is “a significant increase.” Even worse, 29% of these vulnerable WordPress plug-ins are never patched, leaving the door open for some serious security problems.

29% 0f WordPress vulnerabilities are never patched

To be fair, though, WordPress is not technically the problem. The core platform for WordPress represents a mere 0.58% of security vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, the massive library of plug-ins is the downfall here, so if you want to stay secure, it’s best to avoid these tools if you can.

Is WordPress a Good Website Builder?

Despite the fact that 43.2% of all websites are powered by WordPress, our research shows that it doesn’t offer much compared to its competitors. Unless you’re interested in a blogging site, which we’ll admit WordPress is great for, this website builder isn’t ideal for any business.

For one, it’s customizability is limited and, according to this research, comes at a price as far as security is concerned. Additionally, the overall functionality for design, ecommerce, and analytics is severely lacking compared to competitors like Wix and Shopify.

If you’re interested in getting a website builder for your business, we’ve done a whole bunch of research to help you choose. Take a look at the table below and visit our best website builders guide to make the decision even easier.