{"id":7710,"date":"2024-04-15T15:48:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T13:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f.technology\/blog\/wordpress-en\/why-are-plugin-theme-and-wordpress-core-vulnerabilities-dangerous\/"},"modified":"2024-10-07T11:35:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T09:35:46","slug":"why-are-plugin-theme-and-wordpress-core-vulnerabilities-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/f.technology\/en\/blog\/cyber-security-en\/why-are-plugin-theme-and-wordpress-core-vulnerabilities-dangerous\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are plugin, theme and WordPress Core vulnerabilities dangerous?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t

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WordPress<\/strong> is by far the most popular content management system (CMS).<\/a>
\nWorldwide, more than 40 percent of all websites are based on WordPress.
\nHowever, this popularity also has its downsides: it makes the CMS an attractive target for cyber attacks<\/a><\/strong>. In addition, the great strengths of WordPress (its flexibility and modular structure) mean that this CMS tends to be insecure if you abandon<\/span> it without applying concrete and effective security measures such as constant monitoring of<\/strong> newly discovered vulnerabilities<\/a><\/strong>,updating<\/strong> with theme<\/strong>, plugin<\/strong> and WordPress core<\/strong> patches, use of firewalls<\/a><\/strong> and spam filters, the reviewing the version of PHP<\/a><\/strong> installed on your server or the use of advanced HTTP Security Headers<\/strong> (read our guide here!<\/a><\/span>).<\/p>\n

Above all, rely on a reliable certified WordPress hosting service that guarantees you prompt and qualified support service: we rely on Kinsta, try it!<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How are WordPress sites hacked?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWithout opening a detailed and technical chapter on the types of hacks, breach means mainly:
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Access to<\/strong> siteadministration<\/strong> by unauthorized person or bots.<\/li>\n \t
Damage<\/strong> to one or more parts of the site, such as deleting images or changing text.<\/li>\n \t
Malicious use of<\/strong> the site, e.g., to send spam<\/strong>, make banned material<\/strong> visible that could lead to banning of your domain<\/strong> or theft of information from the database!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Prevention is key; restoring a breached site takes much longer
than securing it.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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First, update the WordPress core...<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Among all the hacked WordPress sites, Sucuri<\/a> found that 39.3 percent of them were running outdated WordPress core software<\/strong> at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the WordPress security team continuously checks the<\/strong> platform code<\/strong> for critical vulnerabilities, and these are fixed immediately as soon as they are discovered.
\nWordPress developers generally work very reliably and quickly, especially when it comes to critical errors.
\nOnly a fraction of all WordPress security vulnerabilities are therefore due to errors in the core.
\nSo if you always work with thelatest version of WordPress<\/strong> and update<\/strong> it in a timely manner, you can protect yourself quite reliably from hackers exploiting security vulnerabilities in outdated versions of WordPress.<\/span> <\/p>\n
Be careful if you want to upgrade your WordPress yourself, better prepare a backup first!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Are there vulnerabilities among your plugins or in your theme?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In a Wordfence survey<\/a> of owners of compromised websites, more than 60 percent of those who knew how the hacker got into the site attributed the incident to a theme or plugin vulnerability, and similarly, in Sucuri’s 2016 report, just 3 plugins were the cause of more than 15 percent of the breaches that were recorded(do you know the continuing vulnerabilities of the well-known Elementor composer, the Avada and Hello theme, or the Woocommerce plugin?<\/em>).<\/p>\n
All the vulnerabilities in these plugins, at the time of the hack, had long since been fixed<\/strong> by the developers, but the site owners had not yet updated<\/strong> leaving themselves exposed to the threat!<\/p>\n
Therefore, it is important to constantly update your plugins and rely on certified hosting that notifies you of known threats among plugins and themes, or use monitoring services such as WP Remote<\/strong>(all websites under WP-Help maintenance contract are protected on this platform<\/a>).<\/p>\n
Take a look at Pathstack’s<\/a> constantly updated vulnerability archive<\/a> to realize how WordPress plugin vulnerabilities are not to be underestimated (warning, contains technicalities!).
\nIt’s also a good strategy, when choosing a plugin or theme, to also consider the frequency of updates and how closely they are followed by their developers!
\nBest to avoid outdated and underused tools. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Updates on your own: tips<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Often sites do not give problems after a plugin update, but when it comes to major releases<\/strong> (e.g., 1.5.6 to 2.0.0) or particularly important tools, it is possible that frontends will find unintended changes or some features no longer operate.
\nIn the worst cases, fatal errors<\/strong> can be generated that render the site unusable<\/strong>. <\/p>\n
Ecci some best practices in this regard:<\/p>\n
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The best way to prepare for an update is to test the changes in a staging environment<\/a><\/strong>, updating the site in production only when you are certain it will work properly.<\/li>\n
If updating the plugin while staging shows anomalies, you can isolate the problem by analyzing the server logs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
Sometimes an update may make the plugin incompatible<\/strong> with other tools: in these cases it may also come in handy to act by exclusion (disabling plugins or changing the theme).<\/li>\n
If provided, it may be useful to contact theplugin’s support<\/strong>.
\nThis does not exclude the fact that sometimes it may be necessary to replace<\/strong> the plugin. <\/li>\n
It is always advisable to make a backup copy<\/strong> before upgrading so that it can be restored if necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Is your site secure?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Request a free analysis from our specialized WordPress technicians-they are ready to secure your site!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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