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Why Is WordPress so Bad and Are There Better Alternatives Security Wise?

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WordPress Tree of CareI see this type of comment quite often in many of the web design and website security related groups I subscribe to, “Why Is WordPress so Bad and Are There Better Alternatives Security Wise?”.

My take on this question of WordPress security.

The problem with WordPress is that because it’s free, most people do not see the value of ongoing maintenance and updates necessary as the code WordPress is built upon matures.
 
So… because there is no sense of value, it’s a wonder why folks think WordPress is bad; because their own sense of value often seems to be the root of the problem. “I got it for free, so I expect it to remain free…”
 
Because WordPress is given so freely I don’t see a quick fix for this WordPress sentiment.
 
It’s my humble opinion that people using WordPress or any content management system for that matter do need to be better educated, in that because they are metaphorically speaking, given the gift of a free tree at their Birthday, it doesn’t mean that tree will continue to flourish without care and watering for years to come…
 
The same goes for WordPress. Website PHP code, the scripting language WordPress uses to create all those cool plugins, is no different than an organic plant with roots and branches that occasionally need pruning and watering. Otherwise, “the tree” will die (suffer security exploits or one day fail).
 

Is your value of free the problem or is WordPress the problem?

Your thoughts?

Top Web Hosting Company’s Security Failures in 2019

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Web Host Security Failure

Not meaning to further freak you folks out, but here’s an interesting article showing how hackers have hacked accounts at Bluehost, Dreamhost, HostGator, and iPage, potentially exposing millions of websites to compromise.

It would seem that these service providers have/had quite a few vulnerabilities, potentially exposing millions of websites to compromise.

And the fun part. There are even video demonstrations you can watch on Youtube “now” which will show you how.

I suppose the bottom line here is that if you had your WordPress sites hacked at Bluehost, HostGator or iPage it may have been no fault of your own…

Of course, cute cat videos are involved as well…

Just keeping my ear to the ground for you folks. Enjoy!

https://thehackernews.com/2019/01/web-hosting-server-security.html

 

Hating the “hotopponents” redirect script from…

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hotopponents redirect in plugin settingsIf you’ve been fighting the “hotopponents” redirect hack

and haven’t been able to locate the code generating the web page redirect, check within your WordPress text widgets, and plugins or theme customization control panels for the malicious text.

In the example at right (click to enlarge), a hacker embedded the redirect text within a block of legitimate Google Analytics code.

 

And if you’ve searched everywhere and still can’t locate the hotopponents redirect, check for this clever use of CharCode encoding within your website’s javascript files (picture below):

hotopponents redirect

You may need sharp eyes to find this one.

Because this code is of the “legitimate use” variety, it is unlikely that any of your off-the-shelf malware checking plugins or server monitors will recognize this code as malicious.

The numbers starting with 104, 116, 116, etc, decodes to
hotopponents .site / site .js ? wtr = 2, et al. gibberish.

Enjoy!