Do you know that 72% of WordPress websites have skilled a minimum of one safety breach? Much more regarding, almost half of those websites nonetheless don’t have a restoration plan in place!

Right here at WPBeginner, we’ve been monitoring WordPress safety developments and serving to our customers shield themselves in opposition to evolving cyber threats. We’ve persistently discovered that the majority safety breaches may be prevented with the precise information and instruments.

Over time, we’ve developed a confirmed safety technique. It contains utilizing safe WordPress internet hosting, doing common backups, implementing a content material supply community, and utilizing a password supervisor.

The analysis we’ve gathered confirms that these basic safety measures are extra essential than ever. And by chance for you, we’ve compiled these important WordPress safety statistics for 2025 so you can also make knowledgeable choices about defending your WordPress website.

Final Listing of WordPress Safety Statistics

We’ve gathered the most recent WordPress cybersecurity statistics and arranged them into these classes. Simply click on any part to leap straight there:

Let’s get began.

WordPress Safety Overview

In case you’re operating a WordPress website, you then is perhaps stunned to study simply what number of safety threats you face day-after-day. Let’s take a look at some eye-opening WordPress safety statistics that present why defending your website must be a high precedence.

1. WordPress web sites face 90,000 assaults each minute.

This huge quantity isn’t stunning, provided that WordPress powers over 43% of all websites on the web.

With such a big market share, WordPress has change into a horny goal for cybercriminals. The extra standard a platform turns into, the extra consideration it will get from these with malicious intent.

In case you’re already involved about these WordPress safety threats, you would possibly wish to take a look at our complete guide on WordPress security. It covers all the pieces you want to learn about protecting your website secure.

2. Over 7 of 10 WordPress websites have reported experiencing a minimum of one safety breach.

These safety breaches have an effect on WordPress web sites of all sizes, displaying that no website is resistant to assaults. The excessive price of safety incidents highlights why having a strong backup strategy is important for each WordPress website proprietor.

That’s why we advocate utilizing Duplicator, which is a dependable WordPress backup plugin that creates full copies of your recordsdata and database. It’s what loads of our companion web sites use to maintain their content material secure.

With Duplicator, you’ll be able to shortly restore your website to a working state if a safety breach happens. As a substitute of spending hours attempting to recuperate your hacked website, you’ll be able to restore it to a clear backup in a number of clicks.

Plus, with scheduled automated backups, you’ll at all times have a current copy of your website prepared. You may study extra in regards to the backup plugin in our Duplicator review.

Extra Common WordPress Cybersecurity Statistics

• Round 13,000 WordPress web sites get hacked day-after-day, totaling 4.7 million websites yearly.
• 4 in 10 WordPress web sites have a minimum of one weak piece of software program put in.
• Over 60% of WordPress websites that received hacked had been operating outdated software program.
• Almost one-third of the highest million web sites run weak WordPress variations.
• 58% of deserted plugins reported by PatchStack, a WordPress security plugin and vulnerability discloser, get faraway from the WordPress repository.

Frequent WordPress Safety Vulnerabilities and Threats

Now that you just perceive the size of WordPress safety threats, let’s take a look at the place these vulnerabilities generally happen. The outcomes would possibly shock you.

3. 9 out of 10 WordPress vulnerabilities come from plugins, not WordPress core.

When most individuals take into consideration WordPress safety vulnerabilities, they assume the issue lies in WordPress itself. Nonetheless, loads of analysis has proven that plugins are literally the most important safety danger on your web site.

That is why choosing the proper plugins is important for protecting your website safe. You must at all times obtain plugins from trusted sources just like the official WordPress repository or dependable premium plugin builders.

When unsure, you’ll be able to seek the advice of assessment platforms just like the WPBeginner Solution Center. That is the place we’ve rigorously chosen probably the most dependable WordPress plugins, themes, and instruments for various wants.

Unsure how one can decide the precise plugins? Try our information on how to choose the best WordPress plugins for your website.

4. Free plugins account for 91% of third-party WordPress vulnerabilities.

Alternatively, premium plugins and themes solely account for about 9% of reported vulnerabilities.

This doesn’t imply free plugins are inherently unsafe. We frequently advocate them in our plugin opinions for these with a strict funds.

The secret’s to obtain free plugins from the official WordPress repository. The repository has strict tips and can notify you if a plugin hasn’t been examined with the latest WordPress version.

Additionally, plugins being untested doesn’t imply they’re mechanically unsafe. That mentioned, it’s price being cautious. Each WordPress website is completely different, so what works safely on one website would possibly trigger points on one other.

That’s why we at all times advocate testing new plugins in a secure surroundings first. We like to make use of WordPress Playground or a local testing environment. This fashion, you’ll be able to verify for any safety points or conflicts earlier than putting in plugins in your dwell website.

5. In keeping with PatchStack, cross-site scripting (XSS) accounts for 47% of all WordPress safety vulnerabilities.

One of these safety menace occurs when hackers inject malicious code into your web site. This could then steal customer knowledge or redirect them to dangerous websites.

Consider XSS like a burglar sneaking their very own door into your own home. As soon as they create this entrance, they’ll come and go as they please, probably stealing delicate info from you and your guests.

To guard your website from XSS assaults, you want to add proper HTTP security headers. We advocate utilizing Cloudflare, which makes it straightforward to implement these safety measures.

Different dependable choices embrace Sucuri, All in One Security, and Really Simple SSL. You may study extra about these WordPress safety plugins in our WPBeginner Resolution Middle.

Extra Frequent WordPress Vulnerabilities

• After cross-site scripting, damaged entry management (14.3%) and cross-site request forgery (11.3%) spherical out the highest safety threats.
• In keeping with Wordfence, a WordPress safety plugin, SQL injections rank because the third commonest assault sort. That is the place attackers attempt to corrupt your database.
• Over 70% of identified WordPress vulnerabilities have already got safety patches out there.
• Almost 6 in 10 WordPress vulnerabilities may be exploited with out logging in.
• About 65% of safety threats are rated as medium-level dangers, which frequently contain assaults requiring contributor or writer entry.

WordPress Malware and Assault Patterns

Let’s take a better take a look at how hackers really try to breach WordPress websites. Understanding their patterns can assist you higher shield your web site.

6. Malicious recordsdata had been discovered on over 1 million WordPress websites prior to now yr.

Hackers can plant malicious files in your WordPress website by numerous entry factors. Frequent vulnerabilities embrace outdated plugins, weak passwords, compromised themes, and unsecured file permissions.

We discuss extra about this in our article on why WordPress sites get hacked.

In case you suspect your website has been hacked, then our WPBeginner Professional Providers group can assist. Our hacked site repair service contains complete WordPress safety scans that determine vulnerabilities, malware cleanup, and fast website restoration.

Our hacked website restore service begins from $249. You’re going to get full malware removing, thorough safety updates, and a clear website backup.

Be happy to e-book a session name with our group by clicking on the button under. This fashion, we are able to determine one of the best ways to assist your web site succeed.

Alternatively, in the event you favor the DIY route, you’ll be able to learn our article on signs your WordPress site is hacked and our newbie’s information on how to fix a hacked WordPress site.

7. Hackers spend 88% of their time simply attempting to interrupt into web sites.

This stunning statistic reveals one thing essential about WordPress safety. Most hackers make investments nearly all of their effort simply trying to achieve preliminary entry to your website. As soon as they’re in, the precise injury occurs fairly shortly.

That is why your first line of protection—stopping unauthorized entry—is completely essential. Robust passwords and multi-factor authentication are your finest instruments for stopping break-in makes an attempt. We’ll cowl these important safety measures in additional element later on this article.

It’s additionally essential to seek out and take away a hacker’s backdoor after cleansing your website. In any other case, they’ll simply regain entry even after you’ve eliminated the malicious code.

For extra info, take a look at our information on how to find a backdoor in a hacked WordPress site and fix it.

8. 55% of internet sites with database malware have a minimum of one faux administrator account.

A hacker with admin entry can do severe injury to your WordPress website. They will set up malicious plugins, modify your content material, steal consumer knowledge, and even lock you out of your personal web site.

That’s why correctly managing consumer roles and permissions is essential for WordPress safety.

To guard your website from unauthorized admin entry, we advocate limiting login attempts to stop brute pressure assaults and restricting admin access to specific IP addresses. You also needs to frequently assessment your consumer checklist for suspicious accounts.

You can even take a look at our checklist of vital tips to protect your WordPress admin for step-by-step steerage.

9. search engine optimisation spam is among the commonest varieties of WordPress assaults, affecting over 234,000 web sites.

search engine optimisation spam is the place hackers inject spam content material into your pages. The aim is to steal your website’s search engine rankings and redirect your guests to malicious web sites.

Essentially the most sneaky half? Nearly all of these assaults use hidden content material that your guests can’t see however engines like google can. Hackers principally piggyback in your website’s good popularity to advertise their scams or malicious content material.

Fortunately, WordPress safety companies like WPBeginner Pro Services and WordPress security plugins can assist you detect and take away search engine optimisation spam earlier than it damages your rankings.

Apart from that, we additionally advocate putting in All in One SEO (AIOSEO).

This WordPress SEO plugin comes with a robust SEO audit checklist that scans your web site for search engine optimisation points. It is going to warn you about important issues and counsel enhancements to guard your website’s search rankings.

You may study extra about these options in our detailed AIOSEO review.

Extra WordPress Malware Statistics

• 69% of WordPress infections contain malware injections and malicious redirects.
• 75% of identification assaults don’t use malware, relying as a substitute on phishing and social engineering.
• Over 70% of malware assaults goal particular web sites relatively than random targets.
• 4 in 10 malware assaults result in knowledge leaks, compromising delicate info.
• Hackers’ main motivations are monetary achieve (77%) and studying about safety (64%).
• The Balada Injector accounts for 21% of malware injections, redirecting guests to rip-off websites.
• Sign1 malware has affected 57,000 websites, displaying faux CAPTCHA prompts to steal consumer knowledge and redirect them to rip-off pages.
• SocGholish has triggered 12% of infections, tricking customers with faux browser updates to put in malware.
• Hidden content material makes up 26% of search engine optimisation spam, concealing malicious code from website house owners.
• DDoS attacks have grown by 31%, with 44,000 each day assaults overwhelming web site servers to make them inaccessible.
• Credential stuffing stays the most typical assault. That is the place hackers use stolen username and password combos to interrupt into WordPress websites.
• Database assaults goal the wp_options and wp_posts tables in 70% of circumstances.
• DNS TXT records malware has been discovered on 23,820 websites. This malware creates hidden backdoors to keep up entry even after cleansing.
• Bogus URL shorteners have contaminated 16,000 websites, redirecting customers to low-quality ad-filled pages.
• 52% of web sites have skilled important enterprise disruption from ransomware.
• 83% of attacked websites have paid the ransom to regain entry to their knowledge.
• Over 50% of ransomware victims have paid greater than $100,000 in ransom funds.

eCommerce Safety Developments

Now let’s take a look at some regarding statistics about on-line retailer safety, particularly for WordPress and WooCommerce sites.

10. 80% of eCommerce web sites have suspicious safety points (points that hackers can exploit).

The most typical safety points embrace:

• Outdated JavaScript that creates vulnerabilities attackers can exploit.
• Analytics and advert scripts operating throughout checkout that might result in knowledge theft by malicious promoting.
• Unpatched or outdated software program that makes your website weak to assaults.
• Lacking HTTP safety headers that depart your website uncovered.
• Suspicious double checkout that forces customers to enter bank card knowledge greater than as soon as, which might point out a safety danger.

One surefire technique to shield your on-line retailer from these threats is to make use of a secure WordPress hosting provider with built-in safety features.

We use SiteGround right here at WPBeginner. It contains computerized updates for WordPress core and safety patches. Plus, there’s a web application firewall (WAF) that blocks malicious scripts and provides correct safety headers.

We additionally advocate utilizing trusted fee gateways that present safe checkout environments remoted from probably dangerous promoting scripts. We’ve a listing of the perfect WooCommerce payment gateways in the event you want some suggestions.

For an entire information on implementing these safety measures, take a look at our detailed information on WordPress eCommerce security best practices.

11. 52% of on-line shops have seen a rise in promotion abuse.

Promotion abuse occurs when dangerous actors exploit your WooCommerce coupon codes in methods you didn’t intend.

Frequent abuse patterns embrace sharing non-public low cost codes on coupon web sites, utilizing bots to generate a number of orders with the identical code, creating faux accounts to repeatedly use first-time buyer reductions, and utilizing expired or unauthorized coupon codes.

The excellent news is you can stop most of those points by creating one-time personalized coupon codes. These codes can solely be used as soon as and by particular clients, making them a lot tougher to abuse.

Extra eCommerce Safety Statistics

• Over one-third of hacked WooCommerce websites had checkout skimmers put in. These malicious scripts secretly copy buyer fee knowledge throughout checkout and ship it to hackers.
• Account takeover fraud has grown by 131%. This occurs when hackers steal buyer login credentials to make fake orders with the account’s saved fee strategies or steal reward factors.
• 3 in 10 small companies say phishing assaults are their largest safety concern.
• 7 in 10 on-line shops use net software firewalls (WAFs) to guard their websites.
• 11% of consumers abandon carts as a result of they don’t belief the positioning’s safety.

WordPress Web site Safety Practices and Gaps

This part will take a look at some stunning statistics about how WordPress website house owners deal with primary safety measures.

12. 7 out of 10 WordPress websites don’t allow computerized updates.

In different phrases, loads of WordPress web sites are weak to identified safety points that updates usually repair.

Whereas auto-updates are usually really helpful, the choice to allow them will depend on your website’s wants. For small web sites, auto-updates can present rapid safety fixes, scale back upkeep work, and hold your website protected once you’re busy.

Nonetheless, if in case you have a big or enterprise-level WordPress website, chances are you’ll favor doing handbook updates frequently. This could stop sudden compatibility points and offer you management over timing and backup scheduling.

In that case, we advocate making a staged version of your live website and testing the brand new WordPress model there.

Unsure how one can handle updates correctly? Try our information on how to safely update WordPress.

13. 41% of WordPress web sites don’t pressure customers to make use of robust passwords.

Frequent password errors embrace utilizing the identical password throughout a number of websites, together with private info like birthdays or firm names, utilizing easy patterns like ‘123456’ or ‘password,’ and never updating passwords frequently.

A strong WordPress password ought to:

• Be a minimum of 12 characters lengthy
• Embrace numbers, symbols, and each higher and lowercase letters
• Keep away from frequent phrases or phrases
• Be distinctive for every web site

Right here at WPBeginner, we use a password manager to generate and retailer robust passwords for our group. Instruments like 1Password make it straightforward to create advanced passwords with out having to recollect all of them.

Moreover, we use multi-factor authentication to additional strengthen our login safety.

It’s additionally good to force users to change passwords once in a while. This helps shield your website even when passwords get leaked in knowledge breaches or if former group members nonetheless have entry to outdated credentials.

Aside from that, you would possibly wish to study how to password-protect your WordPress admin area for an additional layer of safety.

14. 17% of internet sites don’t mechanically redirect guests to a safe HTTPS connection.

This implies delicate info like passwords and fee particulars might be weak to interception.

That’s as a result of HTTPS encryption can shield consumer knowledge throughout transactions and stop man-in-the-middle assaults. Plus, it might construct belief with potential clients and engines like google by displaying a padlock icon within the browser’s tackle bar.

The excellent news is that securing your website with HTTPS is comparatively easy. You simply must install an SSL certificate in your WordPress website.

Many internet hosting suppliers like Bluehost and Hostinger even embrace free SSL certificates with their internet hosting plans.

Unsure how one can arrange HTTPS? Simply take a look at these guides under:

15. Solely 6% of US web sites are prepared for GDPR compliance.

Even when your WordPress blog isn’t based mostly within the EU, you continue to must adjust to the Common Knowledge Safety Regulation (GDPR) if in case you have guests and clients from European nations.

Non-compliance can result in severe penalties. Frequent examples embrace hundreds of {dollars} in fines, injury to your model’s popularity, lack of belief from privacy-conscious guests, and potential authorized points.

The excellent news is that WordPress makes it simpler to change into GDPR compliant with the precise instruments and settings. We’ve created an ultimate guide to WordPress GDPR compliance that walks you thru each step.

You can even take a look at our really helpful WordPress GDPR plugins that assist automate many compliance necessities.

Our favourite is MonsterInsights. This plugin comes with an EU Compliance Addon that mechanically anonymizes customer IP addresses that can assist you meet GDPR necessities.

Extra Web site Safety Statistics

• 39% of WordPress websites had been outdated once they received hacked.
• 81% of WordPress websites don’t use a WAF to guard in opposition to assaults.
• 78% of internet sites lack content material safety insurance policies, which assist stop hackers from injecting malicious code.
• 73% of web sites are lacking X-Body-Choices headers. This makes them weak to clickjacking assaults, the place hackers overlay faux content material on professional pages.
• 6 in 10 WordPress customers haven’t enabled two-factor authentication.
• Websites with no WAF face 25% larger prices when safety breaches happen.
• 64% of web sites utilizing WAFs report fewer safety vulnerabilities.
• Solely 46% of high web sites use a content delivery network (CDN), which helps shield in opposition to DDoS assaults whereas enhancing website pace.
• 53% of customers haven’t updated their passwords in over a yr.
• 44% use the identical password for each private and work accounts.
• 37% embrace their firm identify of their passwords, making them straightforward to guess.
• 62% have shared passwords by unsecured channels like electronic mail or textual content.
• 8% of WordPress websites get hacked as a result of they use weak, easy-to-guess passwords.

WordPress Safety Administration and Response

Listed here are some methods WordPress website house owners deal with their safety wants. Let’s see what method would possibly work finest for you.

16. 45% of WordPress customers deal with safety in-house, that means they handle updates, monitor threats, and reply to safety points themselves.

The opposite 55% outsource these duties to skilled companies like WPBeginner Pro Services.

Each approaches have their benefits. In case you handle your safety in-house, you will have full management over your safety measures and may reply to points instantly. Nonetheless, this requires technical information and takes time away from operating your corporation.

Alternatively, outsourcing to WordPress maintenance and safety consultants offers you skilled experience and 24/7 monitoring. However it comes with extra prices and fewer direct management over your safety setup.

The proper selection will depend on a number of components, together with your technical experience, out there time and assets, funds issues, website complexity, and safety necessities.

We usually advocate outsourcing in the event you run a enterprise web site or deal with delicate buyer knowledge. The price of a safety breach far outweighs the funding in skilled safety companies.

17. 86% of WordPress customers who monitor their website exercise really feel assured about detecting safety threats.

Exercise logs observe essential actions in your website, like failed login makes an attempt, plugin adjustments, or unauthorized file modifications.

We advocate utilizing a WordPress activity log plugin to mechanically observe and retailer this info. These plugins can warn you when one thing suspicious occurs, like a number of failed login makes an attempt or sudden admin adjustments.

Need to study extra about monitoring your website? Try our information on how to monitor user activity in WordPress.

18. 47% of WordPress customers who haven’t skilled a safety breach don’t have a restoration plan.

That is regarding as a result of it’s not a matter of if your website will face a safety menace however when.

Thankfully, making a restoration plan is just not that tough. We’ve an entire information on how to make a WordPress disaster recovery plan in the event you want step-by-step directions.

Additionally, in the event you use Duplicator, you’ll be able to assign a backup file as a catastrophe restoration level. It will create an entire snapshot of your working web site and a launcher file that you need to use to restore your site with just some clicks.

What’s extra, you’ll be able to retailer your backups in distant storage like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox for additional safety.

Extra Safety Administration Statistics

• It takes 292 days on common to detect and cease assaults involving stolen login credentials.
• 46% of all cyber assaults goal small to medium companies with lower than 1,000 staff.
• Only one in 5 WordPress websites practice their group members on safety finest practices.
• Firms that deal with safety in-house are 22% extra prone to have a restoration plan, seemingly as a result of they higher perceive their safety wants.
• 58% of companies that outsource safety admit they don’t really feel technically assured about understanding safety instruments.
• Organizations that don’t practice their employees and outsource safety are 13% extra prone to get hacked.
• Even after experiencing a breach, 33% of WordPress websites nonetheless haven’t created a restoration plan.

AI in Cybersecurity

As safety threats change into extra subtle, artificial intelligence (AI) is taking part in an more and more essential function in defending WordPress web sites. Let’s take a look at how AI is altering the safety panorama.

19. Websites utilizing AI detection can determine safety breaches 100 days quicker.

It is because AI can constantly monitor your WordPress website for suspicious exercise and reply to threats mechanically.

AI safety instruments can detect uncommon login patterns, block malicious IP addresses in actual time, determine potential vulnerabilities earlier than they’re exploited, analyze visitors patterns for indicators of assaults, and automate safety responses.

If you wish to use a scanner on your web site, take a look at our checklist of the best WordPress security scanners to maintain your website secure.

Extra AI Safety Statistics

• Organizations utilizing AI safety instruments save a mean of $1.88 million per knowledge breach ($5.72 million with out AI vs. $3.84 million with AI).
• 74% of companies report being affected by AI-powered cyber assaults.
• The adoption of AI safety instruments has grown by 3%, with 31% of organizations now utilizing AI extensively.
• 88% of firms favor utilizing complete AI safety platforms relatively than a number of separate instruments.
• Organizations are utilizing AI for safety to enhance menace detection (57%), discover vulnerabilities (50%), and automate routine safety duties (43%).

Sources:

Astra, BigCommerce, Crowdstrike, Dark Trace, IBM, MasterCard, Melapress, National University, PatchStack, SentinelOne, Statista, Sucuri, Terranova Security, Wordfence, and WP Mayor.

We hope this text helped you uncover the most recent WordPress cybersecurity statistics and developments. If you wish to learn extra research-based articles like this, then be happy to verify them out under:

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