The Panama Papers Caused by an Outdated WordPress Plugin?
We have heard reports that the recent security breach resulting in the “Panama Papers” might have been caused by accessing an outdated plugin. Ironically, we had this on our list of topics to write about and after hearing about the breach it made us more certain of the importance to keeping your plugins updated.
All WordPress sites incorporate plugins on some level. You may use them for contact forms, or spam filtering, sliders or even calendars that track your posts. There are literally thousands of plugins that are available in conjunction with the WordPress platform. We stress website maintenance to our clients because keeping your plugins up-to-date helps to keep your sites’ vulnerability at bay. While this is only one barrier to keeping your site safe and functioning correctly, it’s one of the more important tasks.
Having the most current software helps everything run at its’ best. If you own a computer you understand what an operating system update can do to change how it functions. Plugins are similar and can even break your site depending on the type of update. Because a lot of websites are customized with code in addition to using multiple plugins, updating can have a domino effect. Code that was in place before to create that sweet layout now needs to be adjusted. In extreme cases, websites can be down for days while the site is pieced back together.
Even with the potential of downtime, it’s more of a risk if you don’t keep your plugins and theme updated. WordPress is free and because of that is widely used which gives any site running the program a target on its’ login page. This doesn’t mean you should stray from using WordPress, rather, be more informed about the security needed to keep your site safe and functional.
If you are unsure of how to update your plugins or want to make sure it goes smoothly, contact your webmaster and they can do it for you.
