WordPress is a popular platform used by web developers to create company websites and blogs. It is easy to install and implement. This very website is built on WordPress.
Plugins add flexibility to words by performing tasks such as checking login attempts, broken links on the site as helping with load speed. There are even plugins that are designed to help with cybersecurity. It is easy to fall into the trap of installing too many plugins instead of programming with PHP or using style sheets.
Dangers that come with using too many plugins:
- They can slow down the site
- They can prevent the search engines from crawling your website
- They can open a door for hackers
Wordfence is a plugin that is designed to prevent hackers from invading your website. Unfortunately, just the opposite recently happened. Here is a recent release regarding this cyber attack:
WordPress Plugin Leaves Company Websites Vulnerable
Wordfence is a popular security solution for WordPress users. Researchers at Defiant created the Wordfence plugin and discovered a large campaign in which hackers were actively looking for sites that use the Kaswara Modern WPBakery Page Builder plugin.
After receiving a patch to address a critical security issue, the creators of the plugin had to abandon it.
The flaw that is being investigated, would allow an attacker inject a malicious Javascript onto any site that uses any version of the plugin. This would allow the uploading or deletion of files, which could lead to a complete site takeover.
This campaign is remarkable because hackers have already scanned over a million sites in search of vulnerable targets. Only a small percentage of the sites that were scanned had the vulnerable plugin.
According to data, the campaign began on July 4, 2022 and continues to this day. More than 10 000 IP addresses are used to launch cyber attacks, which indicates a large and organized group of attackers. At this point, it is unknown who the group behind the attack is.
This is the bottom line. We recommend that you stop using this plugin immediately and uninstall it. It has been abandoned and there is no way to fix it.
It's impossible to predict how long it will take for another group to adopt the plugin. Even if it did happen, it's impossible to predict how long it will take to create a patch. You can avoid this plugin by treating it as toxic.
An acquaintance of ours recently had over 200 websites on their server attacked. Every WordPress, cpanel and PHP login was changed. Their only recourse was to backtrack 4 days and restore these websites. This means they not only lost four days of work, but they also lost a few customers.
Is your website venerable? Only by having a thorough security scan of your network can you know for certain. Integrated Technology Systems can provide you with peace of mind with a complete cybersecurity analysis of your network, provide recommendations for your IT team and training your employees on practices to remain safe.
Be proactive! Call us today BEFORE your company data is compromised.
Integrated Technology Systems
6 East 45th Street, Suite 400
New York, NY 10017
212-750-5420
https://www.itsnyc.com
