14 DAY TRIAL // An announcement from the FBI warns administrators of websites running WordPress content management system (CMS) of the increasingly frequent defacement attacks from alleged ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams) supporters targeting this web platform.
The incidents are a result of WordPress vulnerabilities exploited by the hackers, who use relatively unsophisticated methods to achieve their purpose, the Bureau says.
Defacements have a larger overall impact
FBI’s arguments to persuade admins to update to the latest version of the CMS do not limit to the fact that WordPress has released patches for all identified vulnerabilities, and the agency also highlights the dangerous consequences security glitches can have, especially for businesses.
Although defacements represent low-level hacking and are not difficult to deal with, they do create disruption, and businesses could suffer a financial impact due to lost revenue and costs associated with repairs.
“The defacements have affected Web site operations and the communication platforms of news organizations, commercial entities, religious institutions, federal/state/local governments, foreign governments, and a variety of other domestic and international Web sites,” the FBI said in an alert on Tuesday.
WordPress components should also be up-to-date
Indeed, the hackers are indiscriminate about their targets and a look at the database amassed by online services for defaced websites paints a clear picture of this.
On the other hand, a vulnerability in WordPress or a plug-in for the CMS can have a much more significant impact. Malicious actors could leverage security flaws to gain complete control of the website and use it to host malware that is delivered not only to its visitors but also to others that access other compromised websites.
Malvertising campaigns, such as the recent one that affected ads from Google, rely on malicious code inserted in the digital banners to redirect users to online locations storing the payload; this happens invisibly to the user.
A recent vulnerability discovered in a highly popular WordPress plug-in allows an intruder to inject backdoors on the website or create new admin accounts, handing control of the website to a third party.
The FBI believes that the defacement perpetrators are not directly related to ISIS and just use the name of the organization to gain more fame.