AI this, AI that. Insert strong opinions here.
I’m not going there, yet. But I do have something that needs to be said about AI + how it’s impacting your site security.
Security risks + vulnerabilities are becoming more frequent due to “vibe coding” with AI or developers trying to get something out quick + turning to tools like Claude or ChatGPT.
Plugins are labeled ready to install yet haven’t been tested for security fundamentals. And you, lovely WordPress site owner, trust the plugin author because that’s reasonable. But also because who on this planet would want to check if all of your plugins have input sanitization? Gross.
AI slop is creating plugin problems, not just terrible posters.
Before we carry our pitchforks to the nearest datacenter… there is a silver lining, maybe. Thanks to AI, discovery of these security risks happens a lot faster. Not just the risks AI created but also those good ol’ fashioned ones we had when I was a kid.
It feels a little like sticking your finger in the electrical socket + then getting mad that you got shocked. Except I didn’t stick my finger in the socket + I don’t think you did either.
So what can we do?
Update. Diligently.
I’ve got a short list of plugins that need updates stat. These happen to be some pretty popular options too. Log into your site dashboard + go to Plugins to compare your list to the one below.
If you have a plugin installed, check the version number. It needs to be the one that I listed or newer. How do you know if it’s newer? It will be bigger. For example, 2.5.0 is newer than 2.4.14.
Is your site running an older version? Update the plugin now.
- Broken Link Checker (2.4.14 or newer)
- Forminator Forms (1.57.2 or newer)
- Gravity Forms (3.0.3 or newer)
- Rank Math SEO (1.0.277.1 or newer)
- Really Simple Security (9.8.1 or newer)
- WPBakery Page Builder (8.7.5 or newer)
- WP Rocket (3.23.3.3 or newer)
This is not a complete list of recent plugin security issues. It’s a good idea to run site updates monthly to avoid bad situations.
If you have Broken Link Checker on your site, please just delete it. I’ve been telling folks to do this for years + yet it keeps hanging around.
I’ll be back, same time next week, with a fun security quiz you can take to see how the rest of your site stacks up. And don’t worry, there’s no scanning for sanitization.
- Alison