The WordPress application is an immensely popular program used to power more than 20% of all websites. As such, it is also a very tempting target for hackers. The WordPress organization is very aware of this problem and frequently updates the program for a variety of reasons, the main one being to plug security holes.
In addition to the primary WordPress software, there are also thousands of themes used to change the look of websites as well as thousands of plugins used to enhance the functionality. These applications are also subject to hacker attacks.
The WordPress organization, theme developers, and plugin developers have devised their software in such a way that when it is updated, an update message will be displayed in the website’s dashboard announcing that fact and providing you with an instant and easy way to update the outdated software.
Many WordPress websites are created by web developers and turned over to their owners who may never log into the dashboard. This is not good. Insist on getting access to the dashboard as a condition of the finalization of your website. Then, periodically (each week or no less than each month) log into the dashboard to check the currency of WordPress, the themes, and the plug-ins. When you see that anything has an update, take a minute or so to do the update. If this is a task you can’t or don’t want to do, there are many WordPress users that you can call on for help. Look for WordPress groups in your local meetups at meetup.com.
