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How do hacking rates compare between sites created with wordpress.com and those created with wordpress.org?

I posted this question and very quickly achieved two downvotes, but with no hint of an explanation.

Would appreciate some help improving the question or a suggestion where to post the question.

Despite a request for an explanatory comment, still nothing, despite a third downvote, so have deleted the question. But I would like to try again with guidance.

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    Hi aparente, honestly I am really not sure what you're actually asking here. That is probably why the downvotes (though they weren't mine) - it is really an unclear question. Can you elaborate what you are aiming at, what you're trying for here? Is this about the difference between the hosted version and the downloadable?
    – AviD Mod
    Apr 13, 2017 at 0:03
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    @AviD Right. When you make a free site at wordpress.com, things are more idiot-proofed. You can't customize very much. If you install the software from wordpress.org, you can customize. I wonder if I should ask this at the wordpress SE site?
    – aparente001
    Apr 13, 2017 at 0:11
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    Even if you're asking about the difference between hosting Wordpress yourself and having it hosted that would probably be mostly opinion-based.
    – Arminius
    Apr 13, 2017 at 2:25
  • @Arminius - I was hoping there would be some stats about frequency of site hacking.
    – aparente001
    Apr 13, 2017 at 3:26
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    @aparente001 Wordpress itself it not often hacked. It's the plugins ...
    – schroeder Mod
    Apr 13, 2017 at 6:03
  • @schroeder - Well, since wordpress.com users cannot install plugins, does that mean wordpress.com attacks occur less frequently than sites that run wordpress.org software?
    – aparente001
    Apr 13, 2017 at 16:42
  • @aparente001 absolutely - but that's a guess. It is impossible to be able to collect data.
    – schroeder Mod
    Apr 14, 2017 at 7:20
  • It would be wonderful if we had access to how frequently and to what severity various online sites are attacked, unfortunatly that type of information tends to be held as strictly confidential. Only spectacular and 'news worthy' events tend to get reported.
    – this.josh
    Jun 22, 2017 at 6:24

1 Answer 1

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Wordpress.com is a hosting service for (you guessed it) Wordpress websites.

Wordpress.org is the website for the (open source) Wordpress project, where you can find the installation packages, source code, etc.

Asking for 'hacking rates' between the two is just as asking what is more safe on the road: take a cab to your destination, or build you own car with some supplied parts. It is just a silly question actually, as the cab driver probably thinks that is none of your business, and building your own car has nothing to do with road safety as you are not driving it yet.

What you probably meant to ask: Is it safer to host my Wordpress website with Wordpress.com, or do my own installation on a server? This all depends would be my answer: things like functionality play part (if you need exotic plug-ins that might not be supported by wordpress.com), but also technical aspects (your server admin skills), and how you think about security and privacy (threat model, etc.)

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  • I just want to get an idea about what the actual hacking rates are in practice. Some site admins using wordpress.org aren't careful about doing regular updates; some might have some risky practices, e.g. involving comment moderation. Perhaps wordpress.com idiot-proofs things well. On the other hand, perhaps wordpress.com draws hackers like a magnet. I don't know what the end result is, but I'd like to have an approximate idea.
    – aparente001
    Apr 18, 2017 at 3:31
  • I don't think there are any statistics on that available, so if you want hard numbers you might be out of luck. But if you want a more theoretical answer on why one would be safer than the other I think you could reask your question along the lines suggested in this answer.
    – Anders
    Apr 18, 2017 at 12:33

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