Patchstack user since: June 2023
Raise your hand if you’ve applied a security update to one of your sites, only to see that something got broken in the process.
Hand raised? Don’t worry – it’s a WordPress rite of passage. However, that doesn’t mean you should avoid updates and risk exposing your site to plugin vulnerability attacks.
Simply do what the Property Portal Marketing team does: use Patchstack and give yourself time to test the update in peace.
The problem with WordPress updates and security
Property Portal Marketing creates and maintains websites for overseas real estate agents. Like many developers, the team has had issues with attacks.
Sometimes, they couldn’t easily find the backdoor used to launch an attack. At the same time, they were more than aware that plugins caused 97% of all security bugs – bugs that attackers are dying to exploit.
They updated plugins manually as soon as possible. Unfortunately, compatibility became a huge issue. Since WordPress doesn’t check for compatibility with new plugin versions, the sites in PPM’s roster used to get broken.
As Christopher Thompson, founder and CEO of Property Portal Marketing, explains:
“A lot of the time, with auto-updates, it messes up something else on the site which causes us and our clients a lot of headaches, and, of course, if you just leave the plugin without any protection, it opens a back door for a hacker to come in, upload files, and do whatever they want to do with the site. We had to find a way of protecting those plugins while still being able to have a functioning site.”
That’s when they discovered Patchstack.
How does the PPM team use Patchstack?
Since Patchstack provides real-time protection whenever there is a vulnerability in one of the installed plugins, the issues with attacks on Property Portal Marketing’s client websites have stopped - so far, so good!
Knowing their clients’ sites are safe, PPM doesn’t have to rush to update.
Instead, they can test the updates first and ensure nothing will break on the websites. The websites stay up and, thanks to Patchstack, are protected from attacks.
Okay, but how exactly does the Patchstack protection work?
Patchstack doesn’t alter your website code. It forms a protective layer around your website with virtual patching, checking specifically for attacks that want to exploit specific vulnerabilities.
Then, it issues highly-targeted security rules to keep you safe until you can update the plugin.
Does Patchstack affect my site performance or speed?
No! Patchstack is lightweight, with PHP processing times of 0.11 milliseconds. And since the rules are deployed only when there is a vulnerability to be exploited, it doesn’t take up a lot of website resources.
Staying functional, staying safe
For a very long time, developers felt like they had to either compromise on the side of security or functionality. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case.
If you choose your plugin stack correctly and use Patchstack to ensure you have time to test updates, you can have beautiful, powerful, and safe websites.
Give your clients the world’s fastest vulnerability protection. Explore Patchstack or book a demo.
