Cybersecurity is like a neverending cat and mouse chase between software security teams and hackers—hackers find a vulnerability which security teams quickly race to patch over, but the changes that fix security issues and the addition of features can also introduce new vulnerabilities that hackers will exploit.
WordPress isn’t immune to such problems. They constantly publish updates to address security issues. If you don’t install these updates, you are only leaving your website exposed to cyberattacks.
The same goes for WordPress plugins and themes. Cybercriminals also use outdated tools as backdoors to WordPress websites. Plugin developers and theme creators release updates to account for hackers. This is why it’s important to download and install such updates as soon as possible.