Running a journal on the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform brings many advantages: easy management of manuscripts, streamlined peer review, and a familiar workflow for editors and publishers. However, what many journal owners overlook is that OJS, like any open-source software, is vulnerable to security threats if not protected properly.
Over the years, cyberattacks on academic journals have increased significantly, particularly as journals grow in visibility and traffic. At OJSCloud, with more than four years of hands-on experience hosting and managing OJS platforms, we have witnessed firsthand how quickly an unprotected OJS website can fall victim to malware, phishing, data loss, and downtime.
This blog explains the security risks involved, the impact of attacks, and the complete set of protection layers OJSCloud provides to safeguard your journal.
Understanding OJS and Its Security Vulnerabilities
OJS is widely used because of its flexibility, open-source nature, and strong support community. However, being open-source also means it is frequently targeted by hackers. Attackers often scan the internet for OJS installations, outdated plugins, weak passwords, and poorly configured servers.
Most Common Security Weaknesses:
1. Malware Injection Through Author Accounts
A large percentage of attacks occur because author accounts often use weak passwords or are shared between multiple users. Once attackers gain access, they can upload malicious scripts disguised as files.
2. Outdated Plugins and OJS Core
Many journal owners do not perform timely updates. Old versions of OJS and plugins may contain vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.
3. Lack of Server-Level Protection
If your hosting provider uses basic shared hosting, the server may lack firewall protection, malware scanners, or brute-force defense systems.
4. No Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Without a WAF, attacks such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and bot-based threats can directly target your website.
5. No DDoS Shielding
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack can overwhelm your journal server, causing complete downtime.
6. Missing SSL Encryption
Websites without SSL expose user data, login credentials, and submission files to interception. These weaknesses create easy entry points for attackers. And once a journal website is compromised, the consequences can be severe.
⚠️ These weaknesses create easy entry points for attackers. Once a journal website is compromised, the consequences can be severe.
⚠️ Real-Time Attack Examples: The OK88 Cyberattack
A real-time example of OJS websites that have been hacked can be found by searching "ok88 slot" in Google. The screenshot below shows how the search results have been compromised by the well-known OK88 cyberattack targeting OJS-based journal websites.
Examples of spam content injected by attackers:
- "OK88: Bandar Situs Slot Gacor Resmi Gampang Menang Maxwin Hari Ini Bet 200 Perak"
- OK88 daftar rekomendasi situs slot gacor resmi hari ini gampang menang maxwin dengan minimal bet 200 perak terbaru dan game terlengkap di Asia.
- "SLOT THAILAND # SERVER NO 1 TERPERCAYA | LINK..."
- Slot Thailand dikenal dengan server stabil dan peluang maxwin yang lebih konsisten. Melalui link gacor resmi, pemain mendapatkan akses cepat, aman
- "Mahjong Slot 🎰 | Link Situs Slot Gacor Mahjong Ways 2..."
- SGO777 adalah link situs slot gacor online yang gampang pecah dan sensational di tahun 2025 rasakan pengalaman bermain permainan slot yang lengkap disini dengan
Examples of compromised OJS websites:
- journals.nubip.edu.ua
- courses.asdc.org.in
- www.rhadana.com/contact
The Impact of Malware Attacks on Journal Websites
Security vulnerabilities don't just cause inconvenience—they can lead to real and long-lasting damage. Based on our experience at OJSCloud, the most common consequences include:
1. OJS Website Downtime
- Delayed manuscript submissions
- Affected peer review timelines
- Reduced journal credibility
- Loss of potential authors
2. Loss of Article PDFs in OJS
- Loss of academic records
- Loss of citation value
- Loss of authors' trust
- Damage to institutional reputation
3. Blacklisting by Google & Google Scholar
- "Deceptive Site Ahead" warning
- Articles unindexed from Google Scholar
- Slow recovery even after cleanup
4. Unauthorized Content Modifications
- Spam content insertion
- Redirects to malicious sites
- Unwanted advertisements
5. Data Breaches
- Author data compromised
- Reviewer information stolen
- Email IDs exposed
- Manuscripts leaked
Why Proactive Security Is Mandatory for OJS Websites
Many journal owners assume that installing OJS on a hosting server is enough. Unfortunately, that is not true. Security must be multi-layered to defend against multiple types of attacks.
A Secure OJS Environment Requires:
Without these layers in place, your journal remains exposed, even with the best hosting plan.
Because of the increasing volume of attacks in the academic publishing world, OJSCloud strongly advises journal owners to invest in proper protection.
OJSCloud's Backup Policy and Important Disclaimer
We always provide reliable hosting, but security is a shared responsibility.
OJSCloud maintains a 10-day server-level backup. If a security incident occurs:
- We can restore your website to the last clean version
- You must inform us within the backup window to recover the site
- If no security solution was subscribed, OJSCloud is not responsible for data loss, corrupted files, or missing PDFs caused by external attacks
⚠️ Backups are a safety net, not a replacement for proper security. To prevent losses and avoid downtime, we highly recommend enabling at least one complete security layer.
Security Services Provided by OJSCloud
Industry-leading security solutions handpicked for OJS environments
1. Sucuri – Complete Website Security Platform
Sucuri is one of the most powerful end-to-end website protection systems in the world. It provides everything needed to keep your OJS website safe.
Key Features:
✔ Website Firewall (WAF)
Blocks attacks like:
- SQL Injection
- XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
- Remote File Inclusion
- Zero-day exploits
- Brute-force login attempts
✔ Malware Detection & Removal
Sucuri continuously scans and removes:
- Backdoors
- Injected scripts
- Malicious code
- Spamware
- Redirect malware
✔ DDoS Mitigation
Protects your journal from traffic overload attacks that can make the website inaccessible.
✅ Sucuri is ideal for journals that want the strongest, most comprehensive protection.
2. Cloudflare – CDN & Security Platform
Cloudflare is globally recognized for improving both speed and security.
Key Features:
✔ DDoS Protection
Stops large-scale traffic flooding attacks.
✔ Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Blocks malicious requests and exploits.
✔ Performance Optimization
Cloudflare caches your journal content and delivers it from the nearest server, making your website much faster.
✅ Cloudflare is highly recommended for journals with increasing traffic or global users.
3. Imunify360 – Server-Level Security for OJS Hosting
Imunify360 protects your server, not just your website. This adds an essential backend layer of defense.
Key Features:
- Intrusion Prevention & Detection: Identifies and blocks suspicious activities in real time
- Real-Time Antivirus: Automatically detects and removes malware injections
- Self-Learning Firewall: Adapts to new threats using machine learning
- Patch Management: Keeps server software updated to prevent vulnerabilities
✅ Imunify360 provides the most robust server-level security for OJS.
4. Combo Package: Cloudflare + Imunify360
This combo gives you both server-level protection (Imunify360) and application-level + traffic-level protection (Cloudflare).
What You Get:
- Server-level protection from Imunify360
- Application-level protection from Cloudflare
- Traffic-level protection and performance boost
- DDoS mitigation and firewall coverage
✅ Perfect choice for journals that want strong security but do not require the full Sucuri package.
5. SSL Encryption – Basic but Essential Security Layer
SSL encrypts data between your users and website, preventing data theft. It is the first and most essential step in website security.
✅ Every OJS website MUST have SSL enabled. This is included FREE with all OJSCloud hosting plans.
Security Services Pricing Summary
| Service | Annual Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Sucuri | ₹20,000 | Complete end-to-end protection |
| Cloudflare | ₹9,750 | Global traffic & performance |
| Imunify360 | ₹6,600 | Server-level defense |
| Combo Package | ₹14,000 | Balanced protection |
| SSL Certificate | FREE | Basic encryption (included) |
Conclusion: OJS Security Is Not Optional
Securing your OJS journal website is no longer optional—it is crucial. Cyberattacks have become smarter, faster, and more damaging. Even a single vulnerability can lead to website shutdown, loss of article PDFs, data breaches, and irreversible damage to your journal's reputation.
OJSCloud provides a powerful range of security solutions, from Cloudflare and Imunify360 to the all-inclusive Sucuri platform. Each layer adds significant protection, but Sucuri remains the strongest and most comprehensive defense.
By choosing OJSCloud's security services, you are investing in:
- Stability and uptime
- Credibility and trust
- Long-term data protection
- Peace of mind
Your journal contains valuable research and years of academic effort—protect it with the right security tools.
Introducing ScholarJMS
The Future of Journal Management
After years of supporting over 100 journals on OJS, we recognized a pattern: many of OJS's limitations, especially around security, were structural.
So we decided to solve the problem at its root. We built our own journal management system, ScholarJMS (scholarjms.com) — a modern, highly secure, fully automated journal management system developed by Sequence Research & Development Pvt. Ltd.
ScholarJMS is built using React and Laravel, two of the most secure, high-performance technologies available today. Unlike OJS, it is not open source, so its directory structure, file paths, and internal logic are not publicly visible. This makes it drastically more secure and resistant to attacks.
Everything that OJS provides, ScholarJMS does better, faster, safer, and more reliably.
Why ScholarJMS Outperforms OJS
🔒 Strong, Modern Security
Built on enterprise-grade technologies with hardened backend architecture.
Because it is not open-source, attackers cannot scan your exact structure.
⚡ Hassle-Free Managed Hosting
Our team maintains everything: security, updates, backups, performance, and monitoring. You focus on editing, not troubleshooting.
📋 Pre-Configured Journal Policies
Editorial workflows, guidelines, article templates, ethics statements, and publication policies come preloaded and customizable.
🚀 Launch a Full Journal Website in 24 Hours
With ScholarJMS, we can create a fully working journal site (similar to www.jetbt.org) in less than 24 hours.
This Includes:
- Website design
- Submission system
- Peer review workflow from scholar9.com
- Article publishing engine
🤖 Login-less, AI-Enabled Article Submission
One of the standout features of ScholarJMS is its login-free submission system.
Authors can submit articles without creating accounts.
The system:
- Detect Spams
- Classifies manuscript type
- Structures metadata
- Uses AI to guide authors during submission
This eliminates one of OJS's biggest problems: fake and spam submissions.
If You Want a Truly Secure Journal Website
While OJSCloud provides strong security solutions for existing OJS journals, ScholarJMS represents the next generation of journal technology—faster, safer, smarter, and modern.
If you're planning a new journal or want to migrate from OJS to a more secure and automated system, ScholarJMS is the ideal choice.
Get Started with OJSCloud Security
Protect your journal today. Contact our team to choose the right security solution:
