[x3sphere]

Never had any security issues with WordPress, and I run it on a fairly popular site. The auto updating feature is actually great for a site you won't be working on daily.

Also I think the WP core is well secured. It's when you start adding plugins into the mix things can get dicey.

For spam, Akismet is pretty effective and comes with WP by default, just have to enable it. I consider WP very frictionless for publishing content so it's a good choice in my book.