A security flaw can jeopardise your website’s authority in the eyes of Google as well as your readers. A decent plugin will aid in the defence of your WordPress website against brute force assaults, viruses, and spammers. Let’s have a look at some of the top WordPress security plugins to keep your site safe in this post.
Is a WordPress Security Plugin Required?
Yes! Security is one of the most important aspects of any online business. It makes no difference if you are a large corporation or a small business website. Hackers prey on everyone. More than 18 million websites are infected with malware every week.
While the WordPress core programme is extremely safe, the plugins and themes you install can leave your website vulnerable.
If an attack on your website is successful, the attackers can:
- You’ve seriously harmed your company.
- harmed your brand’s reputation
- Have an effect on your search engine rankings.
- Some or all of the following features will be included in a security plugin:
Protect your website from brute force assaults, which occur when a hacker guesses your login information.
- Keep sensitive website files safe.
- Contact form plugins should be blocked from sending spam.
- When a security threat is found, notify you.
What Are the Most Effective WordPress Security Plugins?
So, which security plugin provides the best WordPress protection and is most appropriate for you? Let’s have a look at a few of the most popular WordPress security plugins:
Hide My WP
Hide My WP is the most popular WordPress security plugin. It shields your WordPress installation from attackers, spammers, and theme detectors. Hide My WP is used by over 26,000 happy clients. It also conceals your WordPress login URL and renames the Admin URL. It detects and prevents XSS and SQL Injection security attacks on your WordPress website.
Features:
- Hide the WordPress wp-admin URL and reroute it to a 404 page or a custom page.
- Hide the WordPress wp-login.php file and redirect it to the 404 page or a custom page.
- Change the URLs for wp-admin and wp-login.
- Backup and restore settings for a forgotten password
- Resolve relative URLs
- Text Mapping from HTML code is used to change classes.
- Cache CSS, JS, and images to improve loading performance.
- Security checks and reports are performed on a weekly basis.
Cost:
- Free Version is available.
Sucuri
Sucuri is the greatest free WordPress security plugin available today. For good reason, the all-in-one security platform is quite popular.
Sucuri is a fantastic free WordPress security plugin for websites, but the pro version is an absolute must-have for any website owner.
Features:
- If your WordPress site becomes infected with malware, they will clear it up for free.
- Simple installation on your WordPress dashboard
- Firewall security prevents brute force and malicious assaults on your WordPress site.
- Allows you to scan for malware (and of course malware removal)
- Security hardening that works
- Everything that happens on your site is recorded, including file changes, last logins, and failed login attempts.
- Some plans include powerful DDoS protection, which can reduce server load time and enhance site performance by preventing unwanted traffic.
- Static material is served from their own CDN servers.
- Protects your WordPress site from SQL Injections, XSS, and any other known attacks.
Cost:
- Sucuri is available for free, and the Pro edition costs $299 per year.
iThemes Security Pro
If you use WordPress, you might recognize the team behind iThemes Security Pro because they also created the popular BackupBuddy plugin and other amazing themes and plugins. All of their technologies provide an easy-to-use interface for brute force security protection and other features.
Features:
- Two-factor authentication adds an additional layer of security.
- Strong password protection
- 404 detection as well as plugin scans
- WordPress backups that are scheduled
- Locks off any questionable IPs that check for vulnerabilities on your site, preventing them from gaining access.
- Sends email alerts to advise you of any recent harmful file updates on your site.
- The ability to restrict login attempts
- WordPress plugins and themes are safeguarded.
- Although there is no website firewall or malware scan, Sucuri’s Site check malware scanner is used.
Cost:
- The annual cost of iThemes Security Pro is $80.
Jetpack
Jetpack is another popular all-in-one solution on our list of the top WordPress security plugins. This well-known plugin, which has over 5 million active downloads, allows you to easily check your website for security flaws.
Features:
- Backups in real-time Every change you make to your website should be saved.
- With a single click, you may rapidly restore your website.
- The activity log shows you which action (or person) broke your site.
- Decentralized malware scanning safeguards your website against security threats.
- Spam protection is provided by automatically blocking spam in blog post comments.
- It sends you an email when it detects that your WordPress site is down.
- Protects your website from brute force login assaults and malicious software.
- Included are website design features as well as automated marketing tools.
- Keeps your WordPress plugins up to date and informs you if you’re using the most recent version of WordPress.
Cost:
- Jetpack’s free edition contains basic WordPress security features. The Security Daily package begins at $19.95 per month when invoiced annually.
WPScan
WPScan is another excellent WordPress website security solution. This user-friendly application has been around since 2012 and can maintain the backend of your website safe and secure. It works by cataloging a large number of known dangers and reporting the most critical ones to you, allowing you to prevent undesired security difficulties.
Features:
- An open-source application with one-of-a-kind features that can be used to scan remote WordPress installations for security flaws.
- Their vulnerability database is updated daily by community members and WordPress security experts.
- Automated scans for harmful code are performed on a daily basis.
- Email notifications assist you by analysing a database of known issues with WordPress plugins, WordPress core, and WordPress themes.
Cost:
- There is a free version of the plugin available that is suitable for most websites. If you have a large site and use a lot of plugins, the commercial edition of WPScan is better for you, and it starts at roughly $2.31 per month.
Wordfence
Wordfence is a robust WordPress security plugin that includes a slew of handy features for keeping hackers at bay. It, like iThemes Security, is based on the freemium model. The free version provides basic protection on a tiny site, but you will not receive security fixes as rapidly as paying users. Wordfence features an easy-to-use interface, although other plugins are a little easier to use if you’re a beginner.
Instead of a cloud-based firewall like Sucuri, this plugin has its own firewall that runs on your server. If you’re comparing them, that’s a crucial distinction to keep in mind.
Wordfence also includes email notifications that will warn you immediately if there is a breach attempt, as well as weekly updates. You won’t get vital notices if Wordfence isn’t delivering email, so check sure your WordPress emails are functional.
Features:
- Firewall protection in real-time
- WordPress malware detector
- Limiting login attempts protects against brute force attacks.
- Country stifling
- Monitoring the integrity of files for harmful code
- Strong password enforcement and two-factor authentication are used to protect logins.
Cost:
- For one site, you can have it for free or for $99 per year.
Winner of the Best WordPress Security Plugins
If you’re seeking a WordPress security plugin that has it all, the solution is rather simple. Hide My WP is, without a doubt, our top recommendation for the best. It includes all of the capabilities you’ll need to safeguard your website, rather than just a handful.
We recommend that you begin using Hide My WP as soon as possible if you haven’t previously. Although the Premium version isn’t free, having a secure website will save you a lot of money and hassles in the event of a breach (Not to mention, peace of mind).
Finally, about WordPress Security
That’s the end of it. Hopefully, this list of the best WordPress security plugins has provided you with the information you require to select the finest security tool for you. To be legally compliant with the GDPR, security is essential. This WordPress GDPR plugins list offers some useful tools for tracking user behavior on your site. JustHyre is here to help you with the same.
You might also enjoy our piece on some fantastic tried-and-true ways for constructing safe WordPress forms. In case you’re unaware of the security risks of utilising hacked plugins, we’ve also written an essay about why you should avoid WPForms Pro nulled.