Attackers pay great attention to WordPress because it is the most popular Content Management System (CMS). To ensure your website is safe, you must protect it actively. You could be vulnerable to brute force attacks or other nasty hacks if you don’t. To keep your WordPress site safe, look for any possible weaknesses.
Trying to do this by hand is unreliable or valuable, so you should consider using a plugin to do the hard work. This article will discuss five of our favorite WordPress security plugins. It will discuss their main features, who should consider them, and how much they cost. Now, let’s find the best tool to keep your website safe!
What Is A WordPress Security Plugin?
It scares me to think about how many websites get broken into every week. It’s like a crazy dance in the digital world! Sites are attacked more often than any other type of content online every day. Do not worry; there are many ways to deal with these threats. And this is where security plugins for WordPress come in. Finding the right WordPress security plugin should be the first thing on your WordPress site maintenance list. Some essential things that WordPress security plugins have are:
- Real-time threat detection
- Firewall protection
- Malware scanning
They constantly monitor your website for suspicious behavior, quickly finding and stopping possible threats before they can damage it. Security plugins often include a Web Application Firewall (WAF) that stops malicious traffic and people who aren’t supposed to be there.
Why Is It Necessary To Use WordPress Security Plugins?
It takes work to keep a website online. It calls many databases, servers, and other systems to ensure everything works properly. Some of these could be hacked, which could cause your pages to go offline, cause you to lose data, or even hurt your business’s image.
Keeping your website safe also keeps your users safe. These days, we store a lot of information online. It can be a big trust issue if your visitors are targeted in data breaches while doing business with you online.
If you choose the suitable WordPress security options, you can get the features to protect every part of your site from attacks, leaks, and other threats. Knowing this will help you feel safe when you depend on your business to run smoothly online.
How Do I Pick The Best Security Plugins For WordPress?
For example, when you choose any other solution, you should look at what features the WordPress security plugins offer. Think about what you need for your website and what you can get. If you only need one plugin with one main feature, having a single plugin with many features is better. This lowers the chance of problems and makes better use of server resources. You can find out about the most important things you should consider when picking the best WordPress security plugins:
Malware Scan
Malware can infect your website just like it can infect other files on your computer. A good WordPress security plugin should be able to detect and fix this immediately.
Firewall
A firewall makes it harder for people to access your website. It helps ensure that only people who are allowed can access the admin panel and your database, which are two of the most important parts. This is a great way to stay safe from attacks and invasions.
Security Notifications
You need to know when someone is trying to harm your website. WordPress security plugins should not only keep you safe but also let you know when they find a threat. This will help you figure out the best way to handle the problem.
Keep User Accounts Safe
Protecting your WordPress user accounts, especially the admin account, can fix many security problems. Some plugins let you use these credentials for extra authentication steps and offer logging audits to find any possible breaches.
5 Best Security Plugins For WordPress
When you search for “WordPress security plugins” on Google, you will find many options. It will be hard to find the best plugin because everyone will say theirs is the best. You’re on the right page, though, thank goodness. We’ve reviewed these plugins and made a list of their pros, cons, and useful information.
1. Ithemes Security
The iThemes Security tool is one of the best we’ve seen. The plugin includes detailed instructions for every setting, making it easy to set up and customize. The iThemes team can also answer your support questions, so you’ll have a lot of help if you need it.
Key Features:
- Check your website for security holes and malware
- Makes strong passwords mandatory
- Blocks certain IP addresses
- Finds changes to files that shouldn’t have happened and requires the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to be used.
Recommended For:
If you want an easy-to-use tool to keep your site safe, iThemes Security is a great choice. The plugin offers many ways to customize it and a feature that lets you set it up quickly. Some of the settings that this covers are database backups, brute force protection, and vigorous password enforcement.
Price:
You can get iThemes Security for free, but you can also buy a premium version for as little as $80 a year.
2. Wordfence Security
In terms of popularity and number of features, Wordfence Security is one of the best security plugins. You can change everything about your WordPress security protocols with this tool, which has excellent instructions to help you do it.
Key Features:
- Sets up a site-wide firewall to keep you safe from common threats
- Blocks both specific users and whole networks of known attackers
- Strict security rules are applied to login pages
- It looks for known threats to WordPress security.
- Works with WordPress Multisite
Recommended For:
If you want to keep an eye on every security aspect of your website, Wordfence Security is the way to go. Many settings in this plugin allow you to control your experience. The documentation for Wordfence Security will likely help you get the most out of it if you’re new to WordPress and security plugins. That might be alright, but it’s something to consider before you decide.
Price:
Wordfence Security is a free plugin, but the creators also make a paid version that costs at least $99 a year.
3. All In One WP Security
None of the plugins we’ve discussed so far are better at creating a firewall than All In One WP Security. This plugin lets you stop people from hotlinking images, block fake Googlebots, and even set your own rules for blocking.
Key Features:
- It makes user accounts safer.
- Implements strong measures to protect logins
- Keeps your database safe and backs it up regularly
- Check your files for possible security holes
- Added more advanced firewall features
Recommended For:
It’s excellent that All In One WP Security is both easy to use and powerful simultaneously. Second, you get free access to one of the best WordPress firewalls. Additionally, this tool does a fantastic job of giving you a quick overview of your website’s safety. All In One WP Security is an excellent choice if you prefer to avoid looking for information.
Price:
There is no cost for All In One WP Security at all.
4. Bulletproof Security
But BulletProof Security does its job. Its interface isn’t the most attractive thing in the world, but there are enough features in this tool for users of all skill levels. It even has a one-click setup wizard for people who don’t want to change any settings.
Key Features:
- It has a one-click setup option.
- Strong login security and monitoring are made possible.
- Backup your database on a set schedule.
- Logs off users who aren’t using it after a certain amount of time
- Keeps your.htaccess file safe
Recommended For:
BulletProof Security is a good choice for users who care about security in general. While any particular features didn’t blow us away during our testing, the sheer number of settings was a pleasant surprise.
Price:
There is a free version of BulletProof Security, but for $59.95, you can get a license to use the paid version forever.
5. Sucuri Security
Sucuri Security is the last one. The team that made this plugin is one of the best-known for web security, and it does a great job. It has excellent features, such as beneficial “post-hacking” protections (discussed below).
Key Features:
- Keeps an eye on file integrity
- It comes with tools to help you fix your site after an attack
- It has a lot of different notification settings.
- Look for malware and security holes.
Recommended For:
Sucuri Security is great for all kinds of users. It is easy to use and has an excellent interface. It even has features that can help you if your site is attacked. The Post-Hack feature lets you reset plugins and passwords and even force users to log out. It’s like having a secret weapon ready in case you find a terrible security hole.
Price:
Sucuri Security is a free plugin, but the people who made it also offer paid services like security advice and malware removal.
Why Protecting Your Website Is So Important
WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, and it’s also one of the safest. WordPress will protect your site well on its own. But no platform can be 100% secure.
Because of this, it’s essential to add more security measures. If you don’t keep your site safe, customer payment information could leak, and malware could be installed. Other than that, it could make people not trust your site.
Think about it from a visitor’s point of view. You might not feel comfortable giving a business your credit card information if you know it has been hacked more than once.
There are so many bad connections that 84% of website visitors would give up on a purchase if they thought their information would be sent over one. It’s not wild that they’re afraid since mistakes made by people cause 95% of attacks.
This number is scary, but it also means that most significant security problems are easy to avoid. There are many ways to do this, but if you use WordPress, a plugin is usually the best option.
