August 17th, 2019 | Updated on January 12th, 2023
You have just started your business and the next task at hand is to set up a website. More so with the scare of hackers and malicious people trying to harm your website, you have to be extra careful.
Even after choosing a reputable platform like WordPress the fear of intrusion remains. However, WordPress has many plugins which ensure that the security level of the website is not tampered with.
It is those plugins we have analyzed and created a list of the 10 best WordPress Plugins for Security. If you are worried about your website you must consider any of these plugins to ensure everything remains safe.
We have also scrutinized their features and benefits and once you read through them you can be assured that your task would become much easier.
1. Sucuri Security
Sucuri Inc. is a globally recognized authority in all matters related to website security, with specialization in WordPress Security.
The Sucuri Security WordPress plugin is free to all WordPress users. It is a security suite meant to complement your existing security posture. It offers its users a set of security features for their website, each designed to have a positive effect on their security posture:
- Security Activity Auditing
- File Integrity Monitoring
- Remote Malware Scanning
- Blacklist Monitoring
- Effective Security Hardening
- Post-Hack Security Actions
- Security Notifications
- Website Firewall (premium)
Review: Capterra
Pros: I like that the firewall has enough flexibility to work with other security elements. As we were initially testing, we had Sucuri’s firewall as a supporting layer in our infrastructure. It turned into such a valuable asset we moved it to our first line of defense
Cons: As with any product new product, there was a bit of on-boarding where the team needed to reconfigure some of our infrastructure to work properly with the firewall, but now as we’ve been going along some the changes we made as part of the implementation needed to happen anyway, so it was not a lost effort.
Overall: The firewall is a great add-on because it’s not a static product. It’s always getting better through updates and improvements. When the latest vulnerabilities are discovered, I can count on the firewall and the Sucuri team to quickly update the firewall and keep my sites protected. It’s a great peace of mind to have for something often overlooked.
2. WP Security Audit Log
WP Security Audit Log is the most comprehensive real time user activity and monitoring log plugin. It helps thousands of WordPress administrators and security professionals keep an eye on what is happening on their websites. It is also the most highly rated WordPress activity log plugin and have been featured on popular sites such as GoDaddy, ManageWP, Pagely, Shout Me Loud and WPKube.
Review: wp SMACKDOWN
WP Security Audit Log is a free WordPress plugin that keeps track of everything that’s happening in your WordPress admin area. It maintains a history of actions taken by all users, and will notify you about suspicious behavior. Not only is this a fantastic security tool to have in place, but you can keep tabs on your clients, as well.
WP Security Audit Log was developed by Robert Abela, founder of WP White Security, a European-based company that also provides WordPress security services & consultation.
3. iThemes Security
iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security) gives you over 30+ ways to secure and protect your WordPress site. On average, 30,000 new websites are hacked each day. WordPress sites can be an easy target for attacks because of plugin vulnerabilities, weak passwords and obsolete software.
Most WordPress admins don’t know they’re vulnerable, but iThemes Security works to lock down WordPress, fix common holes, stop automated attacks and strengthen user credentials. With advanced features for experienced users, our WordPress security plugin can help harden WordPress.
Review: isitwp
Need to protect your WordPress site from hackers? Keep your site locked down and secure with the fully-featured iThemes Security plugin. In our iThemes Security review, you’ll find out how it protects your site from all kinds of security threats, from brute force login attempts to troublesome bots and vulnerabilities.
4. Password Policy Manager
The main culprit of WordPress hack attacks are weak passwords. Even though WordPress does auto suggest strong passwords, users can still use their own weak passwords, and they do!
Unless strong password policies are enforced, users will keep on using weak passwords, putting your website at risk of getting hacked. The plugin Password Policy Manage for WordPress was developed to address this problem – it helps WordPress website owners and administrators ensure their users use strong and unguessable passwords.
The Password Policy Manager for WordPress plugin allows you to configure password policies users must adhere to. It ensuring users use strong passwords that cannot be easily guessed during brute force attacks by malicious hackers.
Review: WP WhiteSecurity
No software can protect your WordPress site from weak passwords users use. Install the Password Policy Manager for WordPress plugin and easily enforce strong passwords on your users and improve WordPress password security.
The plugin is very easy to setup and intuitive. Also, your site users do not have to learn anything new and their logins are not affected since the plugin is integrated in the WordPress login page.
5. Website File Changes Monitor
Identify leftover files that can lead to sensitive business & technical data exposure. Pinpoint malware injections early to avoid irreparable site damage with this hassle-free plugin.
Everyone who owns a WordPress website knows how difficult it is to manage the site’s files. Leftover backup and source code files are very common, and they are the number one source of sensitive data breaches. Also, in case of a successful hack attack it is almost impossible to detect the infiltration and identify all the source code changes!
Use the Website File Changes Monitor plugin to easily get alerted via email and spot leftover files, injected malware and code changes! Remove files that could leave you expose and clean malware infections at the earliest possible.
Review: WP WhiteSecurity
No software can protect your WordPress site from weak passwords users use. Install the Password Policy Manager for WordPress plugin and easily enforce strong passwords on your users and improve WordPress password security.
The plugin is very easy to setup and intuitive. Also, your site users do not have to learn anything new and their logins are not affected since the plugin is integrated in the WordPress login page.
6. WP fail2ban
fail2ban is one of the simplest and most effective security measures you can implement to prevent brute-force attacks.
WP fail2ban logs all login attempts – including via XML-RPC, whether successful or not, to syslog using LOG_AUTH. For example:
Oct 17 20:59:54 foobar WordPress(www.example.com)[1234]: Authentication failure for admin from 192.168.0.1
Oct 17 21:00:00 foobar WordPress(www.example.com)[2345]: Accepted password for admin from 192.168.0.1
WPf2b comes with three fail2ban filters: WordPress-hard.conf, WordPress-soft.conf, and WordPress-extra.conf. These are designed to allow a split between immediate banning (hard) and the traditional more graceful approach (soft), with extra rules for custom configurations.
Review: Kinsta
WP fail2ban delivers one feature, but it’s a rather important one: protection from brute force attacks. The plugin takes a different approach which many see as more effective than what you get from some of the security suite plugins listed above. WP fail2ban documents all login attempts, regardless of their nature or successfulness, to the syslog using LOG_AUTH. You have the option to implement a soft or hard ban, which is different from the more traditional approach of only choosing one.
7. All In One WP Security & Firewall
The All In One WordPress Security plugin will take your website security to a whole new level. This plugin is designed and written by experts and is easy to use and understand. It reduces security risk by checking for vulnerabilities, and by implementing and enforcing the latest recommended WordPress security practices and techniques.
All In One WP Security also uses an unprecedented security points grading system to measure how well you are protecting your site based on the security features you have activated. Our security and firewall rules are categorized into “basic”, “intermediate” and “advanced”. This way you can apply the firewall rules progressively without breaking your site’s functionality.
The All In One WordPress Security plugin doesn’t slow down your site and it is 100% free.
Review: WebNots
Security is one of the important factors for running a WordPress site. Fortunately there are many free and paid services available to protect your site and safeguard from hackers and malicious attacks. In this article we will discuss about protecting your WordPress site with All in One WP Security and Firewall plugin.
Why All in One WP Security & Firewall Plugin?
There are many popular security plugins available, but “All in One WP Security & Firewall” is the only plugin offers most of the needed features for completely free.
- The plugin has more than 400k active installs.
- Updated regularly and compatible with the latest WordPress version.
- Almost 5 star rating from more than 450 users.
- Decent online support on forum.
8. Jetpack
Security, performance, and site management: the best way to WordPress is with Jetpack.
Jetpack is your site’s security detail, guarding you against brute-force attacks and unauthorized logins. Basic protection is always free, while premium plans add expanded backup and automated fixes. Jetpack’s full suite of site security tools include:
- Brute-force attack protection, spam filtering, and downtime monitoring.
- Backups of your entire site, either once daily or in real time.
- Secure login, with optional two-factor authentication.
- Malware scanning, code scanning, and automated threat resolution.
- A record of every change on your site to simplify troubleshooting.
- Fast, priority support from WordPress experts.
Review: isitwp
Need to power up your self-hosted WordPress site? The Jetpack plugin from Automattic gives you access to all the best features you miss from WordPress.com. From visitor engagement to site stats, from security features to display options, Jetpack has it all. Find out if it’s right for you in our Jetpack review.
9. SecuPress
Protect your WordPress with malware scans; block bots & suspicious IPs. Get a complete WordPress security toolkit for free or as a pro plugin. SecuPress is GDPR compliant.
what’s The Difference Between Free And Pro Version?
If you are proactive, our free WordPress security plugin is a great choice! No time to activate weekly scans? Then SecuPress pro is the way to go. Our plugin takes care of everything with automated tasks.
Here Are Some Of Our Most Popular Features:
- Anti Brute Force login
- Blocked IPs
- Firewall
- Security alerts (1)
- Malware Scan (1)
- Block country by geolocation (1)
Review: Kinsta
SecuPress is a newer security plugin on the market (originally released as freemium in 2016), but it’s definitely one that’s growing rapidly. It’s actually developed by Julio Potier, one of the original co-founders of WP Media, who you might recognize, as they develop WP Rocket and Imagify. There is both a free version and premium version which includes a lot of additional features.
10. BulletProof Security
WordPress Security Protection: Malware scanner, Firewall, Login Security, DB Backup, Anti-Spam & much more. View Security feature highlights below. View BulletProof Security feature details under the FAQ help section below. Secure your WordPress website even further by adding additional BulletProof Security Bonus Custom Code. See BulletProof Security Bonus Custom Code under the FAQ help section below. Effective, Reliable & Easy to use WordPress Security Plugin.
Bulletproof Security Feature Highlights:
- One-Click Setup Wizard
- Setup Wizard AutoFix (AutoWhitelist|AutoSetup|AutoCleanup)
- MScan Malware Scanner
- .htaccess Website Security Protection (Firewalls)
- Hidden Plugin Folders|Files Cron (HPF)
- Login Security & Monitoring
- JTC-Lite (Limited version of BPS Pro JTC Anti-Spam|Anti-Hacker)
- Idle Session Logout (ISL)
Review: SoftwareFindr
BulletProof Security Pro dominates with an overall user/editors rating of 4.2/5 stars with 2 reviews, Hide My WP user/editors rating is 3.3/5 stars with 3 reviews. This data is calculated in real-time from verified user reviews or editors rating if there isn’t enough data for user rating.
If for whatever reason by the end of this comparison you are unable to choose between BulletProof Security Pro or Hide My WP, we have included a few useful alternatives like Wordfence Premium based on our community recommendations.
As far as Value for money goes, BulletProof Security Pro wins by 4.3 marks and BulletProof Security Pro is also voted as the easiest solution to use
Without further ado, let’s look at a detailed breakdown of BulletProof Security Pro vs Hide My WP.
11. Wordfence
Wordfence includes an endpoint firewall and malware scanner that were built from the ground up to protect WordPress. Our Threat Defense Feed arms Wordfence with the newest firewall rules, malware signatures and malicious IP addresses it needs to keep your website safe. Rounded out by 2FA and a suite of additional features, Wordfence is the most comprehensive WordPress security solution available.
Review:
What do you like best?
Wordfence is the best security plugin we have tried as it is the most compatible to our needs. The free version offers features that are already enough to security a wordpress website. It has firewall options, rate limiting features, malware scanners and removal and even notifies you of unwanted behaviors and files within your wordpress site.
12. Anti-Malware Security
Download Definition Updates to protect against new threats. Run a Complete Scan to automatically remove known security threats, backdoor scripts, and database injections.Firewall block SoakSoak and other malware from exploiting Revolution Slider and other plugins with known vulnerabilites.
Upgrade vulnerable versions of timthumb scripts.
Review:
Thank you for creating this wonderful plugin. It even found threats that ImunifyAV could not find!
It also found (AND REMOVED!) injections with malicious code inside my database! This threat was found by Wordfence but the free version does not offer a way to remove it.
13. Acunetix WP SecurityScan
The Acunetix WordPress Security plugin is the ultimate must-have tool when it comes to WordPress security. The plugin is free and monitors your website for WordPress security weaknesses that hackers might exploit and tells you how to easily fix them. You can see all your security alerts from your WordPress dashboard.
Review:
Firewall.cx first began its journey with Acunetix began almost 12 years ago with its standalone Windows 98 program. The distance the web vulnerability scanner has come since then is truly immeasurable, managing to keep up with the competition as other companies have faded into the background.
14. 6Scan Security
6Scan is a full service security solution for you website. Our patent-pending technology combines a full suite of features that scan and automatically fix.critical issues that – if left unresolved – could damage your business and customers, your reputation and destroy your web presence.
Review:
I believe that making sure your website is protected from hackers is very important. As I don’t know how to deal with security issues myself, I searched for the best solution for me. A colleague recommended 6Scan, which scans my website 24X7, notifies me via email or sms if something bad was found, and fixes it without anything I have to do.
15. Defender
Defender adds the best in WordPress security to your website with just a few clicks. Stop brute force attacks, SQL injections, cross-site scripting XSS, and other WordPress vulnerabilities with Defender malware scans, firewall, and two-factor authentication login security.
Review:
What a great plugin that does what it says. i haven’t had a single problem since using Defender on our community site. Thank you for a free plugin of such high quality that also includes 2-Factor Authentication.
16. Security Ninja
For over 9 years Security Ninja has helped thousands site owners to feel safe. With this, you can run 50+ security tests in an instant & discover issues you didn’t even know existed. Help yourself now with Ninja’s simplicity & ease of use.
Pro features
- Perform 50+ security tests with one click
- Security Ninja does not make any changes – it’s your site, you have full control
- Check your site for security vulnerabilities, issues & holes
- Take preventive measures against attacks
- Don’t let script kiddies hack your site
- Prevent 0-day exploit attacks
- Optimize and speed-up your database
- Every test is explained, documented and instructions provided on how to fix problems
Review:Bloggers Hangout
There are several WordPress security plugins that can protect your blog from hackers. Here is one such plugin Security Ninja PRO WordPress Plug-in. This plug-in scans your site for possible threats and suppresses them promptly. It also issues you alerts besides furnishing you with regular updates on the progress of the tasks.The software program has been operational for the past seven years. It has acquired a wealth of experience and secured over 20,000 sites.
17. MalCare Security
MalCare is the fastest malware detection and removal plugin loved by thousands of developers and agencies. With an industry-first automatic one-click malware removal, your website is clean before Google blacklists it or your web host takes it down.
Its intelligent scanning methodology will never slow down your website and accurately identifies the most complex malware that typically goes undetected in other popular security plugins.
The one-click malware cleaner offers unlimited automated cleanups while the inbuilt powerful cloud-based firewall ensures round-the-clock website protection. Moreover, you can block countries to mitigate hack attacks.
MalCare comes integrated with a complete website management module that ensures better security and site management to your websites from a single dashboard.
Review: G2
I use Malcare on a client’s WordPress publishing site that had serious hacking problems. Since installing it we’ve saved countless hours. The plugin quickly gets rid of malware and viruses. We just click the button. There are lots of features, including login protection. So far it’s the best cleanup tool we’ve used and the site’s speed has really improved.
18. Google Authenticator
Google Authenticator – Two Factor Authentication (2FA) plugin provides a completely Secure login to your WordPress website. Google Authenticator- Two Factor Authentication (2FA) is a free, simple & very easy to setup plugin. Google Authenticator provides two factor authentication (2FA, MFA) whenever login to your WordPress website ensuring no unauthorised access to your website. Google Authenticator can be configured for any TOTP based Authentication Method.
Review: G2
It is one of the very powerful software based 2 way authenticator. It has powerful mechanism of Authenticating any access using OTP and HMAC based One Time Password for authenticating users of Software applications. Its a very
light weight app for android and iOS platform and installation is very quick and hassle free. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
However, it is a very simple and basic functionality. Features like multiple signup can be done. It should allow the user to store simple key so that it can be saved in any Cloud platform and can be used when logged in. Setup can be improved and can also error messages can also be improved.
19. VavltPress
VaultPress is a real-time backup and security scanning service designed and built by Automattic, the same company that operates (and backs up!) millions of sites on WordPress.com.
VaultPress is now powered by Jetpack and effortlessly backs up every post, comment, media file, revision, and dashboard setting on your site to its servers. With VaultPress, you’re protected against hackers, malware, accidental damage, and host outages.
Review: G2
I enjoy the simple UI as well as ease of use Vault Press offers. I have been using Word Press both academically and professionally for quite a while now and everyone understands the importance of backing up your work.
Vault Press takes out the worry of not backing up your data correctly and knowing exactly what steps to take since Vault Press guides you through it. It is reliable and easy to use which makes it an excellent backup tool.
20. Astra Web Security
With Astra security, you can sleep sound knowing that your website is safe from hackers, bad bots, SQLi, XSS, spam, and 80+ other types of attacks. All in one.
Astra ensures your third-party plug-ins are safe, and patches up site vulnerabilities automatically!
It automatically blocks all attacks on your website and get simple, easy-to-understand reports any time you want!
Want to whitelist a particular IP address? Just add a quick custom rule on the dashboard. No coding, seriously!
Review: G2
We recently had a VAPT engagement done by Astra. Astra team was quick to respond to all our queries and always provided a detailed response. The test results shared were detailed too which helped our developers fix the issues quickly and we were able to get the app retested again within 2 weeks and whole engagement was successfully closed within 3 weeks. Really liked the services provided by them and would recommend it to others too.
22. Shield Security
Shield is the easiest security plugin to setup – you simply activate it and as you learn more, you can tweak the settings to suit your needs best.
Wouldn’t it be great if your Security plugin took responsibility and handled problems for you without non-stop email notifications?
Shield does exactly this. It’s your Silent Guardian.
Features-
- Automatic Bot & IP Blocking – points-based system (that you control) to detect bad bots and block them.
- Block Bot Attacks On Important Forms:
- Login
- Registration
- Password Reset
- Limit Login Attempts + Login Cooldown System
- Powerful Firewall Rules
- Restricted Security Admin Access
- Prevents Unauthorized Changes To Site Even By Admins.
- (2FA) 2-Factor Login Authentication:
- Google Authenticator
- Yubikey
Review: Indeed
Shield was a relaxing job and basically a reason to get out of bed everyday. There are a few really bad customers, but they are far outweighed by good ones. Some of the owners do take notice of your professionalism and report that to your boss, which is always nice.
23. Hide my WP
Hide My WP Ghost is a WordPress Security plugin. It’s one of the best security through obscurity WordPress plugins. The plugin adds filters and security layers to prevent Scripts and SQL Injections, Brute Force attacks, XML-RPC attacks and more.
It changes and hides the common paths, plugins and themes paths offering the best protection against hacker bots attacks.
Note! No file or directory is physically changed. All the changes are made by redirects. All the actions are done automatically by the plugin.
The plugin works with other security plugins and adds a layer of firewall to proactively secure your WordPress website against hackers.
Hide My WP Ghost is compatible with all servers, hosting services, and also supports WP Multisite.
Review: Medium
WordPress has many advantages, therefore, it’s the choice of many website owners. However, the sustained popularity of this CMS gave time to cyber-attackers to find vulnerabilities in the popular WordPress themes and plugins.
Cybercriminals often attack common WordPress URLs to launch password-guessing attacks, moreover, they often stage brute force attacks on websites. Many WordPress site owners want to dissuade cyber-attackers from targeting their sites by hiding the fact that they use WordPress. If site owners can successfully hide this, then cyber-attackers need to work harder to find other vulnerabilities, which reduces their incentives.
24. WebARX
It’s security-oriented, it values honest communication, transparency, and quality. These values are reflected within every employee of the company and within every step we make. As a distributed company, we are researching for tomorrow’s threats 24/7.
Review: G2
I like the simple setout and ready to use approach, there’s no complicated configurations to make it work right away.
It has a lot of features that make managing my websites a fast and easy task.
Has a great firewall with lots of options to make it work the way we need (I left pretty much all as default and has been great), but it offers some rules to really control the security.
It also provides a way to enable/disable as well as update and uninstall the installed extensions right from its dashboard, so if the website is acting up we can start troubleshooting from here.
Customer support is great, once we had an issue that ended being a server configuration, and they help me solve it quickly.
Read More Posts On WordPress Plugins
- 20 Best Redirect WordPress Plugins
- Top 15 +WordPress Plugins For Agencies
- Awesome WordPress Plugins That Will Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly And Powerful Interface!
- 20 Most Popular WordPress Plugins For Slider
- Top 10 WordPress Plugins For Bloggers
- Top 15+ WordPress Plugins For Ecommerce For Your Online Store
- Top 35+ WordPress Plugins That Every Business Must Use
- 25 Most Popular WordPress Plugins
- Top 10 Best Free WordPress Plugins For Every Website
- 25 Best WordPress Plugins To Use On Your Website
- 16 Best WordPress Plugins For Payment Gateway
- 16 WordPress Plugins For Image Gallery
- Why You Need To Install These 6 WordPress Plugins?
