If you are a WordPress website owner and you are thinking of setting up security for your website but unsure of what WordPress security plugin to use, then this is for you. ☺️
Having a security policy is critical nowadays, especially for self-hosted WordPress websites as it is the most used and also the most attacked.
The first and obvious line of defence for a WordPress website is to have a Secure WordPress Hosting, that provides a lot of security features both on website and server. Backups, SSL, firewall, blocking bots, uptime monitoring, malware scanning, and DDoS mitigation are some security features you should look for.
At Convesio we do all the above.
Another line of defense for WordPress Security is using a plugin like WordFence and others that we have recommended below.
In this article we will highlight the most recommended plugins that we use on our customers website. These WordPress security plugins can keep your wordpress website safe and secure, fortified from hackers and malware attacks.
WordPress security is a serious matter for every website owner running their website on the CMS. More often than not, WordPress users get their website hacked and hijacked for no just cause. This is because WordPress is a very popular CMS, so it is mostly targeted by spammers and malicious hackers.
Once your WordPress website is compromised by malware, phishing or hacking, Google will blacklist your website. This can affect your website negatively.
Google blacklisting your website can affect your WordPress website SEO, even if you manage to recover from the hack or malware. You may have spent so much time (and money) on improving your WordPress website SEO and poof, all that will be gone at the snap of a finger!
A hacked WordPress website can also affect your website traffic, business revenue, and reputation. Hackers can steal user’s information for illicit purposes like spamming, identity theft, etc, and even distribute malware and unwanted bugs or contents to their devices.
And in some cases, you may be compelled to pay a “ransom fee” for your web content “preservation” or to regain control of your website!
Some persons don’t pay attention to their WordPress website security hardening because they either believe they are “too small” for hackers to consider or their Hosting provider will keep their website secure. While the latter may be true, it only holds true when you are using a reliable WordPress hosting provider with propee Secure WordPress Hosting, like Convesio.
Don’t fall into the category of WordPress users that believes that hackers are problems of only big companies or popular blogs and won’t pay attention to “a nobody” like them. In retrospect, hackers don’t really care about your business or website size or popularity. In some cases, they might want to hack your website just so that they can use it for backlinks.
If your website houses or complements your business, or you are serious about your website, then you need to make your WordPress website security one of your top priority.
Now not everyone is tech savvy, hence the need for WordPress plugins. WordPress plugins are there to help you add some desired website features or functionalities that you would otherwise have coded without coding. Just a few clicks here and there, and voila that feature is added.
Even so, there are WordPress plugins for website security purposes. With the right WordPress security plugin, you can still fortify your WordPress website and keep it safe and secured.
But one of the downsides of using the most popular CMS on the internet is the pletoria of WordPress plugins out there today and it can get frustrating trying to figure out the right fit for your WordPress website.
That’s why we are writing this article, so as to guide you to choose the best suitable WordPress security plugins for your website. After reading this article, you will become more familiar with the popular WordPress security plugins that you can install on your WordPress website to keep your data and users safe.
What is A WordPress Security Plugin?
Before we get down to looking at the best WordPress security plugins out there, let’s first understand what a WordPress Security plugin is and what they are supposed to do for our WordPress website when we install them.
A WordPress Security plugin is a monitoring system that keeps track of file integrity, failed login attempts, and performs malware scanning, etc.
A WordPress Security plugin ensures that your website remains completely safe and secure, always, so you can worry less and focus on growing your business or website.
So before choosing a security plugin for your WordPress website, you have to check if the plugin possess the following features:
Firewall: A WordPress security plugin should have a firewall that monitors all traffic on your website and filter out vulnerable bots before they can reach your website server.
Malware Scanner: The WordPress security plugin should be capable of scanning your website on a regular basis for malware and other potential threats.
Malware Removal: The WordPress security plugin should not only find malware, but it should also be able to remove them and fix the website if it gets attacked.
Login Attempt Limitation: The WordPress security plugin should also be to limit login login attempts when a hacker is guessing your login details and block brute force attacks.
7 Best Security Plugins for WordPress Website
While there are a couple of WordPress security plugins that might meet the criteria above, we’ve narrowed down this guide to seven (7) best security plugins that stand out.
The following plugins are the best WordPress security plugins that meet the criteria above.
WordFence Security
WordFence Security plugin firewall and malware scan is an all-inclusive WordPress security plugin and number 1 on our list. It is one of the most comprehensive WordPress Security plugins. It monitors attacks and locks out any login attempts after too many failed attempts. It can even lock out anyone that attempts to login with an invalid username. It has a country blocking feature that can prevent attacks and content theft from a specific geographical location. And it can match and block suspicious patterns and IP addresses.
You need to install and activate the WordFence security plugin from your WordPress dashboard. You can refer to our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
It offers the following security features for your WordPress websites:
- A Web application firewall (WAF) that blocks malicious traffic before it attacks your website
- Malware scanning of files, plugins and themes before they are uploaded
- Two-factor authentication and login limits to prevent brute force attacks
- Real-time live traffic and analytics monitoring.
The WordFence Security plugin is easy to use and set up, and all the features listed above are free. The premium version provides features like more frequent scans, spam protection and other advanced features.
Pricing: This security plugin has both Free and premium versions. The premium version costs $99/year.
iThemes Security
The iThemes Security plugin is number 2 on our list. It has proven to be one of the most trusted and effective WordPress security plugins among WordPress users. It is very good for protecting user roles, login details and hiding login URL.
The iThemes security plugin has an attractive and user friendly dashboard that shows all the available tools in the plugin. It gives you the power to enable or disable the tools you want from the dashboard. It comes with the following features:
- File change detection
- Brute force attack prevention
- Malware scanning
- 404 error detection
- Two-factor authentication and strong password enforcement for all users
- Limit login attempts
- Lock out bad users
- Automatic database backups
- Security notifications by email
Unfortunately, iThemes security does not have it’s own website firewall and malware scanner. It uses Sucuri’s Sitecheck malware scanner.
Pricing: This security plugin has both Free and premium versions. The premium version costs $80/year.
Sucuri Security
Sucuri Security plugin is number 3 on our list. Sucuri is one of the most popular WordPress security plugins out there. It is a complete website security solution and comes very highly recommended with great users’ reviews online. It can protect your website from malware, brute force attacks, and other potential security vulnerabilities.
Sucuri is used by big and popular websites which means it can handle huge traffic and lots of attacks and malware.
Sucuri has a free plugin which might be okay for new WordPress websites on a budget as it can harden your WordPress website security and scan your website for common threats, but it comes with limited capabilities. The Pro version is the real meat of the plugin. It offers complete protection and it comes with the following features:
- Activity auditing
- File monitoring and automatic removal of malware
- DNS change detection
- Website uptime monitoring
- Security notifications
- Default HTTP/2 support for any website
- Web application firewall (WAF) to keep your website safe against DDoS attacks.
The Sucuri website firewall can filter out bad traffic before it even reaches your server. And their DNS level firewall with CDN can give your WordPress website a superb performance boost and increase your website speed.
With the Pro plan, Securi offers to clean up your WordPress website if it gets infected by malware at no extra cost.
Pricing: This security plugin has both Free and premium versions. The premium version costs $199.99/year for the Basic plan.
