Best WordPress Security Plugins

As a WordPress website owner, if you don’t have a security plugin in place, you’re not placing any protection on your content. About 30,000 websites get hacked each day, and considering that WordPress powers over 43% of them, that means your site is sitting at risk. No worries though! In this article you’ll learn about the best WordPress security plugins to help ensure that your website is protected from malware.

What is a WordPress security plugin?

A WordPress security plugin is a type of plugin designed to provide a few layers of protection to your website.

This protection is geared toward reducing the possibility of your WordPress site being hacked. This can happen due to:

• Not updating WordPress core installation.

• Not updating plugins and themes.

• Not choosing a secure web host.

• Using plugins that are a security risk.

• Not using methods to prevent bots from gaining access to your site.

…and much more

What features should a good WordPress security plugin do?

• Malware scanner

• Firewall

• Bruteforce login protection

• File protection

• Plugin and theme monitor

• Anti-spam

• IP blocker

Malware scanner

The best WordPress security plugin should contain a malware scanner. However, this malware scanner should be one that will automatically scan at certain times. In not having an active security plugin that regularly provides malware scans, you won’t be alerted at the first time of a malware infection.

Firewall

A firewall is a type of security wall that prevents bad bots and traffic from reaching your website. Most WordPress security plugins that contain a firewall may provide minimal support, but they may also have a paid version that will do a better job.

Bruteforce login protection

Bruteforce login protection is a method of security where you prevent hackers and bots from trying various ways to gain access to your WordPress site through the login form.

File protection

Your files, like the ones in your WordPress uploads folder, or your WordPress files, need to be protected from malware. Security plugins that offer file protection are really handy in preventing your site’s coded files and media files from infections.

Plugin and theme monitor

WordPress themes and plugins are only as good as how long their developer will keep their code up-to-date. If a plugin or theme hasn’t been updated in more than 2 years, then it is considered abandoned. This could also mean that the plugin or theme could become a security risk, or no longer work well with WordPress. If your WordPress security plugin alerts you of abandoned plugins and themes, then it’s definitely one of the best in the market.

Anti-spam

Some security plugins might provide a layer of anti-spam, for your contact forms and for your forms in WordPress.

IP blocker

Being able to monitor and block IPs using your security plugin can help prevent problems like a DDoS (Denial of Service) attack, or a bad bruteforce attack. Most bots have their own IP, so if your security plugin logs them, you can ban the ones that may be trying to do things they shouldn’t be doing.

9 Best WordPress Security Plugins

There are a lot of different security related plugins, but the list below are the best of the best:

1. Shield Security

2. iThemes Security

3. Wordfence Security

4. MalCare Security

5. BulletProof Security

6. Sucuri Security

7. WPScan

8. SecuPress

9. GOTMLS

1. Shield Security

Shield Security is a very robust security plugin. Out of the box, the free version contains a lot of great tools like:

Several login protection methods (examples: CAPTCHA, 2-factor authentication) Protection against brute force attacks Alerts for file changes in WordPress core installation, plugins, and themes Anti-spam options Automatic bad bot and bad IP blocking

The free version is great, but if you want a good firewall and regular scanning, you may want to invest in the pro version of Shield Security, which runs as low as $59/year.

2. iThemes Security

iThemes Security is one of the oldest WordPress security plugins. It used to be known as Better WP Security. Some of its free features include:

• Login security

• 2-factor authentication login option

• File change detection

• Sites is scanned twice daily for malware

• Enforce SSL

• Database backups

• Change WordPress security keys

• Hide login URL

3. Wordfence Security

Wordfence is one of a couple security plugins that have been around in the WordPress community for some time. It’s great for smaller sites, but the scanner may time out in larger websites. However, for the most part, it's a super solid plugin and gives you an in-depth report of your site’s security. A few highlights of Wordfence are:

• Malware scanner regularly runs and that tells you exactly what files are infected and the actual infection.

• In-depth report on plugins and themes that have been abandoned.

• Web application-based firewall

• Brute force login protection

• Options for 2-factor authentication

4. MalCare Security

MalCare Security sure looks pretty for the WordPress end-user, but it’s no joke when it comes to your website’s protection against malware. MalCare offers a free cloud-based malware scanner and an application based Firewall.

However, if you want the ability to be able to see what files were hacked and clean the malicious code that the plugin found, you’ll need to purchase MalCare’s pro version. As a note, the basic user might not understand this, but for developers wanting to streamline some of their malware cleanup services, this plugin can be super handy. Their pro version pricing starts at $99/year.

5. BulletProof Security

BulletProof Security is nice for beginners, as their plugin offers a setup wizard. The free version of BulletProof Security offers:

Htaccess file protection Login monitoring and protection Database backup HTTP Error logging Security logging Maintenance mode option Options to control automatic updates in WordPress

If you need more real-time security monitoring, and a good firewall, you can purchase the premium version of BulletProof Security as low as $69.95 per year.

6. Sucuri Security

Sucuri Security offers a great scanner to let you know if your site has a malicious code infection. It also offers brute force and file protections. Another great feature is that Sucuri will tell you if you’ve been blacklisted from search engines like Google and Bing.

While Sucuri does offer a Firewall feature, you would need to upgrade to a package. Their pricing starts at about $199.99 per year.

7. WPScan

WPScan boasts that its malware scanner’s list was carefully put together just for their plugin. Additionally, their plugin is better for enterprise-level customers. In order to take advantage, you have to register for an API token. If you have a large site, their free API token plan will not work. You will have to apply with WPScan for a price quote and to see if your website qualifies for support.

8. SecuPress

SecuPress have gained over 30,000 active installs, and nearly 500,000 downloads. The free version of SecuPress includes:

• Anti-Brute Force login protection

• Ability to block IPs

• Firewall

• Security key protection

If you’d like other features like geolocation blocking by country, detection of vulnerable themes and plugins, and malware scanning, you can upgrade SecuPress for $69.99 per year, for one website.

9. GOTMLS

GOTMLS is also known as Anti-Malware Security and Brute Force Firewall. This plugin makes the list solely because once you’ve been hacked, and can at least access your WordPress admin area, the scanner is amazing. It beats out Wordfence’s scanner. This plugin also has some brute force protection settings.

However, it’s best to bookmark this plugin and solely install and use it if you’re having a problem with your site, and not sure if it’s a malware issue. Sometimes this one will pick up malware in places that your web host and even your usual WordPress security plugin will miss.

In Summary

In case you came across this article, and your site was hacked, you will need to clean up the malware first before securing your WordPress website. You might need the help of your web host to scan your files and tell you what is infected.

In the case you’re not comfortable cleaning your website, there’s always your WordPress host or a WordPress developer that you can hire to clean up the infection.

However, once your site is clean, you can try any of the WordPress security plugins in this article and see what works for you.

Frequently Asked Questions