There really isn’t a more important aspect of managing a WordPress website than security. All of the time, effort, finances, and imagination you pour into your online creation is a thing of value. You need to protect your online real estate just like you would your physical real estate. Fortunately, there are a number of top security plugins for WordPress that do just that for you.
Do I Really Need Website Security?
It’s often said: “Why would anyone hack my website? I just run a little x/y/z type site and there’s nothing to gain” or “I don’t sell anything so there’s nothing of value for a hacker to want”. There are a variety of different motivations for someone to exploit your website:
- Financial gain is the big, obvious one. It’s only a piece of the puzzle, though.
- Resources are something every website has, and plenty of hackers want. Accessing your website and by virtue your server’s resources are a very common threat and great motivator.
- A platform to send spam.
- Just because. Think there aren’t plenty of people just sitting around with the skills and nothing better to do? Boredom has been used as an excuse for far worse.
So yes, your website is a potential target. Whether you’re a global corporation or a mom-and-pop diner with an online menu, your website has something that someone wants. You need to protect it!
Security Plugins for WordPress
Sucuri Security
Sucuri is a global security company that specializes not just in WordPress security, but website security in general. Their free plugin integrates that protection very nicely into WordPress. It’s a great comprehensive security solution.
Features include:
- Security Activity Auditing
- File Integrity Monitoring
- Remote Malware Scanning
- Blacklist Monitoring
- Effective Security Hardening
- Post-Hack Security Actions
- Security Notifications
- Website Firewall (as an add on)
iThemes Security
iThemes Security is a part of the iThemes suite of WordPress plugins that includes other popular plugins like Backup Buddy and Exchange. They’re a stable and professional offering that will serve your website well.
Features include:
- iThemes Brute Force Attack Protection Network
- General protective measures such as scanning, banning, and forced SSL
- Threat Detection
- Data Obfuscation
- Database Recovery
- Multisite Comaptability
- Security Tutorials
Wordfence Security
Wordfence is easily among the most popular security plugins for WordPress with over 1 million active installs. It is powered through a proprietary Threat Defense Feed and includes a web application firewall. Wordfence security specializes in WordPress security.
Features include:
- WordPress Firewall
- Blocking Features
- Login Security
- Security Scanning
- Website Monitoring
- Multisite Security
- Caching features
Bulletproof Security
Bulletproof Security may be among the plugins on this list with the fewest active installs (over 100,000), but that does not make them any less of an option for top notch WordPress security. The plugin receives regular updates and their service is viewed very positively by their users.
Features include:
- One-Click Setup Wizard
- jQuery UI Dialog Form Uninstall Options: BPS Pro upgrade uninstallation or complete BPS plugin uninstallation
- .htaccess Website Security Protection (Firewalls)
- Login Security & Monitoring
- Idle Session Logout (ISL)
- Auth Cookie Expiration (ACE)
- DB Backup: Full|Partial DB Backups | Manual|Scheduled DB Backups | Email Zip Backups | Cron Delete Old Backups
- DB Backup Logging
- DB Table Prefix Changer
- Security Logging
- HTTP Error Logging
- FrontEnd|BackEnd Maintenance Mode
- UI Theme Skin Changer (3 Theme Skins)
Acunetix WP Security
Like BulletProof, Acunetix doesn’t have a huge active install base, but it is responsible for the security of over 100,000 WordPress sites. It’s also recognized as one of the best security plugins for WordPress available, so don’t let the install number be a deterrent when choosing what’s right for you.
Features include:
- MultiSite ready
- Easy backup of WordPress database for disaster recovery
- Removal of error-information on login-page
- Addition of index.php to the wp-content, wp-content/plugins, wp-content/themes and wp-content/uploads directories to prevent directory listings
- Removal of wp-version, except in admin-area
- Removal of key information for non-admins
- Reporting of file permissions following security checks
- Live traffic tool to monitor your website activity in real time
- Integrated tool to change the database prefix
- Disabling of PHP and database error reporting (if enabled)
All In One WP Security and Firewall
All in One WP Security and Firewall is a comprehensive and easy to use security solution that touches all the bases of website security. They use a unique and easy to understand point based system for grading your current security configuration and walk you through security features subdivided into basic, intermediate, and advanced categories.
Features include:
- User Account Security
- User Login Security
- User Registration Security
- Database and File System Security
- Htaccess and wp-config.php backup and restore
- Blacklist Functionality
- Firewall Functionality
- Brute Force Prevention
- Security Scanner
- Comment Spam Security
- Front End Text Copy Protection
Security Ninja
They’re not affiliated with us in any way, but they win the prize for best name, obviously. Security Ninja is the only premium-only plugin on the list, available through CodeCanyon. They are CodeCanyon’s most popular security plugin.
Features include:
- perform 35+ security tests including brute-force attacks
- check your site for security vulnerabilities and holes
- checks for Timthumb vulnerability
- take preventive measures against attacks
- prevent 0-day exploit attacks
- checks for Shellshock server bug
- use included code snippets for quick fixes
- extensive help and descriptions of tests included
These seven plugins represent some of the best security plugins for WordPress, but they aren’t all that’s out there. If you have a favorite security plugin, let us know about it in the comments! These offerings don’t run the full gamut of what’s available in terms of security either. For example, there are great plugins out there that offer services like full database backups and two-factor authentication that many security plugins don’t offer for free. We’ll get reviews of those services up soon. If you have any questions or favorites to add, let us know below!
Out of all the mentioned ones, which would you highly recommend?
Hey Mohammad, that’s a tough call. Which would be best for you really comes down to the specific needs of your website(s). They’re all great plugins that are going to cover the basics of WordPress security for you. From there it’s really an individual decision as to which plugin offers the extra security features that you need in your individual circumstance. The type of website you run, the type of traffic you receive, specific security relates issues that may or may not be a factor for you or your industry, etc are all factors in deciding which of the lot is the best/most highly recommended for you. Sorry for that being a sort of non-answer to your question, but it really comes down to which plugin offers the features that best fit your individual need. Hope that helps!
Hey Quay!
Just wanted to quickly drop in here and mention our plugin. You said that these are some of the best security plugins out there… but I’d like to point you towards Shield. I’m the author behind it, so this is effectively self-promotion, but I need to make writers aware of our work somehow, so I hope you don’t mind.
I’d love for you to try it out and let me know what you think. It does a lot more than “auditing” and notifications – in fact we remove most notifications because it’s noisy and instead opt for powerful protection.
We have the highest average rating for any security plugin in the repo… we’re relatively “new” compared to the rest mentioned here, but we have serious features that I know you’ll love if you like the plugins listed here.
Please give it a shot and if you like what you see, I’d be honoured if you’d include it in your round-up here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-simple-firewall/
Many thanks dude!
Paul.
Paul,
Hey! No problem at all, I certainly understand the need to get the word out. Shield looks great! Always love to see more security options for WordPress users and it’s especially great to see one that’s getting regular update love with active development behind it. Wish you the best of luck and I’ll definitely dig into it some more as I have time.
Regards,
Quay
Thank Quay! Appreciate you taking the time to look at the plugin… would love to hear your thoughts on it once you get a chance.
Cheers!
Paul.
having a confusion in choosing the best one among these. are they ranked according to their rating? should i go for the first one mentioned?
Need advice
Hey Nishat! They aren’t ranked by value or better to worse, no. Each are fundamentally reliable plugins, and each have some offerings that other do not. Just view each with your individual website’s needs in mind and select the one that appeals to you the most based on its individual merits. Read the features they offer, the reviews from other users, and go from there.
Just to complicate matters further, Shield should be on this list but it looks like I didn’t ever update it after writing a review of them. They are another solid performer with some neat features of their own. You can find an article about Shield here until I get this article updated.
Cheers,
Quay