Are you searching for the best free WordPress Security Plugins to protect your website? You are in the right place! Check out our compiled list to know more!
Best Free WordPress Security Plugins
Website owners are always looking for the best security to protect their sites, their products, and their customers. Hackers are still looking for ways to get into sections, and one of the leading weaknesses that allow hacking are the passwords. That said, here are some of the best WordPress security plugins to help you protect your site.
All In One WP Security And Firewall:
What makes this a great plugin is how user-friendly the interface is for those who are not great at security settings. The plugin also includes a password tool to help you create a secure password. It provides a login lockdown feature that will block IP addresses from continually attempting to log in.
The firewall feature will block malicious scripts from harming the coding on your WordPress site. It will prevent hotlinking of images and fake Googlebots from getting on your site.
Wordfence Security:
This plugin has been used by more than one million sites and offers a free protection from hacks and malware. One of its features is a two-step authentication which will prevent brute force attacks and strengthens security for users. If you are concerned that your site has been infected, it has a feature that will scan and let you know.
Antivirus Site Protection:
This plugin was created to do thorough scans of website files. It will detect trojan horses, worms, backdoors, fraud tools, adware, spyware, hidden links, rootkits and much more. Once identified, it will remove the offensive attempts. Its virus database is updated on a daily basis and any attempts or threats will be detected, allowing you to view them in your admin area and will send you an email to let you know. Your data is scanned using its Siteguarding.com API.
Google Authenticator
This plugin uses a two-step process when a user logs in to a site. In the first step, along with entering the username and password, it also authenticates text, mobile apps, and voice call. Another feature allows it to support security keys plugged into the USB port.
The second step is only used once per device; you do not have to worry about it again. The only time you would use this stage again would be if you log into a second device.
Brute Force Login Protection:
This plugin does absolutely nothing but protects your site against brute force attacks using .htaccess. For a specific period, this plugin will block an IP address if someone comes in with the wrong username and password.
The iThemes Security Plugin:
Called initially ‘Better WP Security,’ this plugin was created by iThemes that creates themes and other plugins for WordPress. This is an excellent tool for both beginners and those who are more advanced. It offers a simple one-click installation and provides options to configure more advanced settings from your dashboard.
Maintenance is effortless, and the dashboard gives users a checklist of security steps you can take which are rated from low to high priority settings.
These are just 6 of the top ranking WordPress plugins for 2017. We will be adding more very shortly, but in the meantime, these plugins will help you get on your way. Whether you are a novice or advanced site owner, these tools will help you secure your site and give you great peace of mind.
Sucuri Security:
It is a beautiful WordPress plugin that is a monitoring tool for specific activities and changes that can potentially harm your site. It is not an easy tool to use and has been designed for developers and others that are experts in analyzing various logging information. So, unless you understand coding and file systems, you might want to let someone else operate this tool.
Other features in this plugin include scanning malware, monitoring security blacklist, and provides post-hack security steps.
Clef Two Factor Authentication:
<Update> The Plugin was shut-down in June 2017
It is an excellent plugin because it provides an exciting way to login to your site. Have your Clef app open on your phone, hold it directly in front of your login screen, and then line up the patterns on both devices. They should be able to detect each other so you can log in to your site.
It is an excellent tool for people who can’t remember their passwords or want a more secure way to sign in. This service has a free or pro version, and they have a mobile app that is available for both iOS and Android.
Bulletproof Security:
This WordPress plugin addresses three major areas – login, firewall, and database security. It has a beautiful one-click set up wizard which makes the entire process very quick and easy to set up. In case if you are an advanced user, you will have access to a manual mode for further fine-tuning. Its .htaccess security filter is designed to match nuisance and malicious attack patterns. It is an excellent feature for maintaining your website’s speed and integrity.
VaultPress Plugin:
This plugin is a premium subscription service created by Automattic, the creators of WordPress. The plugin makes it easy to back up your site on a daily basis or in real-time, syncing all your site’s content. In addition to backups, the service will scan and remove any threats that are found in your files.
You can choose either Backup or Security or get both. The backup bundle runs $9 a month or $99 a year. The Security bundle runs $29 a month or $299 a year.
Security Ninja:
This is a quick plugin to scan your site for any issues. It takes less than one minute to scan and then will give you a report regarding any security concerns along with links with explanations of the problems and how to take care of them. It is user-friendly regarding security, but there are other more complicated features. But in general, all you have to do is click “Scan Now, ” and that’s it!
The beauty about this plugin, it will run over 50 different security tests including brute force attacks to ensure your site is safe and secure. It is also capable of keeping your site safe from “wannabe” hackers, often referred to as “script kiddies.” If at some point to want to go pro, you will get other features including Malware Scanner, Auto Fixer, Core Scanner, Scheduled Scanner, and Events Logger. It is a very fast plugin that comes with an impressive list of features that will keep your site safe from all sorts of threats.
Acunetix Security:
It is a free plugin that comes with a slew of tools. Directly after activating the plugin, it will go to work searching for any site vulnerabilities. Once it finds issues that are compromising your site, it will show you where you need to focus into. The plugin also provides you with different methods to make your site even more secure.
This plugin will help you change your password, create file permissions to protect your data, hide the WordPress version you are currently running on, and remove WP Generator META tag that comes along with the core code. This plugin will make it almost impossible for a hacker to discover if you are a WordPress user or not.
You can use this plugin to disable the error information on your login page. This will make it impossible for a hacker to figure out whether a username or password is wrong. Also, the plugin will backup your WordPress data. You can’t possibly ask for more, and the beauty is, it’s free!
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