Best WordPress Security Plugins To Keep Your WordPress Site Secure

Securing a website against potential threats is one of the most fundamental, crucial, and often underrated activity in development and maintenance. A security breach can not only affect customers and sales, but also the search engine ranking that has been painstakingly achieved, as well as the company’s reputation in some cases.

It can send years of hard work down the drain with just a little mischief on part of the wrongdoer. Thankfully, WordPress being the comprehensive CMS that it is, offers a variety of security plugins for ensuring and maintaining the safety of your website. You can choose from numerous free and premium security plugins to choose the one with features best suited to your website.
In this article, we are listing out the best security plugins for your websites.

Top WordPress Security Plugins

iThemes Security Pro – Popular WordPress Security Plugin

iThemes is a well-known and renowned name in the WordPress security niche, so it comes as no surprise that this premium plugin is so popular. The iThemes Security Pro starts at $80, and the price revises as per the plan you choose. This plugin takes care of the common or major vulnerabilities to a website. It can handle brute force attacks, send email notifications if a hacker tries to make changes to the core files, and has a very strong authentication process. It uses a two-step verification, strong password, connects to the mobile, and limits the number of login attempts before blocking the user. It takes care of the overall security, both curative and preventive, of your website.
Some more interesting features –

• Strong password enforcement
• Option to lock out bad users
• Option to schedule database backups
• Away mode – making the WordPress dashboard inaccessible during specific hours

Check Out iThemes Security Pro

MalCare – WordPress Security and Backup Plugin

MalCare is one of the most comprehensive WordPress plugins we have come across. It performs daily security scans, backups, and the firewall protects against brute force attacks. Cleaning is a one-click process and takes only a couple of minutes. MalCare’s layered approach to security is what makes it so appealing! It notifies website owners about the health of their website via a scorecard. Website performing low are recommended to take steps to improve like updating plugins, themes, WP core and hardening the site.

• Automatic as well as On-Demand scanning
• One-click automatic Cleaner
• The Firewall helps block bad IP and malicious login attempts
• Updates the site from the dashboard itself
• Protects the site’s backend from hackers

Check Out MalCare

Jetpack – Powerful Security Service for WordPress

Jetpack is another popular plugin that comes in both free and premium packages. The premium packages depend on your requirements, and offer a lot of cool features. It performs the daily functions of an anti-virus or firewall such as scanning for malware, restoring and backup functions and more. As your plan becomes more premium, you get more features such as on-demand scanning and backup, etc. Jetpack is a mix of various features that are quite useful for website security. It doesn’t stick just to the expected ones. That’s what makes it so popular.
Some more interesting features –

• Backups and security scanning
• Brute force attack protection
• WordPress.com log in

Check Out Jetpack

VaultPress – Backup Your WordPress Website

Vaultpress is the best WordPress security plugin for website backup. It is imperative that you backup your website so that it can be restored to working condition in case of a hacking or crash. VaultPress does this for you by scheduling backups on a timely basis. In the worst case scenario, you can immediately restore your website (within seconds using the plugin) to its last form.
This means that should anything untoward compromise your website, you can get it up and running before any major damage is done.
Some more interesting features –

• Complete website backup
• Schedule backups automatically or manually
• Restores website within minutes
• Offers curative measures

Check Out Vaultpress

Secu Press – WordPress Security & Backup hoPlugin

Secu Press is the new security WordPress plugin out there, and it is already gaining a lot of popularity. It takes care of 6 key areas of a website’s vulnerabilities – user and login, plugins and themes, WordPress core, malware scan, firewall, and sensitive data. It is an extremely easy plugin to use. Once the plugin checks your website, it highlights the weaknesses and presents you with a report. You click on the checkboxes of the issues that you want to fix, and it’s done. It’s that simple.
Some more interesting features –

• Logs of critical actions from users & visitors
• Secures basic website functions
• Prepares reports of website issues for instant fixing
• Extremely straightforward functions

Check Out Secu Press

Updraft Plus – Backup WordPress Security Plugin With Cloud Storage

Updraft Plus is another website backup and security plugin that’s available in both free and premium formats. It backs up your website and gives you the option to store it in Dropbox or Google Drive, or such other storage software. The cloud backup keeps it safer from attacks or compromise. You can set up either manual or automatic backups, encrypt your backups, and store them to any cloud solution. Although it isn’t a ‘security’ plugin in the actual sense, it does contribute to the same.
Some more interesting features –

• Backs up website data to cloud
• Stores website data to an external cloud storage
• Backup encryption option provided

Check Out Updraft Plus

Google Authenticator – WordPress Security Plugin From Google

This plugin highlights the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) feature for your WordPress website. This feature ensures that every login attempt has to be verified by a trusted device. This simple plugin can be enabled by scanning a QR code on your phone. You can even generate one-time passcodes for temporary access in case there are any issues on your website so that you don’t get logged out yourself.
Some more interesting features –

• Supports the Two Factor Authentication feature
• Manage registered device profiles
• Create temporary access

Check Out Google Authenticator

All in One WP Security and Firewall – Comprehensive WordPress Security Plugin

This is a comprehensive plugin that encompasses all website security issues and concerns, like brute force attacks. It offers a wide range of functionalities and features to combat issues related to security breaches. You can activate the firewall feature, protect your files and database, and scan your website for any changes as and when you need to. The best part of it all is the absolute user-friendliness of this plugin!
Some more interesting features –

• Handles brute force attacks
• Offers a firewall for safe browsing
• Stops user enumeration

Check Out All in One WP Security and Firewall

Sucuri Security – Free WordPress Security Plugin

Sucuri specializes in WordPress security and is highly-regarded as well as recommended for its website security products and plugins. This particular plugin is a very popular free option for your website’s security. It scans your website for malware and fishy files. When installed, it scans your files to create a ‘known good’ configuration, and any file which strays from it is automatically flagged by the plugin. Files are backed up to the Sucuri Cloud, and you can use the monitor log to check for breaches, restoring it to the ‘known good’ configuration in case.
Some more interesting features –

• Ultimate all-round security
• Flags suspicious files and users, shutting them down
• Let’s you restore files from the cloud manually

Check Out Sucuri Security

Block Bad Queries (BBQ) – WordPress Security Plugin For Bad Users

BBQ is a simple and straightforward plugin that’s quite easy to use, which encourages new website owners and WordPress rookies to look into website security instead of being put off by the complexity of it. This plugin is lightweight and uses only the security-enhancing features of a firewall. This makes it easy to download and use as it takes up very little space. BBQ takes the form of a plug-n-play software; install and use. Nothing more required.
Some more interesting features –

• Features a firewall, and no other heavy functionalities
• Blocks executable file uploads
• Blocks directory traversal attacks
• Blocks SQL injection attacks

Check Out BBQ

Wordfence Security – WordPress Security Plugin For Brute Force Attacks

Wordfence is a plugin that’s high on protecting your website from brute force attacks. It uses various techniques such as two step verification, strong passwords, limiting the number of login attempts, etc. If there are reports of users who are known website hackers or attackers, the plugin takes this data from its expansive network and blocks these people beforehand. This is truly a vast security plugin with immense functionalities.
Some more interesting features –

• High-security features.
• Uses 2-step verification
• Notifies you of a breach in real time
• Scans for bad users beforehand

Check Out Wordfence Security

WP Security Audit Log – WordPress Security Plugin For Seasoned Users

This plugin is helpful for those who are adept with WordPress security and would like to try their hand at it. This plugin is a true pedantic and takes care of all the goings-on behind the scenes on your website. No matter what happens, it knows! It also checks out all the user accounts and flags down the suspicious or malicious ones. This plugin also records all these activities and provides you with a log so that you can take care of it as and when you get the chance.
Some more interesting features –

• Good for experienced users
• Attention to all security details
• Flags suspicious users and queries
• Provides a log for reference

Check Out WP Security Audit Log

Login Lockdown – Security Plugin For Login Attacks

This is a fairly straightforward plugin that protects your website from brute force attacks by blocking out the IP addresses that show too many attempted logins. By default, it blocks a user after 3 failed attempts in 5 minutes. However, these settings are changeable. Overall, the Login Lockdown is a simple plugin to use and for its functionalities.
Some more interesting features –

• Blocks user after multiple login attempts
• Blocks suspicious IP addresses
• Settings can be changed manually
• Not a complicated plugin to use

Check Out Login Lockdown

Parting Thoughts

These are the security plugins you ought to check out if you’re coming up with a new website, or if your existing site doesn’t have on installed. Don’t take website security lightly, as it is the only thing that stands between your website purpose and an untoward incident.