2018 was a big year for WordPress security. We saw several new plugins enter the market and significant updates to existing ones like Akismet and WordFence. 2019 is guaranteed to be just as exciting! Let’s look at some of the best plugins on offer in this category that we can expect from next year – including top tools currently available not yet reviewed by us! You wouldn’t purchase a physical store without obtaining a lock for the front door, would you? I’m guessing you’d receive an alarm system and maybe security cameras as well. These security measures are in place to prevent break-ins, money loss, property damage, and the compromise of critical information. Unfortunately, these are the same dangers that your online company faces. It may even be more vulnerable since the Internet allows fraudsters to sneak into your website without ever leaving their couch: At any one moment, 18.5 million websites are compromised with malware. On an average day, a website is attacked 44 times. WordPress is used by 83 percent of the approximately 90,000 websites hacked every day.
That’s why, when it comes to effectively safeguarding your website, you should take as many safeguards as possible. Don’t think to yourself, “It won’t happen to me.” Nobody is immune to ruthless assaults. Target, a retail behemoth, has experienced data breaches affecting more than 41 million consumers. The corporation paid out over $18 million in settlements due to that one security incident. Something like this may do a lot of damage to your company’s image online. I could go on and on about why your website has to be safe for the rest of the day, but I believe I’ve made my point. So, how do you go about getting the security you require?
To begin, WordPress includes certain security protections built-in. It’s also critical that you choose a safe web hosting provider; with a host like WP Engine, several security protections are included in your hosting package. You may take further precautions by using a WordPress security plugin in addition to these methods. There are a plethora of security plugins for your website to choose from. How can you know which WordPress security plugin is the best? You may evaluate the ones I’ve included in this guide rather than spending weeks going through and researching them all. I’ve compiled a list of the best seven WordPress security plugins for 2021. Use this knowledge to improve the security of your WordPress site and give it more trust.
The best WordPress Security Plugins are:
1. MalCare
GoWP, WPBuffs, and Cloudways recommend the MalCare security plugin to know you’re in good company.
If you want to save time and effort, you should acquire this security plugin. Their malware cleanup is automated, taking less than a minute to remove infections and criminal actors. Your website is also protected from its servers. As a result, when they check your site for malware, you’ll never see a delay. MalCare also includes a robust firewall that protects your website 24 hours a day, seven days a week. According to its website, it will also ban any IP addresses that have been identified for malicious intent from the hundreds of sites on its network.
Though it may not be for everyone, I love that they provide a variety of tools in addition to security, such as their WordPress administration plugin. It enables you to manage many WordPress sites and control permissions so that your team may cooperate with them all. This service also allows you to back up your websites for 90 days, ensuring that you never lose data. In addition, MalCare’s pricing is extremely reasonable compared to the benefits you’ll get. It costs $99 a year for one site and includes automatic virus removal, a Firewall for websites, and comprehensive website management.
2. iThemes Security
The iThemes Security plugin, formerly known as Better WP Security, is another popular option for WordPress users. However, unlike the other plugins we’ve looked at so far, iThemes Security doesn’t come with as many free features, so you need to subscribe to the premium version if you’re going to use it. Basic security is included in the free version, but you won’t have access to the pro features, such as:
- Authentication using two factors
- Malware checks regularly
- reCAPTCHA is a service provided by Google.
- Logs of user actions
- Security keys for WordPress
- Capabilities for importing and exporting
- Widgets for the dashboard
- Comparisons of files
- Security and expiry of passwords
As you can see from this list, subscribing to iThemes Security Pro, which begins at $52 a year, is well worth it. After trying too many invalid logins, iThemes Security will immediately ban users, preventing a brute force assault on your site. There is also a scanning function that will detect any possible attack flaws. After you’ve found the issue areas, the plugin will teach you how to fix them in a matter of seconds. iThemes Security also aids in the protection of your server. On compatible servers, the plugin imposes SSL for admin pages, posts, and other sites. In addition, the plugin will conceal the most prevalent WordPress security flaws, which hackers often exploit. If there’s an issue or a possible security danger on your WordPress site, you’ll get an email notification.
This plugin also connects seamlessly with your WordPress dashboard, a good feature. It doesn’t seem intrusive, and you don’t have to go to any third-party platforms to improve your site’s security. I found the detailed video training provided by iThemes Security quite helpful.
3. Jetpack
Jetpack is regarded as a WordPress behemoth. Advanced security, automated backups, easy-to-understand statistics, marketing tools, site speed optimizations, and more assist improve performance and safeguarding your site in various ways. With over 5 million activations and regular plugin updates, you can be confident that you’re in excellent hands. Jetpack has many features, but its enhanced security functionality is powerful on its own. As a result, anybody who needs real-time security scans, backups, or anti-spam protection should use this WordPress security plugin.
It provides real-time backups that are triggered automatically whenever you make changes. As a result, your backups are always current and can be restored if anything goes wrong. You receive unlimited backup storage with your membership, so you never have to worry about running out of space. You may also use Jetpack’s scan tool to avoid security issues proactively. You may have it scan new files and material automatically, or you can run it once a day. It analyzes your whole website for malware and harmful software to identify weaknesses and prevent assaults from occurring.
Another noteworthy feature is the ability to restrict and delete spam submissions through your website’s comments and input forms. If you don’t do this, you can wind up with hundreds of spam comments, making for a terrible visitor experience for anybody who happens to scroll to the bottom of your most recent article. Not only that, but you have to remove them manually rather than preventing them from proceeding in the first place.
Jetpack also includes several additional security measures, such as:
- Protection against brute force attacks
- Monitoring downtime so you’re aware of problems before your visitors are.
- Detailed activity log detailing every modification made to the site
Depending on your needs, you may pick from various price alternatives. You’ll have to pay $55.95 per month for real-time security or $19.95 per day for daily protection if you want all of Jetpack’s security features. For $79.95 per month, you can access Jetpack’s whole suite of capabilities, including security, marketing, design, SEO, CRM, and more. This is a beautiful method to simplify your plugin stack if it’s within your budget. However, security features may be purchased separately if you’re on a limited budget. The three principal utilities (daily backups, daily scans, and anti-spam) cost $7.95 a month. Sign up for Jetpack right now.
4. Wordfence Security
Wordfence Security — Firewall & Malware Scan is one of the most popular WordPress security plugins available, with over two million active installs. It fights spam, malware, and other threats in real-time. Unlike other plugins, Wordfence Security offers an exceptionally user-friendly dashboard. You don’t have to be a tech wizard, have a background in IT, or study cybersecurity to use this plugin.
The ability to examine statistics about your entire website traffic patterns is one of my favorite features of this plugin. These reports will show you whether your site has been hacked. You’ll be able to discern whether the traffic is generated by people, Google crawlers, or possibly harmful bots. The possibility to ban countries is another beautiful feature of this plugin. You can restrict attacks that originate in specified geographic areas where cybercrime is prevalent.
The free version of Wordfence Security offers plenty of features that will keep your website safe. In addition, they give you more out-of-the-box than other free security plugins. For example, you’ll get firewall blocks and Protection against brute force attacks. Premium pricing starts at $99 per year. The premium version comes with added features like Authentication using two factors, direct customer support assistance and real-time IP blocklisting. The real-time IP blocklist feature blocks requests from any IP address that has attacked another WordPress website using Wordfence Security. When it comes to the safety and security of your website, that’s a pretty good deal, in my opinion.
5. Sucuri Security
This plugin’s name alone reveals all of the security measures it provides. When you install Sucuri Security, you’ll have access to features such as:
- Monitoring the integrity of the firewall
- Malware detection
- Monitoring of the blocklist
- Audits of security
- Hardening of security
- Notifications
- Security protocols in the aftermath of a hack
- Firewall for websites
Except for the Firewall for websites, all of these features come with the accessible version of Sucuri Security. If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to protect your WordPress website, Sucuri Security is a top choice. You don’t necessarily need the Firewall for websites offered in the premium version for most sites. Sucuri Security provides concrete actions to assist you in remediating any harm in the case of a hack or attack. Some of you may be put off by the prospect of hearing anything like this. However, it is practically difficult for any website to be entirely impenetrable. There’s always the possibility that something may go wrong. When anything goes wrong, you’ll get a notice right away so you can react quickly.
Sucuri Security makes no apologies for this. They’re not going to sit there and guarantee that the plugin is 100% effective. Rather than making false promises, our plugin has included a mechanism that will aid you if your site is ever hacked. That appeals to me. The Hardening of security provided by Sucuri Security is exceptional. It’s easy to go through and check the status of the different elements of your website to add additional protection. You may contact the Sucuri Security customer care staff through live chat or email if you have any questions, complaints, or run into any issues while using the plugin.
6. All In One WP Security & Firewall
All In One WP Security & Firewall is packed with free features. The interface is straightforward to use, and you don’t need to be a technology or security expert to figure things out.
The graphic components on the dashboard are one of the reasons this plugin made my list. In addition, you may obtain reports with graphs that explain all of the parameters associated with the security of your website. The plugin also advises you on what steps you may take to increase the security of your WordPress site.
Each security feature is classified into one of three groups:
- Basic
- Intermediate
- Advanced
You may implement specific firewall rules gradually so that your website’s functioning is not hampered. As a consequence, your website’s speed will not be reduced at all. The plugin checks your WordPress site for security flaws. After these flaws have been identified, the plugin will guide you through making adjustments to improve your security. A grading system is used to assess everything. The ratings are assigned depending on the security levels of each element on your website.
Another top feature offered by All In One WP Security & Firewall is spam security for your comments section. Getting lots of comments on your blog posts or other website pages can be highly beneficial for SEO purposes, but not if those comments are spam. Instead of manually checking all of your comments and deleting spam on your own, this plugin can do the work for you. It automatically detects IP addresses known for producing spam and blocks them from commenting. If certain addresses have exceeded a specific number of spam comments, they will even be blocked from accessing your site altogether. I haven’t even mentioned the best part of all. This plugin is free. That’s right, 100% free. Unlike free versions of other plugins, All In One WP Security & Firewall doesn’t withhold top features and pitch upsell. It’s completely free to all WordPress users.
7. BulletProof Protection
The BulletProof Security WordPress plugin may not be as well-known as some other options, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be a high priority for your website. For example, it claims that none of the 45,000 websites that installed BulletProof Security Pro have been hacked in the previous seven years. This figure is impressive, although it includes certain assumptions and does not account for server attacks.
This plugin is straightforward to set up and use, and it can be up and running in just a few clicks. BulletProof Security’s free edition allows you access to features like:
- Logs of security breaches
- Monitoring of security
- Scans for malware
- Backups of databases
- Restores of databases
- Anti-spam software
- Anti-hacking software
BulletProof Security’s maintenance mode is one of my favorites. It will keep your site safe when you do front-end and back-end upgrades and maintenance, which are periods when your site is most exposed to attacks and breaches. While the installation and setup procedure is user-friendly, I’d say this security plugin is better suited to skilled WordPress developers. You can adjust so many different security settings with BulletProof Security. So, before deciding whether or not to update, I’d recommend starting with that version. At the very least, you’ll get a sense of the interface and navigation. BulletProof Security’s premium edition comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so there’s no danger there.
Conclusion
Which WordPress security plugin is the best? It isn’t easy to choose one as the greatest, but I’ve narrowed down the top seven for you to consider in 2021. It all depends on your requirements. Some of these plugins offer more extensive functionality than others, which may or may not be required for all websites. Some plugins are preferable for expert developers, while others are simpler for novices. Do you want a free security plugin for WordPress? Or do you wish to pay for a pro version every year? When choosing the finest security plugin for your website, you must consider all of this. I’m positive you’ll find what you’re looking for on the above list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best security plugin for WordPress?
A: There are a few different plugins that you can use for WordPress security, including Wordfence, Malwarebytes, and Sucuri. Additionally, there is an option to set up two-factor authentication in your settings so that you will be even more protected against potential intrusions.
What is the best free WordPress security plugin?
A: If you’re looking for a free plugin to protect your website, there are several that have been highly recommended. They include Sucuri WP Security and WordFence.
Is a security plugin necessary for WordPress?
A: No, not at all. It is always best to stay away from extra plugins if you can since they often have a lot of unnecessary features that sometimes cause more harm than good.
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