Any website is prone to security attacks, WordPress is no exception.

WordPress security plugin protects your website against multiple security attacks like malware, brute force attacks(when hackers guess our login details), phishing, and spammers. It helps to block spam from plugins and also notifies you whenever there is a security threat in your WordPress website.

The following things may happen when your website is hacked

• User Information & passwords will be hacked.
• Installs malicious software and distributes malware to your users.
• Impacts business reputation and revenue.
• Affects SEO rankings.
• Fixing a hacked website is complicated for non-technical users ,professional help is needed to fix it which is expensive.
• In the worst case ,we have to pay ransom to regain our website from hackers.

Why is the Security Plugin needed in WordPress Website?

Security is an important aspect in any kind of business irrespective of big/small companies or offline/online businesses. Now you may think WordPress itself is highly secured, maintained, and updated in a timely manner by its developers but still why do I need a security plugin to protect my WordPress website?

As we all know WordPress comes with many themes and plugins which are developed by third parties so it is vulnerable to attacks.

Considering we have some valuable items/ cash in our home rather than keeping at our Almira’s we rely on a bank locker since it has additional security. Similarly, security plugins are incredibly important for our WordPress website as online security measures are of top priority.

So why wait? Install a security plugin and protect your WordPress website.

Best WordPress Security Plugins

There are always some security risks associated with the internet, it’s not always 100% secure. So regularly take a backup of your WordPress website to remote locations instead of taking in hosting accounts. But remember backups are only a savior for quick restore in case of any attacks not a security guard for the WordPress website.

We have hand-picked some of the best WordPress security plugins to protect your WordPress website.

1.  Sucuri Security Plugin

Sucuri Security plugin is one of the best and industry leaders in the WordPress security market. They also provide a basic free version, which will scan your WordPress website only for common threats. The paid version is highly recommended as additional firewall protection, which is an essential element of WordPress security. Here are some of the features available in paid versions:

• Constantly scans your WordPress website for malware and removes them.
• The firewall protection keeps your WordPress website safe against brute force,malicious attacks,unencrypted traffic,DDoS attack ,backdoors and other attacks.
• Can be easily set up from the WordPress dashboard.
• Website uptime monitoring.
• DNS change detection.
• Tracks your WordPress website activities like file changes,last login details,failed login attempts,etc.Above all it scans your website remotely(i.e from their servers)so that the data gets stored with Sucuri ,even when there is a chance of attack we will know how and what happened as attackers can’t delete the logs.
• They offer to clean up your website with no hidden charges,in case it gets affected by malware.Also cleans up already malware affected websites.
• Reduced server load time which inturn boosts speed and performance of your WordPress website by blocking malicious traffic.
• Additionally if you suspect an attack on a website is happening from a particular location,we can also block visitors based upon their location.

2.  Wordfence Security Plugin

It is a popular security plugin especially useful for those who are in need to protect multiple WordPress websites, it manages the security across all sites in a single interface. They offer a free version which almost covers the essential security features such as

• Monitors your WordPress website visits,hack attempts in a real time which include the details like their IP address,time spent in your site,origin of the visitor,etc.Wordfence security plugin automatically scans for common threats such as Bad URLs,malicious redirects,SEO spams,etc. also launches a full scan for your WordPress website at any time.
  • Notifies in case of virus or malicious file or even when there is an outdated plugin.
  • Also alerts when a security breach is detected along with the instruction to fix it.
  • Waiting period is 30 days for security patch updates which is longer when compared to the paid versions

Features available in Pro version

• File integrity monitoring for malicious code,brute force protection by limiting login attempts.
  • Two factor authentication and strong password enforcement for login protection.
  • Real time firewall protection to stop bots,brute force attack,DDoS attacks.
  • Can monitor all WordPress websites from a central dashboard.
  • With Wordfence Threat Defense Feed,it updates and scans in real time to make sure that your WordPress website IP address is not blacklisted.

The Wordfence security plugin has a built-in firewall that runs on the server (i.e before loading your WordPress website) which is less effective than cloud-based DNS level firewalls like Sucuri.

3. All In One WP Security & Firewall Security Plugin

It is a good option for new WordPress website users as it is straightforward and clear. They offer the basic best WordPress security practices which are useful for small business websites. They provide only a free version security plugin that has the following features:

• IP blocking for particular location,User Account/File integrity monitoring.
• Basic website level firewall protection which detects common threats such as malicious patterns,DB injections and more.
• Limits login attempts i.e after a certain number of failed login attempts the account will be locked in order to prevent your site from brute force attacks.
• Blacklists suspicious IP’s.

4.  iThemes Security Plugin

The iThemes security plugin contains an attractive dashboard that lists all the tools from which we can easily enable/disable them from the dashboard itself. It has the following security features:

• Detects file integrity issues and has scheduled DB backups.
• Two factor authentication with strong password enforcement.
• Locks out suspicious IP’s and scans your WordPress website for vulnerabilities such as brute force attacks,404 error detection and more.
• Email alerts to notify if there is any file update due to malicious activity.
• Limits login attempts,protects WordPress plugins and themes.
• There is no website firewall and malware scanner instead they use Sucuri’s sitecheck for malware detection.

Free and paid versions are available.

5.  WP Scan Security Plugin

• It stands out as a unique security plugin ,because it is updated very often by a community of WordPress security experts.
• Scans your WordPress core software,plugins and themes for many known threats and debug file logs,weak passwords,etc.
• Can schedule an automated daily scan for malicious code and notifies it immediately through Email.
• Free version is suitable for most of the websites,but if you own a large website with many plugins then a paid version security plugin is recommended.

6.  Jetpack Security Plugin

Jetpack security plugin is efficient and used by many WordPress users, it stands as an all-in-one solution for your security needs. The pro version has the following features

• Protects brute force attack,automatic malware scanning,spam protection for blog comments.
• Automatic plugin updates,Two factor authentication,Email alerts when your WordPress website goes down and one click to restore your website quickly.
• Real time backup option for your WordPress websites which captures even the small changes we do in our website.

Price Comparison table

Plugin	Free version	Price
Sucuri	Yes	Basic –  $99/year Pro      – $299/year Business – $499/year
Wordfence	Yes	Pro – $99/year(for 1 website)
All In One WP Security & Firewall	Yes	Not Available
iThemes Security	Yes	Pro – Starts from $80/year
WP Scan	Yes	Pro -Starts from $2.31/month
Jetpack	Yes	Pro -Starts at $19.95/month

Hope this helps you to choose the right security plugin.

Most importantly having multiple security plugins active in your WordPress website will also lead to bugs. So choose a security plugin wisely according to your need and secure your website.