Best Security Plugins for WordPress

WordPress is very secure, but it is also the most popular blogging platform in the world. Security threats naturally arise when a system is so popular. With millions of websites powered by WordPress, it makes sense for hackers to try to exploit vulnerabilities in the system. Hackers sometimes find ways to hack the WordPress server or hack sites using third party themes or plugins.

On the flip side, because there are so many WordPress users, there is a large community of developers and white hat hackers that are interested in protecting people from threats. WordPress will regularly publish updates that secure the platform. Have you met Clifford?

As we discussed in our last blog post — How to Secure Your WordPress Website, there are many things that regular users can do to ensure that their website is secure without having any specialized knowledge in web security or computer programming. This includes using plugins from trusted sources.

Today we go over some of the best security plugins for WordPress and their functions. This list includes plugins to help keep user information confidential, schedule backups on your site, manage permissions in the WordPress Dashboard and more. These plugins can keep your site locked down. They work especially well when used in alongside other basic security measures.

Hide My WP — No one can know you use WordPress!

Hide My WP is a long awaited plugin that provides essential security protection. It’s the top selling security plugins on CodeCanyon and for good reason. This plugin obscures the fact that you use WordPress. While security through obscurity should never be your only method of defense, it definitely can help. Especially when those attacks are coming from bots trying to hack into your website through brute force attacks, SQL injections and PHP requests. There are a number of features that protect your site against attackers including:

• Permalink changes to hide your links from bots
• The removal of meta info such as the version number from headers and feeds
• Restricts access to PHP files
• Changes subdirectory folders such as wp-content
• Changes query URLs to prevent SQL injections
• Hides your files that offer information about your version of WordPRess
• Allows you to disable archives
• Notifies you of any attempts to breech your security

Hide My WP works with mutli-site, apache, Nginx and Windows servers. It’s also fully compatible with most themes and plugins. It is also very easy to use and setup. Try it out for an extra layer of security against hackers.
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Secure-PHP-Login & Registration System

If you want to have registered users on your website, it’s important to keep their information secure so their profiles don’t get hacked. This plugin is powered by Bootstrap and PHP. Secure PHP login is an extremely secure plugin. Passwords stored in the database are highly encrypted to ensure their safety. You don’t need to know any PHP to use this plugin. All the scripts you need are included with purchase.

Secure PHP Login & Registration Form can help you keep your user information locked up tight and offers some nice features. The documentation walks you through the entire setup making it easy to get started. Allow users to login with their social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Google.

Custom Login & Access WordPress Plugin

This is another plugin that is great for managing users. One of the main functions includes creating custom logins for the dashboard. It’s written trusted, elite Envato authors. A good application for a plugin like would be if you are working with a team.

Control access for users such as what posts they can edit or what plugins they have access to. You can also add front end profiles with custom access settings. This plugin has a lot of nice features and it performs like a champ. Easily manage user permissions for the dashboard and for the front end. You can test drive it before you buy it as well.

Jetpack’s Security Features

Jetpack is built by Automattic, the fine folks who own WordPress.com. Jetpack has some amazing botnet security features that come free when you connect Jetpack to your WordPress account. Jetpack Protect can block spam and unwanted login attempts from your site. You can view stats on the attacks in your WordPress dashboard.

Jetpack also has a subscription backup service, Vaultpress, a downtime monitor and other security features. One noteable service provided by Jetpack is the auto update feature. You can set your plugins and themes to update automatically, which is one of the best ways to keep your WordPress site secure.

PrivateContent – Multilevel Content Plugin

Private Content is an easy way to transform your WordPress site into a dynamic multilevel membership platform. It’s allows you to keep the data your user’s give you safe. You don’t need to know any code at all carry out complex user management tasks. Protect your content by locking everything on your site with one click.

PrivateContent comes integrated with a shortcode wizard, so you can pick and choose what content you want to hide while you are editing a post or page. Pose custom messages, warnings or just hide data from specific users. This plugin is great for improving your user database.

Final Word

If you choose to use plugins to manage security measures on your site it makes much easier. This is especially true if you are managing a multisite network. The plugins listed above are great security tools for any level WordPress user. Make sure to do some research to make sure the plugin of your choice works with your WordPress setup. If you really want to be sure contact the developers and speak with a security expert.

If you have the time, there is plenty of information on the web to help you become an expert in WordPress security. Test drive some plugins, get to know how they function and you’ll be off to a good start. Let us know about your favorite security plugins in the comment section and be safe!