Top eight security plugins for WordPress in 2020

WordPress is a world-renowned content management system (CMS) written in PHP, together with MySQL and other databases. It has state of the art security features that help attract many clients among them, entrepreneurs and business operators. These features include:

• Plugin architecture
• Template system

Today it serves more than 60 million websites amongst them 33.6% of the top 10 million sites as of April 2019. Its popularity is no doubt unbeaten in comparison to other web hosting domains.

However, securing your websites from fraudsters and hackers should be at the top of your to-do list as you embark on putting up your website. The worrying trend of more and more stores being compromised, and data being stolen is quite worrying; the least you could do is enforce the security plugins of your website. The demerits of your site being hacked into pour over into the monetary side- you could go bankrupt by simple accounting errors brought about by hackers.

The importance of these security plugins cannot be overemphasized. Here’s a list of the best security plugins in 2020. 

Defender

This right here is among the best free plugins available. It comes armed with the WPMU DEV membership pack. This means that you’ll be able to customize all the security scans you should employ. That’s not all; this plugin also scans files and informs you when an unwarranted edit takes place. To place the icing on the cake, it comes with 10 GB worth of snapshot backup to store all your data and retrieve at will.

Wordfence security

Looking for simplicity? This is the plugin for you. Its user-friendly interface is unique and quite brilliant but does not take its kindness for weakness; this plugin can and will secure your site from attacks and hacks. Secondly, it can even ban the IP address of the hacker while not compromising on the security measure put in place. Lastly, it has real-time live traffic and analytics monitoring that enables you to know the number of site visits when and as you need them.

Google Authenticator

 This a free to use a plugin that protects your site to the core. The two-factor authentication feature is headlined in this plugin – you can easily invoke it and seamlessly guard your website with an extra layer of web security. Secondly, the two-factor authentication feature is coupled with an OTP verification. This verifies users upon registration making it next to impossible to hack into your site.

WebARX

 This is another reputable web application firewall. It is an advanced plugin that updates automatically and is very fast to install, making it a viral plugin for WordPress users. There is a list of benefits for installing this firewall, top among them being you can be able to monitor everything that goes in and out of your site, enabling you to keep a hawk’s eye on it. It also has the two-factor authentication feature and an inbuilt automatic off-site backup feature. It has a vast clientele base spread all around the world.

MalCare

 This was developed after extensive research to ensure utmost customer satisfaction. It has a list of features that make it suitable for you. First off, it has community support that helps you in installing updates and other nitty-gritty issues. It also has login protection that verifies users and restricts the number of login attempts. The pro version will give your enhanced features.

Sucuri security

Sucuri is an international authority that specializes in web security. They have also spread their wings in WordPress security and are good at it. It is free and can be used alongside other existing plugins for your WordPress site. Top of its features includes high activity auditing that secures your site against many brutal attacks. Secondly, if you should suffer an attack, it has post-hack security actions that prevent a future hack and help in asset recovery. Thirdly, it has a website firewall that goes a long way in guarding your website against malware and harmful viruses. It has over half a million activations – that speaks a lot about its clientele base.

BulletProof Security

True to its name, this plugin severely protects the site. It protects your website from a list of viruses and injections like RFI, XSS and code injection hackings. BulletProof has some features that include a one-click setup wizard, a hidden plugin folder (HPF) among other features. It has over 70,000 installations, meaning it is a brilliant security plugin.

Vaultpress

Automatic developed this plugin. It’s the most exceptional security plugins in the current time. It is backed by Jetpack and ensures that your website will have protection against malware, online threats, hacking and outages. Some other essential features include an off-site digital vault that adds another layer of security – it can block spammers automatically, and it is easy to restore the website should the need arise.

Really Simple SSL

This plugin auto-configures your website to HTTPS- a secure way to browse when you have SSL on your website. You need to purchase an SSL certificate from the vendor and activate this plugin on your WordPress. It also shows a mixed content error, if any page is running on insecure (HTTP) as well it enables HTTP Strict Transport Security. All incoming requests will be forwarded on the HTTPS path.

In conclusion

A single hack to your site on WordPress can cause colossal damage to you and your clients, right from losing their confidence to losing your own money thus dragging you a step or two backwards. This can be easily prevented, as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Get yourself one or two security plugins to complement each other to secure your website from the bad guys better. Try it out now; it breaks no bone!

Author Bio

Dan Radak is a web hosting security professional with ten years of experience. He is currently working with several companies in the field of online security, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies.