WordPress is a popular website platform, hence making it a common target for hackers to attempt finding system weaknesses they can exploit. The advantage however is that there is also a myriad of users, tools and services all showing you how to protect your WordPress website. Explore your security options by learning about some of the best WordPress plug-ins available. You should certainly not install a plug-in only after you suffer from hacking attacks but get one early enough and prevent your website from being compromised.

iThemesSecurity

Previously known as Better WordPress Security, this plug-in has a high user rating at 4.7. It is the most popular and most widely used WP security plug-in currently. When you install it, it immediately provides an alert message with a call-to-action button .It offers basic security tools at no cost but users who would like to enjoy advanced features and extra functions would have to upgrade to the premium service. Whilst many users might find the alert messages interruptive, the advantage is that one is able to fix an issue once spotted without having problems finding the right tools to use. A click on the pop-up provides a walkthrough until the issues are fixed and site is secure.

Sucuri Security

This plug-in is used by a number of various platforms apart from WordPress and works well even if your site has already been attacked. It provides both pre-attack and post-attack security tools and is highly credible. It protects your website from spam, unauthorized access, viruses and is easily accessible from the admin area. More advanced tools are found on the top-level admin side menu. You can use it to run a check for potential security issues and easily tighten up security with a few clicks. However, not all of the features are available free and activating them requires you sign up for payment. It also offers you an online trial run if you want to see what it offers prior to installing it.

Acunetix WP Security Scan

This is a popular free plug-in, though with a lower rating. Acunetix is best used as a security check tool to determine your website weaknesses before fixing them. The detected security issues can then be organized as this organization feature allows you to filter them by urgency and importance. It also provides a brief on each problem, a possible solution or a link to a solution enabling you to fix potential security issues effectively. You can access its wide range of functionalities from the WordPress security menu available on the admin site. It is great for new users who do not know what security tools to use to protect their sites.

BulletProof Security

This is a highly rated plug-in with a 4.8 out of 5 rating and is free. BulletProof protects your website from SQL code injection and core files such as wp-config.php using .htaccess. It notifies you of attempted security breaches. It also gives you a log of log-in attempts to the admin area and protects you against brute force attack log-ins. These great security features do not come at a cost to your website performance. You can use bulletproof and still maintain site speed and when fixing a problem, it offers users with a ‘site under maintenance’ informative pop up. The interface provided on the admin site, though not appealing, should not deter you from benefiting from the features of this great plug-in.

Wordfence

This is another free plug-in with healthy popularity and great performance recorded, having a rating of 4.9 out of 5. It shows you a real time map of attacks on your site, where they are from and those that Wordfence has already blocked. An additional unique feature to this functionality is that once an attacker to your site has been noted and blocked, they are also blocked from other websites using Wordfence. This plug-in scans your site regularly and protects it from future attacks. Makers of the plug-in also claim it increases site speed significantly. Wordfence also has source code verification for core files to check for changes that might have gone undetected. Coming with easy navigation features, it is accessible from the side bar menu on the admin site and has a premium version with advanced functions.