WordPress is now powering more than 20% of online websites. As it became popular, nefarious elements, like hackers and data snoopers, are on the hunt for vulnerabilities inside this popular CMS. One of the most common ways of hacking and bringing WordPress site down is through brute force attacks.

A brute force attack is the one where a bot tries to hack into website admin area by trying out multiple combinations of usernames and passwords. The bots keep on trying until it is successful.

Brute force attacks have become widespread and unfortunately websites powered by WordPress are one of the common targets, luckily there are plugins that you can install on your WordPress websites to secure against such attacks.

In this blog, I will give you a brief account of eight of the most common plugins to protect your site against these brute force attacks.

1. WordFence

WordFence is one of the most comprehensive plugins available to ensure total security of your WordPress website against brute force attack. This plugin offers you with features like network/geo blocking, site repair, machine learning, and source code verification.

With this plugin, you also get Two Factor Authentication and Machine Learning Tools to recover from hacking attacks. This plugin is available for free. But if you want a premium version, you will have to pay $39 per year.

For further information, visit (http://www.wordfence.com/)

2. Bulletproof Security

Well, Bulletproof Security plugin is yet another master stroke from AITpro. This special plugin comes in really handy for WordPress websites — at risk of brute force attacks — with such diversified functionality that you will simply fall in love with this plugin.

It provides seamless firewall protection to your websites. One of the best advantages of this plugin is that it offers a 1-click setup wizard, hence installation is really easy. With auto-restore, DB backup, frontend/backend security mechanism, and real-time monitoring available, your website is comprehensively secured against the potential security threats. The Pro version is also available.

For more information, visit (https://wordpress.org/plugins/bulletproof-security/)

3. BruteProtect

Are you facing a botnet attack on your WordPress website? Don’t worry, we have a plugin  for you that guards your website against such attacks. The BruteProtect plugin has successfully protected over 120K websites against 150 Million botnet attacks.

This particular plugin is the best solution for securing your WordPress websites as it supports Multisite. It is also compatible with other security plugins. With this plugin, you can always keep a detailed community-wide log of failed login attempts on your site.

For more information, visit (https://wordpress.org/plugins/bruteprotect/)

4. NinjaFirewall (WP edition)

Imagine a situation where your WordPress-based website is under a massive brute-force attack. If the website is not secured enough, it will bog down in seconds. Well, don’t worry though, WordPress has, in its repository, NinjaFirewall (WP edition), a plugin that is meant to handle such large attacks.

One of the best things about NinjaFirewall is that it can be used both as a plugin and as an stand-alone firewall. The choice is yours. It works to protect your website against RFI, LFI, XSS, code execution, SQL injections, brute-force scanners, shell scripts, backdoors and other threats. It also has Multisite support.

For more information, visit (https://wordpress.org/plugins/ninjafirewall/)

5. Login Security Solution

One of the best ways to secure your WordPress website is to keep track of IPs, usernames, and passwords. But, what if your website is designed to handle loads of traffic on a daily basis? In such scenarios, keeping track of every username, password, or IP address is really a herculean task – second to impossible I must say.

Well, Login Security Solution has the perfect solution for you. The plugin is there to help you in keeping track of all IPs, passwords, and usernames. It also detects fake user ids and passwords, thus revoking any unauthorized access to your website and data. With this plugin, you can also monitor idle timeout and maintenance mode lockdown.

For more information, visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/login-security-solution/

6. Project Force Field

The Project Force Field plugin is developed by Orion Group LLC. This plugin essentially works as a lie-detector. It counters all the brute force attack sending a 403 error code, thus securing your core wp-login.php file. If a brute force attack is detected, with this plugin, you can always change the default login url.

The developers at the Orion Group deserve a pat on their back for developing such an easy-to-use plugin to secure against all brute-force attacks. With this plugin, you can also halt WordPress user enumeration exploit.

For more information, visit (https://wordpress.org/plugins/project-force-field/ )

7. Clef

What if you can login to your WordPress site without any password? Well, that’s possible. Now, with Clef, a one-of-its-kind WordPress plugin, you can do just that without worrying about the security of your website. Yeah, it’s really secure.

With two-factor authentication and asymmetric cryptography available, you can use Clef application to login to your site without any fear. Clef provides an alternative way of logging into your WordPress website. In order for this plugin to work, you need to have a smartphone with the Clef app installed. When you login with Clef, it generates a unique “wave” pattern which needs to be scanned by Clef smartphone app.

For more information, visit (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpclef/)

8. Rublon

Rublon is yet another plugin that provides automatic two-factor authentication for your website. Rublon restricts any access to the website through unauthorized devices. This plugin also supports smartphones, and other mobile devices.

You can also use Rublon to verify whether you are logging in your site via the trusted device or the unknown device. With this plugin, you can also secure your business and financial data.

For more information, visit (https://rublon.com/)

No excuse for not staying secure

I have only elaborated about a few plugins that help you secure your WordPress-based websites against brute force and other similar attacks. I know there are many plugins available. This is why I think there is no excuse left in keeping WordPress website unsafe.

Do feel free to share your opinions, ideas, and suggestions about this post. I will appreciate your comments. If you know about any other plugins that are meant to guard your websites against security threats, do let me know in the comments section below.

P.S. This post is written to educate people about WordPress security plugins. This post does not rank any of the plugins in accordance with their functionality.