There are many different website security plugins and hosting services available on the market, and you should choose the one that’s right for you. Some are free, while others have premium features. If you’re unsure which one to use, consider getting a free trial. These 13 plugins, tools and hosting services all offer basic protection against malware and other threats, and they also provide helpful features such as firewalls.
The Importance of Securing Your Website With a Plugin or Hosting Service
When choosing a hosting service or plugin for your website, choose one that uses the most secure practices to protect your website. This way, you can rest assured that you and your visitors are protected against hackers and other potential threats. The best way to secure your website is by using strong passwords, so make sure that you use a password management tool such as LastPass. You should also avoid using easy-to-guess usernames for logins.
You can also secure your website by using a plugin or hosting service that provides daily monitoring, malware detection, vulnerability identification, and active virus scanning. This is especially important for websites that are used for business purposes. The following is our picks for the 13 best website security plugins and services for 2023.
1.
SSLTrust
Having an SSL certificate installed on your website is an essential part of website security. It can improve your website’s performance, boost conversions, and make your visitors feel safer. Moreover, it improves HTTP/2, an important SEO ranking factor. In addition, SSL certificates increase the trustworthiness of your website, resulting in increased sales. The SSLTrust tool can check your site for known malware, as well as for blacklisting issues. Other software tools such as Mozilla Observatory can check your website’s security status and provide proactive tips for protecting it. SSLTrust is a free service that lets you check your website’s security status. SSL is a protocol used to encrypt data as it travels through a network. SSL certificates are cryptographically signed by a Certificate Authority (CA), which ensures the security of data transmission. Browsers display a green padlock or branded URL bar when a website uses this protocol. The SSLTrust website security check tool tests 66 different services. Its results are not comprehensive, but you can make informed decisions about whether your website is protected. You can use strong passwords and implement 2-factor authentication to protect your website against cyber attacks.
2.
SiteGuarding
SiteGuarding provides proactive website security monitoring. It identifies and resolves security vulnerabilities, and checks for malicious content. It protects your website from SQL injection attacks, which trick your website into doing something it shouldn’t do, and DDoS attacks, which overwhelm your website with automated traffic. Its installation takes just minutes, and provides a front-line defense for your site in between website security scans. SiteGuarding is one of the cheapest options for website monitoring. Annual plans start at 6.95 EUR a month, which includes full protection and monitoring for your site. The company has several packages that are suitable for different types of sites. However, its smallest package is not suitable for sites with existing infections, and the next higher package costs over $100 per year. The free version of SiteGuarding allows you to scan your website for malicious code and other threats. It analyzes your URL against over 60 trusted threat databases to identify malware. It also scans local files and works on all CMS platforms. SiteGuarding has a free trial, so you can check out its capabilities before you invest. SiteGuarding offers comprehensive website monitoring without slowing down your site. It checks for problems like hacks and service attacks, and identifies the most common security weaknesses. In addition, it offers speed improvements and protects your website from DDOS attacks. As an added bonus, SiteGuarding detects malware and fixes it in a matter of hours.
3.
StackPath
StackPath provides a comprehensive solution for website security and performance monitoring. It helps you create custom logic to alter the end user experience and deliver personalized content without compromising the infrastructure. Additionally, it can analyze inbound requests and block or direct them as necessary. This helps prevent malicious activity and protect the infrastructure from unwanted bots. StackPath’s security features include web application firewall (WAF) protection, which helps to protect against online threats. It also has advanced caching capabilities with SSDs. This means that your site can have more content on the edge of the CDN, which can reduce server load. Additionally, it has a fast purge feature, which allows you to prevent unwanted content from being served. StackPath offers industry-leading cache control and advanced caching techniques. By adjusting these settings, you can fine-tune your CDN’s performance and remove old content when you need to. The StackPath CDN also offers advanced analytics and reporting capabilities that allow you to optimize your website performance. Moreover, it provides round-the-clock support for its clients. StackPath’s cloud platform also includes a web application firewall. This service allows administrators to manage traffic management rules, while providing comprehensive protection against malware. Furthermore, it allows customers to use third-party infrastructure and applications.
4.
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Probely
When you want to protect your website from potential threats, Probely is a great tool to use. Its API allows developers to easily integrate security testing into their CI/CD pipelines. This allows them to monitor security risks on their websites in the background, and to identify any vulnerabilities before they become serious. To get started, try out Probely’s free trial. After the trial is over, you can choose one of the three paid plans. There are three premium plans available, with the prices increasing based on the number of targeted websites. These plans are great for smaller businesses with limited budgets. Prices start at $49 per month and go up to $499 a year. You can also opt for the Enterprise plan, which comes with a dedicated account manager, priority support, and managed scans. Enterprise Edition is a more comprehensive and powerful solution. It automates security testing by integrating it into the development process, and reports only security vulnerabilities. The software is easy to use and offers step-by-step guidance for fixing the vulnerabilities. It supports multiple environments, so it can scan your website or internal network. It can also scan sites all over the world. Investing in security is essential for website owners. Not only will it protect your data, but it will also make your customers feel secure. In fact, 70% of consumers do not trust websites that don’t use a secure server.
5.
Advanced Database Cleaner Pro
Advanced Database Cleaner Pro is a powerful plugin for WordPress that is designed to clean the database of redundant data. It can be used on up to two websites. Users can upgrade to the pro version to clean an unlimited number of sites. It targets garbage data that is causing server errors. It also cleans out pending comments and old revisions. Users can set the frequency of cleanup, and exclude certain files. This WordPress database cleaner plugin also provides website speed improvements. It works by scanning the database for unused tables and options. Deleting these unnecessary objects will speed up the database. The pro version also features a search function that speeds up the optimize process. Plus, it has an easy-to-use interface, with plenty of documentation. The pro version costs $39 and comes with upgraded customer support. This plugin can back up your entire database, excluding post revisions, spam comments, and additional custom tables. The backup file is downloaded to your computer or sent to you via email. However, it does not support cloud storage. You can also set a schedule to run backups. Besides removing corrupted tables and obsolete records, this plugin also cleans out unwanted data such as oEmbed caches, unapproved comments, sidebars, and spam. And it can repair the database if it becomes corrupted.
6.
WPScan
WPScan is a web security application that can scan your WordPress site and its content and plugin directories. It works by crawling the website and examining the HTML code, gathering information that could be useful to attackers. Among other things, it can detect vulnerabilities in plugins and themes, and check for vulnerabilities in WordPress versions. WPScan can be run on Linux and macOS systems. You can clone the Github repository to use the application. Alternatively, you can install the plugin via WordPress or a Docker image. If you are on Linux, WPScan is included in many distributions. WordPress is susceptible to enumeration attacks, which involve determining which users are logged in to a website. WPScan can detect these vulnerabilities and attempt to crack weak passwords. Further, it can identify public user IDs and discoverable usernames. This information can be used by threat actors to target larger targets. A good malware scanner can detect and remove malware from your website. It will also check for bad URLs, malicious redirects, and outdated plugins. Premium plans also include access to manual blocking options, which can block entire malicious networks or even human activity. You can also manually block all traffic from a country. Although this option is not recommended for SEO purposes, it can provide you with a high level of security. WPScan is one of the most popular security plugins for WordPress. The free version only supports 25 API requests daily. The Starter and Professional plans offer 75 and 300 API requests respectively. The Enterprise plan includes custom features that are useful for bulk websites. The Enterprise plan costs $2000 for up to 133 websites.
7.
Astra Security Suite
Astra is a website security solution that protects against all kinds of cybersecurity issues. For instance, it blocks XSS, SQLi, and spambot attacks. It also protects against bad bots and tracks suspicious login traffic. It also offers a centralized dashboard that displays information on all accounts logged into your site. Astra’s dashboard gives you an in-depth overview of your website’s security, including detailed information about any attacks stopped and the attacker’s profile. You can also see what areas of your site are most vulnerable. This software monitors over 60 security engines on a daily basis, and it checks whether your site is blacklisted. Moreover, it allows you to control file extensions and sizes, whitelist IPs and domains, and control URLs. You can also use Astra’s reputation monitoring system to keep track of your website’s reputation. Another Astra security feature is its community security program. Hackers report vulnerabilities to Astra, which engineers validate. Astra also allows integration with slack, making it easy for you to receive daily threat reports from your security team. This is a very convenient way to keep track of your website’s security. The Astra intelligent malware scanner protects your website against various types of internet threats. The application is super-fast, allowing you to scan your website within a matter of seconds.
8.
Sucuri
Sucuri is a security service that offers various features for website security. This cloud-based service, founded in 2010 and currently used by over 130 countries, protects websites from hackers and malware. Its dashboard provides information about the files and scripts that are on your website. It also allows you to monitor the number of failed login attempts. You can set up alerts and you can customize them. You can also specify a trusted IP address, and how often you want them to be sent. Sucuri offers three paid plans for website security. The free version allows you to protect your site, while the premium platform is recommended for larger websites and ecommerce storefronts. Premium plans offer more features and benefits, including real-time DDoS prevention, assisted removal, and enhanced support. Sucuri also offers a team of security experts who monitors your site 24/7. If your website is being hacked, Sucuri‘s security team can intervene. Sucuri security professionals will analyze the situation and notify you of the incident. They will also help you resolve the issue. Sucuri is one of the best website security services available. Its customer support is available 24/7 and has a 99% customer satisfaction rating.
9.
Kinsta
Kinsta has an extensive set of features that allow you to easily manage your website. You can rename, transfer, and upgrade your site, and you can even recommend new plans to clients and colleagues. In addition, you can access site analytics and IP address information. You can also view the last 14 consecutive backups on your dashboard. Kinsta also offers 24-hour live chat support to answer your questions and get your site up and running again. As a fully managed WordPress hosting platform, Kinsta can handle every aspect of your website management. Their server-level page caching allows you to save valuable time, and they scale your resources when the traffic surges. Kinsta offers Enterprise, Business, and Custom hosting solutions. You’ll also get two months of free service if you sign up for the yearly plan. Kinsta started migrating its infrastructure to the Google Cloud two years ago. This allows Kinsta to scale up and down at a rapid rate, create containers, and customize their hosting environment to optimize the customer experience. The Google Cloud also offers the benefit of utilizing massive Compute Engine machines with hundreds of gigabytes of RAM, which can greatly speed up your site. Kinsta is a premium WordPress hosting provider. Its infrastructure is powered by the Google Cloud Platform, which provides blazingly fast speeds, security, and reliability. Kinsta is also equipped with a user-friendly dashboard and a redirect manager. It also offers features such as database pushes and manual backups.
10.
UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus is a website backup service that offers users the ability to back up their files and databases. The software allows users to choose how often they want backups to be made and where they want the backups to be saved. In addition, it has various features that help website security, including the ability to encrypt databases. Backups can be sent via email or to an external storage location. The program also allows users to restore the files that they have previously backed up. UpdraftPlus is a great choice for website owners concerned about the security of their site. UpdraftPlus provides website security by backing up your data regularly before any updates are made to your website. This prevents updates from causing incompatibility or damage to your site. Another benefit of UpdraftPlus is its ability to automate backups, so you can schedule backups ahead of time. UpdraftPlus offers a variety of features to make backing up your site simple and effective. For example, it allows users to schedule backups for four, eight, or twelve hours. Users can also schedule daily, weekly, or monthly backups. Furthermore, the program allows users to choose how many previous backups they wish to keep. If you make frequent updates to your site, a weekly backup may be enough. UpdraftPlus also offers multiple methods for cloning and migration. Users can use the built-in uploader or FTP to upload backup files. Users can also choose to backup files via remote storage.
11.
WP-Optimize
WP-Optimize is a powerful tool that can help reduce the loading time of your WordPress site. With WP-Optimize, you can optimize your WordPress files for performance, repair common issues with your website, remove unwanted plugins and media files, clean up scripts and more. It uses a variety of technologies to optimize your site for faster browsing, and it offers an easy way to keep your site fresh and new. With WP-Optimize, you can save money on hosting costs, improve page load times, and boost SEO rankings.
12.
SSL Zen
SSL Zen is a WordPress plugin that simplifies the process of securing websites with a free SSL certificate. It eliminates the need for technical skills and coding by offering a few simple steps to generate a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate. The plugin displays a secure padlock in the browser, indicating that the website is secure and trustworthy. Other features include a settings page, email reminders, increased SEO ranking, and a verified domain name and SSL certificate by Let’s Encrypt. These features allow website owners to accept safe online payments, as customers trust websites with SSL certificates. SSL Zen is a must-have plugin for website owners seeking an easy and reliable way to secure their website with a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate. It enhances website security, builds trust with customers, and boosts SEO ranking, making it an excellent choice for any website.
13.
Hide My WP Ghost
Hide My Ghost WP is a highly regarded WordPress plugin that prioritizes privacy and security enhancements for WordPress websites. Its robust feature set offers website owners a comprehensive suite of tools to safeguard their site from unauthorized access, potential threats, and malicious attacks. The plugin enables users to restrict access to specific content or entire pages based on user roles or custom settings, ensuring user privacy protection. It also incorporates advanced anti-spam measures, such as CAPTCHA verification, to combat automated bots and maintain the quality of user-generated content. Hide My Ghost WP goes beyond spam protection by providing malware detection and removal features, actively scanning the website for suspicious code and securing files and databases. With login security enhancements like two-factor authentication, login attempt limits, and IP blocking, website owners can fortify their authentication processes and deter unauthorized access attempts. Hide My Ghost WP also offers content copy protection functionalities, including disabling right-click options and preventing text selection or image downloads.
