WordPress is, in general, a very secure platform for websites, but the variety of plugins and themes makes it vulnerable to security breaches and this can hurt your business. If you’re asking yourself “Do I need a security plugin?”, the answer is yes. Let’s find out more why you need WooCommerce security plugins on your website.
On average, a website gets attacked around 40 times a day. If you’re not protected, hackers can steal customer information and private data, you can lose access to your site, your website could distribute malware to visitors and seriously affect your SEO ranking and reputation. Fixing a hacked website is also complicated and expensive, so it’s highly recommended you get a WooCommerce security plugin installed on your site.
Even though WordPress comes with solid security features, using a security plugin protects you from brute force attacks, it scans the site for malware, it monitors the site and runs regular security scans.
Let’s look at the most popular WooCommerce security plugins you can use for your website.
Wordfence is a security tool that monitors the visits and hacks attempts on your website in real-time, it assesses the security status of your website, it blocks attackers by IP, it scans for malware, checks your content for safety and dangerous URLs. The plugin is free, but it also has a premium version that starts at $99 for one license.
Sucuri is considered a top-performing plugin for WordPress security. There is a free version of this plugin which is great, but the Pro version includes a lot more useful features compared to the free one.
Some of the features Sucuri offers include cleaning up the platform at no additional cost if it gets malware, firewall protection to keep attackers away from your website, malware scanning, static content from their own CDN servers, it protects against SQL injections, XSS, it reduces server load time, it improves the site’s performance by blocking malicious traffic, effective security hardening and it keeps track of everything that happens on your site, like file changes, failed log attempts and last logins.
The Pro version of Sucuri starts at $299/year.
All-in-one WP Security & Firewall is free, easy to use, stable and a well-supported security plugin for WordPress. The features of this plugin include detection of the user account, password strength tool, stop user enumeration (users/bots can’t discover user info via author permalink), brute force attack protection, login lockdown, monitorization of the website, login attempts, whitelist of IP addresses, IP filtering to block people or geographical locations, ability to add Google reCaptcha, automatic scheduled backups. This plugin is available in multiple languages.
iThemes Security Pro is designed to prevent WordPress hacks, security breaches, malware and to keep your website as secure as possible. It offers scheduled backups, two-factor authentication for extra security, 404 detection, plugin scans, locks out suspicious IP addresses, generates reports, sends notification emails about recent file updates, it has strong password enforcement, “away mode” available (make the dashboard inaccessible for a certain period of time) and it lets you change the default URL of your WordPress login.
They offer three plans for this plugin, ranging from $80 to $199/year.
BulletProof Security is a free security plugin that comes with a lot of benefits: database backup, login protection, malware scanning, firewalls, email notifications, idle session logouts, one-click setup wizard, hidden plugin folders, login security and monitoring, auth cookie expiration, HTTP error logging, front-end & back-end maintenance mode, UI theme skin changer, real-time file monitor, quarantine & auto-restore intrusion detection and prevention and setup wizard auto-fix (AutoWhitelist, AutoSetup, AutoCleanup).
Security Ninja is famous for running over 50 security tests with just one click! This plugin scans your site for security vulnerabilities, issues and holes, it takes preventive measures against attacks, it optimizes and speeds up your database.
The Pro version of Security Ninja starts at $7.99 for the monthly license and it expands the protection of your website to firewall, malware scan, auto-fix problems, scheduled scans, events logger, IP blocks, vulnerability scanner, plugin integrity checker, redirect blocked visitors and blocks suspicious requests.
Jetpack Security keeps your site safe and backed up in real-time, prevents unwanted intrusions and brute force attacks. This plugin has over 5 million active installs and it includes the following features: email alert if it detects your website down, site back up and 1-click restore, automatic comment filtering, site activity and events dashboard, secure authentication via WP accounts, keeps WP plugins automatically updated.
This plugin also includes automated marketing tools and design features. The Premium version starts at $9/month.
Conclusion
Website security is something serious that needs a lot of attention. Cybersecurity is always improving and you need to keep your website up to speed. If you own a small website that doesn’t get a lot of traffic, a free security plugin will do the trick, but if you’re selling a lot of items on your WooCommerce website, don’t hold back on investing in a great security plugin like the ones presented in this article.
If you want to know more about how to keep your website safe with WooCommerce security plugins, contact us today!
