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Featured Plugin – Ithemes Security

Ithemes Security Pro

When it comes to security the WordPress Plugin that I like best is iThemes Security. They have a great free plugin but I like (and personally use) their premium version iThemes Security Pro.

I do tell my clients that there is nothing you can do 100{9e8aab16d70c4b67e90bb83f0d241ef4ac5bc81e7fd42aa39ed4883403ac30ae} secure your website but setting up some basic settings can help keep your site more secure. Obviously as I have mentioned before I also highly recommend that you backup your website frequently.

Why I recommend iThemes Security:

  • It bans hosts and users who have too many failed login attempts
  • You can turn off / change settings for common areas of vulnerabilities inside of WordPress
  • You can ban users who try to login with the admin login (default WordPress login)
  • You can easily change your login screen so it is harder for people to get to your login screen
  • If someone is trying to look for vulnerabilities they will generate a lot of 404 errors. You can set iThemes Security to lock that IP address out
  • You can be notified of file changes and failed login attempts
  • You can setup two step verification (pro version only)
  • You can set an expiring access user if you wanted someone to temporarily be able to work on your site (pro version only)
  • Security grade report to see how / where vulnerabilities are on your installation (pro version only)

Will the plugin be able to keep out all hackers?

The common sense area is NO. But these settings help keep out your every day spam bots that are looking for vulnerabilities in WordPress. And remember the #1 way that your site has vulnerabilities is that you have not updated your site. Keep your site updated regularly!

I recommend you at least install the free version of iThemes Security and consider iThemes Security Pro especially for the two step verification feature and security grade report.

Rachel Muraca
WordPress Web Designer
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