WordPress is a well-known and the most popular and used Content Management System (CMS). However, it’s not 100% safe (neither is any other platform). Malicious attackers are constantly engaged in new methods to penetrate the system, which is why you must learn and understand how to shield your WordPress website correctly.
In this case, WordPress’ reputation turns out to be useful. There are all kinds of tools designed to assist its customers in protecting their websites from front to end. And so far as we’re involved, Wordfence Safety is likely one of the finest choices on the market for anybody who desires their WordPress site security taken care of.
One WordPress exploit is all it takes to compromise the security of your entire WordPress site and allow hackers to gain access and take control of your site.
The outcome can be devastating.
In this article, we’ll dig into what makes the Wordfence Safety plugin (not another word for fence) an excellent selection to guard your or any other WordPress website. Then, we’ll advise you on how to set it up and configure it correctly to ensure your website is protected.
WordPress Exploit: Defend your WordPress website Wordfence Safety plugin
The Wordfence Security plugin is likely one of the most full-featured WordPress safety plugins available. It allows customers to micromanage their website’s safety from all sides and even automate it for premium customers. The vast amount of options this plugin offers might be overwhelming at first. However, fortunately for us, it comes with excellent documentation (and we’ll look at the fundamentals shortly). Let’s see if any current WordPress exploit has a chance of staying undetected.
A quick overview of the key benefits of Wordfence Security
As with any software or plugins, their developers claim several vital factors of what their software can do. Here are a few:
- It lets you scan your WordPress website for vulnerabilities.
- Sends informative email alerts if any threats arise.
- It implements additional login safety measures.
- It automatically blocks IPs by detecting questionable activity.
Pros:
- The plugin’s free model packs all the options you need to lock down your website from intruders securely.
- It alerts you about safety threats or failed login attempts.
- It’s completely open-source.
Cons:
- Solely premium customers can schedule and automate safety scans. To enable custom schedules, real-time rules updates, real-time signature updates, and automated safety scans, you require to purchase the Premium model.
Worth:
For this tutorial, we’re using the free Wordfence Security plugin model. Licenses for the premium model begin at $99 per year per website, and costs fluctuate depending on what number of licenses you buy.
Wordfence Premium model will unlock other extra enhancements such as:
- Real-time rule updates for the Wordfence Firewall
- Real-time signature updates for the Wordfence Malware Scanner (crucial for discovering a new WordPress exploit.)
For the free model, those options a 30-day delay is imposed. Check out a complete comparison of all product models.
Methods to configure the Wordfence Safety plugin (in 3 easy steps)
Before configuring the Wordfence Safety plugin, we need to follow additional setup steps. When you’ve installed and activated the plugin, the following notification will appear in your dashboard.
Please enter your email into the corresponding field and ensure to check the tick to agree on any of their agreements (TOS, Privacy Policy, etc.). If you want to be on their Wordfence security mailing list, opt in by selecting Yes. Otherwise, select No. (I prefer to be on their lists to stay informed about new security announcements).
When done, clicking the Continue button will prompt a new popup asking you to supply a Premium License Key. You can skip this by clicking on the “No Thanks” link, which will finally close the popup.
Now, let’s begin by setting up the necessary login safety measures.
Step #1: Setting up the necessary login safety measures
When first accessing the Wordfence dashboard, two notifications will await your interaction. Let’s take a look at them.
The first one, indicated with a red border, will ask you to enable the auto-update of the Wordfence plugin. Generally speaking, auto-updating plugins are good, but I would opt for NOT enabling this option, as it can cause issues, as explained in this article.
Ultimately, the choice is yours to make.
The following notification to take care of, marked in yellow, is next. Select “CLICK HERE TO CONFIGURE” as this option is quite important. This option will show yet another popup regarding the initial setup of the Wordfence firewall. I suggest leaving the default settings unless you understand what they mean. Proceed by clicking the “DOWNLOAD .HTACCESS ” button, which will download your current unmodified .htaccess file to a location of your choice. Keep this backup safe if you need to restore your .htaccess file.
Once done, a message indicates that your Wordfence installation was successful.
Now let’s begin the configuration process by clicking on from within the WordPress side menu. Once inside this section, locate the by scrolling further down the page. We’ll ensure the ‘Enable Brute Force Protection’ switch is ON, which is expected by default.
Wordfence Safety’s default login choices are fairly strong – they pressure admins and authors to use strong passwords, discourage the reveal of login errors, and block out users with too many failed login attempts.
The one choice which would require a change is the number of failed attempts it takes before Wordfence locks the user out. The default number is 20 attempts, which seems too excessive.
We can set the limit login attempt number between 3 and 5, which seems fair because admins or other users of a site protected by Wordfence wouldn’t require that many attempts.
It’s fair to say that if someone else needs over five login attempts, they are not authorized to gain access to your WordPress site, and your site can be open to brute-force attacks.
We can apply the same settings for forgot password attempts.
When you’ve updated your settings, ensure to Save any changes made.
To continue enabling Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) protection, Click on Wordfence > Login Security from the side menu. Follow my instructions in this article on how to enable and configure 2FA.
Step #2: Methods to carry out a site-wide scan
The Wordfence Scan lets the plugin look through your website and search for any malicious code or infection patterns. It’s identical to utilizing an antivirus utility to scan your pc – you need to use it to find and patch present vulnerabilities.
If there is a newly discovered WordPress exploit making its round and your signature updates for the Wordfence Malware Scanner are up-to-date, the scan should expose it.
Therefore, it is always wise to check your website frequently.
To use this function, you must go to and click on the START NEW SCAN button by locating it further down that page. When initializing a new scan, you can monitor the current status of your scan.
If the scan finds any vulnerability matters in your WordPress website, it will allow you to delete or restore any contaminated files or data to their original state. Taking the next depends on your level of knowledge. However, be warned that deleting any crucial files or data may probably break your website. When you discover a vulnerability, restoring a clean backup could be one of the best solutions to guarantee website integrity.
Step #3: How to enable safety notifications & alerts
Initially, in this part, we guided you thru the method of configuring your email settings to obtain safety alerts from the Wordfence plugin. The plugin can send email notifications for several safety issues, from automatic IP Blocking to Login Lockouts, when configured to take action.
Please navigate to and ensure you provided a valid email address in the field labeled ‘Where to email alerts.’
Many of the default choices are excellent from a safety standpoint. However, others can get a bit annoyed when obtaining emails every time they happen. For instance, we suggest you disable the choice to receive an alert each time somebody uses the ”misplaced password”. It’s a comparatively commonplace occasion, and usually, it will end exclusively in spamming your inbox.
The same applies to receiving alerts when an administrator is accessing the site. Depending on your WordPress website’s number of users, this could get pretty unmanageable, so uncheck that field. If you require this, select the additional choice that notifies you when only an administrator gains access from a new device.
In this case, you can rapidly assess if an administrator login is out of the atypical, depending on their location and machine. It’s way more sensible than the default setting, and all you must do is tick a field to allow it.
We encourage you to test various settings and monitor the outcome. By doing so, you will better understand how Wordfence works.
With that taken care of, we’ve coated all the essential steps to guard your WordPress website utilizing the Wordfence Safety Plugin!
Conclusion
WordPress safety shouldn’t be one thing to be taken lightly. As nice because the platform is, it’s not 100% protected – however, as we discussed earlier, no CMS ever is. Nevertheless, as long as you’re taking preventive measures and studying the fundamentals of the right way to shield your WordPress website, you’ll be effectively forward of the curve relating to safety.
When you’re able to take safety into your fingers, right here’s the right way to shield your WordPress website utilizing Wordfence Safety:
- Set up and activate the Wordfence Safety plugin.
- Replace your login safety measures.
- Learn to execute site-wide scans.
- Arrange superior safety alerts.
Is your WordPress website safe? Have you ever performed sufficient to guard your WordPress website? Please share your opinions and story.
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