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Plugin Name: iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security)
Functionality: Securing WordPress Site
Rating on WordPress Directory: Four and half stars
Number of Installs: 900,000+
Price: Free for Basic / $80 Blogger, $127 Freelancer, $199 Gold (all yearly)
Plugin Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-wp-security/
Website Link: https://ithemes.com/security/
So for the next series of #WhatThePlugin I will be reviewing iThemes Security Plugin, which is a very useful plugin which helps with securing your WordPress site. But does it work well as it should?
Summary
iThemes Security plugin is a full-suite plugin with features to help keep your WordPress site secured. Thousands of Websites are hacked daily, and many WordPress sites end up compromised as a result. The iThemes suite has several features to keep your site safe from intruders.
Setup
Setup for this plugin is very straightforward. Once you install and activate the plugin, just go to Security tab in the Admin bar, then select Security Check. This option will setup all of the basic security functions needed for your site. They include:
– Banned Users
– Database Backups
– Local Brute Force Protection
– Network Brute Force Protection
– Strong Passwords
– WordPress Tweaks
Once you hit “Secure Site”, the plugin will start the run and apply the settings to your site. It will also ask you if you want to be notified by email if anyone is trying to force their way into your site and block them.
My favorite feature is the Local Brute Force Protection. If you’re not familiar with Brute Force, that is when someone is trying various different logins in order to access your site. On one particular day, someone had attempted to access my site almost 50 times in just a couple of hours. They were trying to use Admin as the username which caused them to get locked out automatically (another neat feature of iThemes).
There are also other great settings you can apply like 404 detection, File Permissions and Force SSL. iThemes provides a lot of free options to protect your site. And some extra neat features (Like 2FA – Another Favorite) which require you to purchase the PRO version to use. Just be careful of what you change, as a wrong change could prevent you from accessing the site.
Performance
I have used iThemes on a few websites, and not once have I noticed any issues with performance being affected. If anything, it makes websites run faster with some of the features applied while it is protecting my site.
Issues
As I said previously, you will need to be careful with allowing the plugin to adjust system settings on your site (Specifically in the WordPress Tweaks section). If you just set up a new site then it’s fine, but if you make changes on an existing site, you could potentially lock yourself out (If you do, you can disable the plugin by following these directions here. Also, certain plugins and themes may also stop functioning properly as certain system files are changed. Other than that, I have not noticed any other potential issues with this plugin.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I love the iThemes Security Plugin. It is probably the best plugin I have used in terms of securing a WordPress site. I highly recommend having this plugin as a top 10 on your list to use. If you are ready to see all the features this plugin has to offer click here