Which is really the best Security Plug in? Advice Please….

I’m sorry that your sites were damaged. I understand you wanting this to never happen again. However, there are no guaranteed solutions. Hackers will not quit trying to find ways to exploit websites.

I feel the most important functions provided by security plugins are brute force protection, server side malware scans and a firewall.

Your list contains good options. Not all provide server side scans in their free version. Remember that you don’t have to limit yourself to just one security plugin.

Don’t worry about trying to determine the absolute best. Pick one or more good plugins and make site maintenance a routine, your site will be able to withstand the everyday hacking pressure. And nothing beats a good backup when you do have a damaged site.

Thank you so much for your response. It was very informative. Is the brute force protection the same as the 1st one that I mentioned? What is “server side malware scans and firewall”? Is that also the same that I mentioned?

Brute force protects your site from automated repeated attempts to login to your site using various user names and passwords. And yes, your first plugin listed provides that and server side scanning.

Server side scans are run on the files in your site using your server. The alternative is run from outside your server environment. Technically, there are malware files that can only be found by server side scans.

A firewall controls network traffic. A firewall can protect your site from abusive bots and scans designed to find vulnerabilities

At the risk of making your decision more difficult I would suggest adding Wordfence to your list of security plugins. It will do all three of my suggested functions.

As I said earlier, absolute best is going to be a matter of personal opinion. The only big mistake you can make is to not pick at least one of the plugins on your list.

You have been just so very helpful. I thank you so much for your advice and I will Take it and use it.

Hope to see you around WordPress Support Forums in the future.

I will be here 9 years in July. With your 6 years, I’m surprised we haven’t met yet. ??