Security Hardener for WordPress Plugin Directory
Security Hardener is a WordPress Plugin Directory app by Marc Armengou.
AppRanks verdict
Generated from live marketplace data — refreshed daily
Security Hardener is a newly-listed WordPress app with a limited review volume. Category data on the canonical marketplace listing is currently incomplete, so AppRanks falls back to platform-wide rather than category-relative comparison for this listing. no published reviews yet means feature claims are unverified by the wider merchant base. Without a published review base, the only fit-signal available is the developer's own documentation plus the marketplace's listing-quality audit (linked below). Paid-only pricing means evaluating fit on the marketplace listing or via the developer's documentation before installing. AppRanks tracks rating, review count, pricing tier, and category position daily — the figures on this page reflect the most recent scrape from the canonical WordPress Plugin Directory listing.
Pros
- +Published by Marc Armengou — established developer track record
Cons
- −No public reviews yet — fit and reliability are unverified
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How Security Hardener works
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Security Hardener applies WordPress security best practices based on the WordPress Advanced Administration / Security / Hardening documentation and widely accepted hardening measures. It uses WordPress core functions and follows best practices without modifying core files.
Key Features File Security:
* Disable file editor in WordPress admin
* Optionally disable all file modifications
XML-RPC Protection:
* Disable XML-RPC completely
* Remove pingback methods when XML-RPC is enabled
Pingback Protection:
* Disable self-pingbacks
* Remove X-Pingback header
* Block incoming pingbacks
User Enumeration Protection:
* Block /?author=N queries (returns 404)
* Secure REST API user endpoints (require authentication)
* Remove users from XML sitemaps
* Prevent canonical redirects that expose usernames
* Optionally block author feed pages (/author/username/feed/)
* Optionally anonymize the author name in oEmbed responses
Login Security:
* Generic error messages (no username/password hints)
* Login honeypot
* Block unsafe usernames
* Application Passwords disabled by default
* IP-based rate limiting with configurable thresholds
* Security event logging
Security Headers:
* X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN (clickjacking protection)
* X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff (MIME sniffing protection)
* Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
* Permissions-Policy (restricts geolocation, microphone, camera)
* Optional HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) for HTTPS sites — max-age set to 1 year
Additional Hardening:
* Hide WordPress version (meta generator tag and asset query strings)
* Remove obsolete wp_head items (RSD, WLW manifest, shortlink, emoji scripts)
* System Status — monitors file permissions, WP_DEBUG, user registration, PHP version, administrator accounts, and database version
⚠️ Important: Always test security settings in a staging environment first. Some features may affect third-party integrations or plugins.
Privacy: This plugin does not send data to external services and does not create custom database tables. It stores plugin settings and a security event log in the WordPress options table, and uses transients for temporary login attempt tracking. All data is preserved on uninstall by default and only deleted if the “Delete all data on uninstall” option is explicitly enabled.
Competitors & alternatives
AppRanks tracks competitor sets per category. For Security Hardener, the independent listing audit includes a competitive context section, and the full WordPress app index shows the broader marketplace landscape this app competes in. Sign up free to surface a side-by-side competitor matrix customized to your tracked apps.
Frequently asked questions
What is Security Hardener?
Security Hardener is an app for WordPress. It is published on WordPress Plugin Directory and tracked by AppRanks, and AppRanks has been tracking its public marketplace data on the refresh cadence published in our methodology. AppRanks tracks its category position, review-velocity trend, and the top alternatives in the same space. Developed by Marc Armengou.