All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall vs Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite

THE TOP RATED WORDPRESS SECURITY AND FIREWALL PLUGIN All-in-One Security (AIOS) is a WordPress security plugin from the same, trusted team that brought you UpdraftPlus. It’s called ‘All-In-One’ because it’s packed full of ways to keep your WordPress website(s) safe and secure. It includes: Login security features keep bots at bay. Lock out users based on a configurable number of login attempts, get two-factor authentication and more. File and database security. Get notified of file changes that occur outside of normal operations. Block access to key files and scan files and folders to spot insecure permissions. Firewall. Get PHP, .htaccess and 6G firewall rules courtesy of Perishable Press. Spot and block fake Google Bots and more! Spam prevention. Prevent annoying spam comments and reduce unnecessary load on the server. Automatically and permanently block IP addresses that exceed a set number of spam comments. Audit log. View events happening on your WordPress website. Find out if a plugin or theme has been added, removed, updated and more. WHY ALL-IN-ONE SECURITY? AIOS has a near-perfect 4.7 / 5-star user rating across more than 1 million installs. Great for beginners and experts alike. AIOS guides you logically and clearly through each of its features which are all clearly explained. Security features are marked as basic, intermediate and advanced. Each step increases your security score. Turn them on and watch your protection grow! We have a large support team of software developers. That means we have the availability and the skillset to help you with the trickiest of queries. We comb the WordPress plugin directory for support tickets daily – most queries are responded to within 24 hours. Excellent plugin with numerous well-thought-out options for making a website more secure. I have been using it for years and am very happy with it. I recently had a small problem setting up a website and – even as a non-premium user – I received support very quickly. Highly recommended! For even more ways to stay safe and secure, upgrade to AIOS Premium – it packs a punch security-wise, whilst being extremely cost-competitive. LOGIN SECURITY Two-factor authentication (TFA) – Require TFA for specific user roles. Supports Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, and many more. Detect and manage ‘admin’ usernames – Identify default ‘admin’ usernames and guide users to change them to protect against brute force attacks. Identify and correct identical login and display names – Detect cases where the display name matches the username and provide guidance to improve login security. Prevent user enumeration – Block unauthorised access to URLs that can reveal sensitive information such as usernames or other details. Control login attempts – Prevent brute force attacks by limiting the number of failed login attempts. Choose how many login attempts are allowed, set lockout durations, and more. Force user logout – Automatically log out users after a specified period of time. Unattended sessions are closed, reducing the risk of unauthorised access. Manually approve new registrations – Review and approve new user registrations to prevent spam and fake sign-ups. Enhance WordPress salt security – Adds 64 extra characters to WordPress salts, rotating them weekly. Makes cracking passwords virtually impossible, even if your database is stolen. Plugin Support If you have a question or problem with the All-In-One Security plugin, post it on the support forum and we will help you. Premium customers can log queries directly with the team via https://teamupdraft.com/all-in-one-security/ Monitor and manage active sessions – If a user is logged in who shouldn’t be, log them out or add them to a blacklist. SPAM PREVENTION Block spam coming from bots – Reduce the load on your server and improve the user experience by automatically blocking spam comments from bots. Monitor spam IP addresses – Monitor the IP addresses of people or bots leaving spam comments. Choose which ones to block based on a configurable number of comments left. FILE / DATABASE Security Scan and fix file permissions – Scan for insecure file permissions. Click once to fix issues and safeguard critical files and folders. Disable PHP file editing – Disable editing of PHP files (such as plugins and themes) via the dashboard. It’s often the first tool that attackers use as it allows for code execution. Protect sensitive files – Prevent access to files like readme.html that might reveal information about your WordPress installation. File change scanner – Get notified of any file changes which occur on your system. Exclude files and folders which change as part of normal operations. Prevent image hotlinking – Prevent other websites from displaying your images via hotlinking and protect server bandwidth. Secure database backups – Perform a database backup via UpdraftPlus from AIOS. Change the default ‘wp_’ prefix to hide your WordPress database from hackers. FIREWALL Get .htaccess firewall rules – Deny access to the .htaccess and wp-config.php files. Disable the server signature and limit file uploads to a configurable size.** Block access to the debug.log file and prevent Apache servers from listing the contents of a directory when an index.php file is not present Get PHP firewall rules – PHP firewall rules prevent malicious users from exploiting well-known vulnerabilities in XML-RPC. Safeguard your content by disabling RSS and Atom feeds and avoid cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Block fake Google bots and POST requests made by bots – Block fake Google bots and stop bots from making POST requests by blocking IP addresses where the user-agent and referrer fields are blank. Utilise 6G firewall rules – Employ flexible blacklist rules to reduce the number of malicious URL requests that hit your website (courtesy of Perishable Press). And more – Blacklist (and whitelist) IP ranges and user agents and block unauthorized access to data by disabling REST API access for non-logged-in requests. TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION ENHANCED [Premium] Two-factor authentication is included in the free plugin. Upgrade to Premium if you’d like to: Require TFA after a set time period – Mandate TFA for all admins or other roles after their accounts reach a specified age. Control how often TFA is required – Set TFA to be required after a certain number of days on trusted devices instead of every login. Customise design layout – Adjust the TFA design to match your website’s existing layout and branding. Emergency codes – Generate one-time use emergency codes to regain access if you lose your TFA device. WordPress Multisite Compatible – Ensure compatibility with WordPress multisite networks and their sub-sites for consistent TFA application. Integration with login forms – Integrate TFA with various login forms, including WooCommerce, Affiliates-WP, Elementor Pro, bbPress, and ‘Theme My Login’ without additional coding. SMART 404 BLOCKING [Premium] Block IPs based on 404 errors – Detect hackers probing your URLs via script and bots by the 404 errors they leave behind. Smart 404 Configuration – Set a figure for the maximum number of 404 events allowed before an IP address is blocked. Choose a time period within which the 404 events must occur (e.g., 10 errors within 10 minutes). Smart 404 block by URL string – Instantly block an IP address if a 404 event includes a specific URL string. Smart 404 whitelisting – Prevent particular IP addresses from being permanently blocked due to 404 events. COUNTRY BLOCKING [Premium] Block traffic to the entire site or to specific pages or posts – Useful if you’re an e-commerce site and you want to block sales to some countries for shipping or tax reasons. Whitelist some users from blocked countries – Whitelist IP addresses or IP ranges even if they are part of a blocked country. MALWARE SCANNING [Premium] Automatic malware scanning – Detect and protect against the latest malware, trojans, and spyware. Alerts you to blacklisting by search engines – Monitor your site for blacklisting by search engines due to malicious code. Response time monitoring – Keep track of your website’s response time to identify and address any performance issues. Uptime monitoring – Checks your website’s uptime every 5 minutes and alerts you immediately if your site or server goes down. Advice and malware removal – Need hands-on advice and support for malware removal? Our team of genuine cybersecurity experts is here to help. Notification if something’s amiss – Receive notifications about any issues with your site so you can address problems before they escalate. Plugin Support If you have a question or problem with the All-In-One Security plugin, post it on the support forum and we will help you. Premium customers can log queries directly with the team via https://teamupdraft.com/all-in-one-security Developers If you are a developer and you need some extra hooks or filters for this plugin then let us know. Translations All-In-One Security plugin can be translated to any language. Currently available translations: English German Spanish French Hungarian Italian Swedish Russian Chinese Portuguese (Brazil) Persian Privacy Policy This plugin may collect IP addresses for security reasons such as mitigating brute force login threats and malicious activity. The collected information is stored on your server. No information is transmitted to third parties or remote server locations. Usage Go to the settings menu after you activate the plugin and follow the instructions. Usage Go to the settings menu after you activate the plugin and follow the instructions.

Premium Security. Zero Cost. Vigilant provides enterprise-level WordPress security features completely free. No premium version, no upsells, no hidden features behind paywalls. Protect your site with a complete security suite: firewall, two-factor authentication, brute force protection, security headers, file integrity monitoring, closed plugin detection, malware detection, user management, security audit logging, under attack mode and much more. Once activated, Vigilant immediately applies firewall rules against common attacks (SQL injection, XSS, file inclusion), security headers, login attempt monitoring, XML-RPC blocking, WordPress version hiding and sensitive file protection (.htaccess, wp-config.php), after automatically backing up your existing configuration files. One-Click Security Presets Choose a preset and get protected instantly: Standard – Balanced security suitable for most websites. Enables all modules with sensible defaults that won’t interfere with normal site operation. Maximum Security – Strictest settings for high-security sites. Tighter rate limits, stronger CSP rules, mandatory admin notifications. May require fine-tuning for some setups. You can always customize individual settings after applying a preset. Under Attack Mode Is your site under active attack? Activate Under Attack mode with one click and stop malicious traffic instantly: JavaScript challenge – Every visitor must pass an automatic browser verification before accessing your site. Real browsers solve it in seconds, bots get blocked completely Aggressive rate limiting – Requests limited to 30 per minute with 15-minute blocks for offenders HTTP method restriction – Only GET, POST and HEAD allowed; PUT, DELETE, PATCH, OPTIONS and TRACE are blocked Empty user agent blocking – Requests without a user agent header are rejected Full XML-RPC lockdown during the attack REST API restriction – Only authenticated users can access the REST API Auto-deactivation – Mode turns off after 4 hours so you never forget it’s on Email notifications when the mode activates and deactivates HMAC-signed cookies – Verified visitors get a signed cookie so they only see the challenge once Under Attack mode works independently from your preset configuration. Your regular settings are preserved and restored when the mode deactivates. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) Add a second verification step to your WordPress login: Authenticator app (TOTP) – Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator or any TOTP-compatible app Email codes – One-time 6-digit verification codes sent via email QR code setup directly in user profiles 10 backup codes for emergency access if you lose your device Configurable grace period for users to set up their authenticator app Trusted devices – optionally let users skip 2FA on recognized devices for 30 days Role-based enforcement – require 2FA for administrators, editors or any role Exclude specific users from 2FA requirements Admin tool to reset TOTP for users who lost their authenticator Configurable code expiry, attempt limits and email sender name User notification emails when 2FA is enabled or the method changes Firewall Protection Block malicious requests before they reach WordPress: SQL injection blocking XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) attack prevention File inclusion protection (LFI/RFI) Directory traversal blocking Bad query string filtering (catches generic suspicious patterns the specific blockers miss) Bad bot detection and blocking Block requests with empty user agent Block legacy HTTP/1.0 requests (almost always automated tools, never modern browsers) Rate limiting against DDoS and brute force, with optional progressive lockouts IP whitelist and blacklist management (IPv4 and IPv6, with CIDR ranges and wildcards) User-Agent whitelist and blacklist with partial matching Visitor IP detection control – read the real IP directly from the connection (a spoof-proof default) or from a proxy header when behind Cloudflare, a reverse proxy or a load balancer, with an admin notice if a proxy is detected but not configured HTTP method restriction Server-level file protection via .htaccess: block direct access to wp-config.php, .htaccess, wp-includes/ and sensitive files (.log, .sql, .bak, .ini, debug.log, readme.html, etc.), and optionally wp-cron.php external access Block PHP execution in /uploads (one of the most common post-exploit vectors) Disable directory browsing Login Security Stop unauthorized access attempts: Limit login attempts with configurable thresholds Progressive lockouts – longer blocks for repeat offenders Custom login URL – hide wp-login.php from bots Login URL change notifications to all admin-area users Hide login error messages – don’t reveal valid usernames XML-RPC disable, with a separate toggle for just the pingback method if you still need other XML-RPC features Application passwords control Email notification when an IP is blocked for exceeding login attempts Admin login notifications via email IP whitelist for trusted locations User Security Comprehensive user account protection: Block insecure usernames (admin, test, root, etc.) on new registrations Warn about existing users with insecure usernames so you can rename or remove them Block author scanning – intercept ?author=N URLs so WordPress doesn’t redirect them to /author/USERNAME/ and leak the login slug Force strong passwords with minimum length Password expiration with configurable intervals Password history – prevent reusing old passwords Force password reset – by specific users, by role, or all users (post-hack recovery) Session limits – control concurrent logins per user Session management – view and revoke active sessions Email verification for new registrations Registration approval workflow – manually approve new users Admin account monitoring – alerts for new admins, email changes, password changes, privilege escalation Display name protection – prevent exposing login username publicly Security Headers Achieve Grade A security ratings: Content Security Policy (CSP) with visual builder and Report-Only mode for safe testing before enforcing HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) with includeSubdomains and preload options X-Frame-Options – prevent clickjacking X-Content-Type-Options – prevent MIME sniffing Referrer Policy control Permissions Policy (camera, microphone, geolocation, payment, USB) Cross-Origin policies (COEP, COOP, CORP) HTTPS enforcer with automatic mixed content fix Server fingerprint hiding – the Server: header is neutralized and X-Powered-By and other fingerprinting headers are stripped from responses File Integrity Monitoring Detect unauthorized changes to your files and compromised plugins: WordPress core verification against official checksums Plugin and theme file monitoring with WordPress.org checksums Critical config files (wp-config.php, .htaccess) monitored against baseline, detecting code injection even in files with no official checksum Closed and removed plugins detection – daily check against the WordPress.org repository, flagging any installed plugin closed for malware, security issues or guideline violations, including both explicit closures and silent “removed” takedowns, with per-slug Ignore for legacy plugins you can’t uninstall yet Line-level diff view of changes, with per-file approval workflow Suspicious code scanning for plugins and themes without checksums Extra file detection in plugins and themes (files not in original distribution) Uploads directory scanning for PHP files, double extensions and .htaccess, with smart classification of dangerous rules vs protective ones Root directory scanning for non-core PHP files (common attack vector) String concatenation obfuscation detection Configurable notification levels and an ignore list to dismiss known files Excluded paths and file extensions Scheduled automatic scans (daily, weekly) HTML formatted email alerts with severity sections, including a dedicated section for closed plugins Security Audit Track everything happening on your site: Successful and failed login attempts Two-factor authentication events User account changes (creation, deletion, role changes) Content modifications (posts, pages) Plugin and theme activations/deactivations Security events and blocked threats HTTP request method tracking and filtering (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) Enhanced log detail popup with grouped sections and quick actions One-click add IP or User-Agent to firewall whitelist/blacklist from log entries Direct IP lookup links to AbuseIPDB Configurable retention period, CSV export, and filtering by event type, severity, request method or date Audit Alerts – get an email when the audit log points to something worth your attention, off by default and configured under Security Audit: Immediate alerts the moment a serious event is logged, by minimum severity (a new administrator, a closed plugin or a privilege escalation are all logged as Critical) Threshold alerts when a category spikes – firewall blocks, login failures, user, plugin, file integrity, security, system and content events – over a 30-minute, 1, 6 or 24 hour window, counting only warning and critical events so routine activity never trips them A single anti-repeat cooldown keeps a storm of events down to one notice instead of flooding your inbox Active alerts surface in Settings & Tools, the Dashboard, the Configuration Score and the Security Check “Send test email” button to confirm delivery Security Check On-demand security audit built into the Dashboard. No external services, no accounts, no API keys – everything runs on your server: 40+ checks across 6 categories: SSL/TLS, HTTP Headers, WP Exposure, Access & Auth, Sensitive Files and Internal Checks Single 0-100 score with A-E grade, plus per-category breakdown and explanatory details for every check 15 exclusive internal checks impossible from the outside: PHP end-of-life status, pending updates, inactive plugins, closed or removed plugins, file permissions, default salts detection, wp_ table prefix, admin username, administrators without 2FA enrolled, module status, recent audit errors, last File Integrity scan result and whether audit alerts are configured DNS-only reputation lookup against Spamhaus ZEN, Barracuda BRBL and SpamCop SCBL (informational – listings are flagged but don’t deduct from the score) Two-phase scan: fast local checks appear in under a second, remote checks stream in as they complete Weekly automatic scan with opt-in email alert if the score drops by 10+ points or a new critical check starts failing 30-scan history with sparkline trend and delta chip “Go to setting” fix link on every failing check, jumping straight to the exact Vigilant field that resolves it Smart header diagnostics that report “configured but not being served” when a cache/CDN overrides your headers WordPress Hardening Layered protection at the WordPress level – admin, content, head, feeds and database: Lock down the admin: disable the built-in plugin and theme file editor, block installations and updates from the admin area, and force HTTPS for the admin area. Compatible with any hosting layout, respecting values already in place and never overriding them Disable WordPress’s internal page-view cron when you already have a real server-side cron job configured Dashboard warning when debug mode is left enabled in production, so error output never leaks to visitors Hide your WordPress version everywhere it can leak: from the HTML head, from RSS and Atom feeds, and optionally from every script and style URL on the front-end (stripping only the WordPress version itself, leaving plugin and theme cache busting intact) Automatic daily removal of readme.html, license.txt and licencia.txt from the WordPress root, which otherwise expose your version HTML head cleanup – remove the RSD link, Windows Live Writer manifest, shortlink header and REST API discovery link Database hardening – check for the default wp_ table prefix and one-click rename tool with full backup before the change Comment security – honeypot field against spam bots, force moderation on every new comment, close comments on old posts, disable pingbacks and trackbacks Feed management – completely disable RSS and Atom feeds, or only disable them when the site has no published content REST API Security Control API access to your site: Three access modes: public (default WordPress behavior), authenticated only (closes the API to anonymous visitors), or selective (custom allow/block lists) Block user enumeration via /wp-json/wp/v2/users Protect any list of sensitive endpoints from anonymous access Per-plugin compatibility toggles so authenticated mode doesn’t break the front-end: WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, WPForms, Elementor, Jetpack. oEmbed and Site Health endpoints stay accessible by default Security Tools Utilities included: Database Backup – Download a full or partial database backup as ZIP with table selection Database Prefix Change – Change the default wp_ prefix to a random secure prefix Export/Import Settings – Transfer your configuration between sites Manual Backup – Create backups of .htaccess and wp-config.php on demand Reset to Defaults – Start fresh with one click Safe by Design Your existing .htaccess, wp-config.php and robots.txt are automatically backed up before any modifications. Backups are stored in the WordPress database, never as files under the web root, and verified with MD5 checksums. When you deactivate Vigilant, all security rules are automatically removed and your original configuration files are restored. No leftover code, no broken sites. Why Vigilant? Most WordPress security plugins reserve their best features for paid plans. Vigilant gives you everything upfront – no premium tier, no feature locks, no upsells. Firewall, 2FA with authenticator app, security headers, file integrity scanner, security audit, on-demand Security Check with weekly regression alerts, and more. All free, all maintained, all following WordPress coding standards. We maintain a detailed feature comparison between Vigilant and other popular security plugins (Wordfence, Solid Security, AIOS, Sucuri, SG Security). See what each offers in its free version and where Vigilant fills the gaps. → View the full comparison Support Need private support or custom development? Do you need one-on-one help, priority troubleshooting, or a custom feature, integration, or tweak built specifically for your site? I offer private support and custom development. Just contact me and tell me what you need. Need help or have suggestions? Official website WordPress support forum YouTube channel Documentation and tutorials Love the plugin? Please leave us a 5-star review and help spread the word! About AyudaWP We are specialists in WordPress security, SEO, AI and performance optimization plugins. We create tools that solve real problems for WordPress site owners while maintaining the highest coding standards and accessibility requirements.