Apocalypse Meow vs Secure Passkeys

Apocalypse Meow’s main focus is addressing WordPress security issues related to user accounts and logins. This includes things like: Brute-force login-in protection; Customizable password strength requirements; XML-RPC access controls; Account access alerts; Searchable access logs (including failed login attempts and temporary bans); User enumeration prevention; Registration SPAM protection; Miscellaneous Core and template options to make targeted hacks more difficult; Anonymize/scrub leaky remote request headers; Security is an admittedly technical subject, but Apocalypse Meow strives to help educate “normal” users about the nature of common web attacks, mitigation techniques, etc. Every option contains detailed explanations and links to external resources with additional information. Knowledge is power! Requirements Due to the advanced nature of some of the plugin features, there are a few additional server requirements beyond what WordPress itself requires: WordPress 4.4+. PHP 7.4 or later. PHP extensions: (bcmath or gmp), date, filter, json, pcre. CREATE and DROP MySQL grants. Single-site Installs (i.e. Multi-Site is not supported). Please note: it is not safe to run WordPress atop a version of PHP that has reached its End of Life. Future releases of this plugin might, out of necessity, drop support for old, unmaintained versions of PHP. To ensure you continue to receive plugin updates, bug fixes, and new features, just make sure PHP is kept up-to-date. 🙂 Log Monitoring Some robots are so dumb they’ll continue trying to submit credentials even after the login form is replaced, wasting system resources and clogging up the log-in history table. One way to mitigate this is to use a server-side log-monitoring program like Fail2Ban or OSSEC to ban users via the firewall. Apocalypse Meow produces a 403 error when a banned user requests the login form. Your log-monitoring rule should therefore look for repeated 403 responses to wp-login.php. Additionally, some robots are unable to follow redirects; if your login form requires SSL, you should also ban repeated 301/302 responses to catch those fools. If you have enabled user enumeration protection with the die() option, requests for ?author=X will produce a 400 response code which can be similarly tracked. Privacy Policy When active, this plugin retains security logs of every sign-in attempt made to the CMS backend. This information — including the end user’s public IP address, username, and the status of his or her attempt — is used to help prevent unauthorized system access and maintain Quality of Service for all site visitors. This information resides fully on the hosting web site and is not shared with any third parties. Data retention is entirely up to the site operator, but by default old records are automatically removed after 90 days. Please note: Apocalypse Meow DOES NOT integrate with any WordPress GDPR “Personal Data” features. (Selective erasure of audit logs would undermine the security mechanisms provided by this plugin. Haha.)

Secure Passkeys is a powerful WordPress plugin that enables seamless passwordless authentication using WebAuthn technology. By eliminating the need for traditional passwords, it enhances security and improves the user login experience. With support for biometric authentication, security keys, and device-bound credentials, Secure Passkey provides a robust and user-friendly solution for modern authentication. Unlike traditional password-based authentication, Secure Passkey leverages cryptographic key pairs to ensure secure logins. The private key remains securely stored on the user’s device, while the public key is registered with the WordPress site. This method protects against phishing attacks and password breaches, ensuring that only authorized users can gain access. Secure Passkeys integrates effortlessly into WordPress, allowing users to register and manage their passkeys from their profile settings. Once registered, users can log in using their fingerprint, face recognition, or a hardware security key without the need to remember or enter a password. Features Passwordless Login: Secure authentication via WebAuthn with biometric devices, security keys, Touch ID, Face ID, and more. Enhanced User Experience: Password-free login for a smoother user journey. Integration Support: WordPress default login form WooCommerce login page MemberPress login form Easy Digital Downloads login form Ultimate Member login form Admin Management: Administrators can delete, activate, or deactivate users directly from plugin settings or user profiles. Passkeys Reminder Notice: New option to enable or disable the passkeys reminder notice in the WordPress admin area for users who have not yet enabled passkeys. Activity Logging: Monitor activity logs and track last login/registration of passkeys. Multiple Passkeys: Supports multiple passkey registrations per user, with the option to set a registration limit or allow unlimited registrations. Role Restrictions: Restrict and exclude specific user roles from using passkey authentication. Passkey Autofill: Passkeys automatically appear as a suggestion when clicking the username field — no button click required. Rate Limiting: Configurable rate limiting on login attempts to protect against automated attacks. Long-lived Session: Control whether passkey logins set a persistent session cookie or end when the browser is closed. Customizable Settings: Adjust timeout settings for passkey registration and login. User Verification: Enforce user verification for enhanced security. Frontend Customization: Easily customize frontend themes or add your own with basic frontend skills. Theme Support: Supports pre-built themes like YOOtheme (UIkit) for frontend shortcodes. Shortcodes: Embed passkey login and registration forms on custom frontend pages. Passkey Display: Show passkey details in admin user lists and profiles. Multisite: Supports WordPress Multisite and single-site installations. Database Optimization: Option to allow or disallow automatic deletion of old challenge records and activity logs (configurable schedule). Requirements WordPress 6.0 or newer. PHP version 7.4 or newer. License Secure Passkeys is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 or later.