Blueternal BOLT Security Toolkit vs Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL)

Blueternal BOLT Security Toolkit (BOLT) scans your WordPress site and hosting environment for security issues, surfaces plain-English findings in wp-admin, and gives you step-by-step fix instructions for every check. BOLT is designed for the gap between generic WordPress security plugins and full server access: it helps site owners, agencies, and hosting teams see what is actually misconfigured on the current host, which issues matter most, and which ones BOLT can safely fix from WordPress plugin context. Free features: 31-point security scan across Server Environment, WordPress Core, Authentication, Site Exposure, Security Headers, Updates, and Writable Directories Checks PHP version, MySQL version, OPcache, dangerous PHP functions, directory listing, PHP override effectiveness, loopback request health, WP-Cron health, WP_DEBUG, wp-config.php permissions, DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT, database prefix, XML-RPC, REST API exposure, application passwords, user registration, default admin username, administrator account sprawl, debug log exposure, readme.html exposure, public backup or dump artifacts, HTTPS, HSTS, core/plugin/theme updates, uploads permissions, and executable files in uploads Server/PHP profile detection for Apache, Apache with PHP-FPM/FastCGI, LiteSpeed/LSAPI, Nginx with PHP-FPM, IIS, and unknown/shared-host stacks “How to fix” accordion with manual instructions for every check Recommendations summary of all failing and warning items Host-aware action states so supported fixes show as actionable and unsupported ones stay manual Dedicated Hardening tab with supported one-click hardening actions and manual priorities One-click auto-fixes for WP_DEBUG, File Editor, Directory Listing, HSTS, executable files in uploads, XML-RPC, and REST API restriction when the current host supports them One-click removal for public readme.html exposure and public backup, dump, environment, installer, and diagnostic artifacts Persistent fix history with grouped sessions and full undo for all BOLT-applied changes, including restoring original wp-config.php and .htaccess content REST public-route allowlist manager for intentional unauthenticated REST endpoints Application Password Governance inventory with stale, unused, and administrator-owned API credential review Attack Path Analysis: identifies realistic compromise chains based on your current configuration and shows the fastest way to break them Near-Miss Detection: highlights conditions that are close to forming an attack path before they become exploitable AI Security Briefing panel is visible in the Overview tab; generation and AI Settings require BOLT Pro Weekly scheduled scan reports by email Optional BOLT-branded PDF attachment on scheduled scan emails using dompdf when available, with a built-in plain PDF fallback Reports tab status panel showing whether the BOLT WP-Cron event is registered, when it will run next, the last delivery/PDF status, and a manual test-send button Email only when new issues appear Alerts tab shows the Slack and generic webhook controls; delivery and test alerts require BOLT Pro Activity tab with the last 7 days of security timeline entries for logins, user changes, software changes, scans, reports, alerts, and auto-fixes Baseline drift detection with one active baseline, save/update/clear baseline actions, regressions since the approved scan, and finding-level before/after value diffs Vulnerability Intelligence rows can show pass/fail status and CVE IDs when advisory findings are present; full advisory detail requires BOLT Pro Accepted Risk Register with owner, reason, expiration date, reopen controls, and action-queue suppression for documented unresolved findings Available through the separate BOLT Pro add-on/service (learn more at blueternalsolutions.com/bolt-pro): BOLT Pro adds more coverage and less manual work through hosted checks, automation, and reporting controls. Domain/IP reputation scan through the BOLT platform endpoint, with normalized results from Spamhaus DBL, SURBL, URIBL, Spamhaus ZEN, SpamCop, and SORBS On-demand reputation re-checks from the Reputation tab WordPress core file integrity monitoring against official checksums Unexpected-file detection inside wp-admin and wp-includes PHP malware-pattern scanning across plugins, themes, mu-plugins, and uploads, with Malware Triage Center support for hash-based expected-file decisions Vulnerability intelligence for WordPress core, plugins, and themes through a configurable BOLT advisory feed Full vulnerability advisory detail, including affected version range, CVSS score, and patch link when supplied by the advisory feed AI Security Briefings and AI Settings Daily and monthly scheduled scan cadences Multiple report recipients and custom report branding Slack and generic webhook alerts, including critical-only and baseline-regression-only filters Full Activity timeline Named baseline snapshots External Services BOLT only sends data to an external service when the corresponding feature is configured or explicitly used by an administrator. Blueternal Solutions When a site has BOLT Pro active and an administrator generates the AI Security Briefing without saving their own OpenAI API key, BOLT sends a compact, redacted JSON payload of selected fail/warn scan findings to the Blueternal Solutions BOLT API for hosted analysis. Free installs show the AI panel but cannot generate briefings. The payload can include finding labels, statuses, severities, messages, recommendations, remediation guide URLs, limited environment notes, baseline drift summaries, a payload hash, plugin version, site/home URL, and a random install identifier used for service quota. It does not send raw files, database contents, passwords, secret keys, or arbitrary page content. The hosted AI service uses Blueternal Solutions server-side credentials and may process the redacted payload through an AI provider to return the structured briefing. The separate BOLT Pro add-on/service may also contact Blueternal Solutions endpoints for license validation, reputation checks, vulnerability intelligence, and upgrade pages. Depending on the Pro feature used, requests may include the site URL, plugin version, license key, domain, IP address, and installed WordPress core/plugin/theme version metadata needed to return the requested service response. Service endpoint: https://blueternalsolutions.com Terms: https://blueternalsolutions.com/bolt-terms-of-service/ Privacy policy: https://blueternalsolutions.com/bolt-privacy-policy/ OpenAI If BOLT Pro is active and an administrator saves an OpenAI API key in BOLT settings or defines BOLT_OPENAI_API_KEY, the AI Security Briefing sends the compact, redacted JSON payload directly from the site to OpenAI instead of using the hosted BOLT service. The payload can include finding labels, statuses, severities, messages, recommendations, remediation guide URLs, limited environment notes, and baseline drift summaries. It does not send raw files, database contents, passwords, secret keys, or arbitrary page content. Service endpoint: https://api.openai.com Terms: https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use/ Privacy policy: https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/ Google Safe Browsing If BOLT Pro is active and an administrator saves a Google Safe Browsing API key, the Browser Blocklist reputation check sends the site’s home URL and domain URL to the Google Safe Browsing Lookup API v4 when a reputation check runs. This is used only to determine whether the site is flagged for malware, phishing, unwanted software, or potentially harmful applications. The request also includes the saved API key, a BOLT client identifier, and the plugin version. BOLT does not send scan findings, files, database contents, passwords, license keys, or arbitrary page content to Google Safe Browsing. Service endpoint: https://safebrowsing.googleapis.com/v4/threatMatches:find Terms: https://developers.google.com/terms Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy Slack If BOLT Pro is active and an administrator saves a Slack incoming webhook URL in BOLT Alerts, scheduled alerts or the manual test alert send alert text to the configured Slack webhook. The payload can include the site name, site URL, BOLT admin URL, scan score, score label, score delta, baseline score delta, issue count, issue labels, issue severities, issue statuses, issue messages, baseline drift summaries, capture time, and whether the alert is a test. It does not send raw files, database contents, passwords, secret keys, license keys, or arbitrary page content. Service endpoint: the Slack incoming webhook URL configured by the administrator, usually https://hooks.slack.com/services/... Webhook documentation: https://api.slack.com/incoming-webhooks Terms: https://slack.com/terms-of-service/api Privacy policy: https://slack.com/privacy-policy Generic Webhook If BOLT Pro is active and an administrator saves a generic webhook URL in BOLT Alerts, scheduled alerts or the manual test alert send a JSON alert payload to the exact URL configured by that administrator. The payload can include the site name, site URL, BOLT admin URL, scan score, score label, score delta, critical-only and baseline-only alert flags, baseline score delta, issue count, issue labels, issue severities, issue statuses, issue messages, recommendations, baseline drift summaries, capture time, and whether the alert is a test. It does not send raw files, database contents, passwords, secret keys, license keys, or arbitrary page content. Service endpoint: the generic webhook URL configured by the administrator. Terms and privacy policy: determined by the administrator-configured destination service.

Easily improve site security with WordPress Hardening, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Login Protection, Vulnerability Detection and SSL certificate. Really simple, Effective and Performant WordPress Security Really Simple Security is the most lightweight and easy-to-use security plugin for WordPress. It secures your WordPress website with SSL certificate generation, including proper 301 https redirection and SSL enforcement, scanning for possible vulnerabilities, Login Protection and implementing essential WordPress hardening features. We believe that security should have the absolute minimum effect on website performance, user experience and maintainability. Therefore, Really Simple Security is: Lightweight: Every security feature is developed with a modular approach and with performance in mind. Disabled features won’t load any redundant code. Easy-to-use: 1-minute configuration with short onboarding setup. Security Features Easy SSL Migration Migrates your website to HTTPS and enforces SSL in just one click. 301 redirect via PHP or .htaccess Secure cookies Let’s Encrypt: Install an SSL Certificate if your hosting provider supports manual installation. Server Health Check: Your server configuration is every bit as important for your website security. WordPress Hardening Tweak your configuration and keep WordPress fortified and safe by tackling potential weaknesses. Prevent code execution in the uploads folder Prevent login feedback and disable user enumeration Disable XML-RPC Disable directory browsing Username restrictions (block ‘admin’ and public names) and much more.. Vulnerability Detection Get notified when plugins, themes or WP core contain vulnerabilities and need appropriate action. Login Protection Allow or enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for specific user roles. Users receive a two-factor code via Email. Improve Security with Really Simple Security Pro Protect your site with all essential security features by upgrading to Really Simple Security Pro. Advanced SSL enforcement Mixed Content Scan & Fixer. Detect files that are requested over HTTP and fix them to HTTPS, both Front- and Back-end. Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security and configure your site for the HSTS Preload list. Firewall Really Simple Security Pro includes a performant and efficient WordPress firewall, to stop bots, crawlers and bad actors with IP and username blocks. 404 blocking – Blocks crawlers as they trigger unusual numbers of 404 errors. Region blocking – Only allow/block access to your site from specific regions. Automated and customisable Firewall rules. IP blocklist and allowlist. Security Headers Security headers protect your site visitors against the risk of clickjacking, cross-site-forgery attacks, stealing login credentials and malware. Independent of your Server Configuration, works on Apache, LiteSpeed, NGINX, etc. Protect your website visitors with X-XSS Protection, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, a Referrer Policy and CORS headers. Automatically generate your WordPress-tailored Content Security Policy. Vulnerability Measures When a vulnerability is detected in a plugin, theme or WordPress core you will get notified accordingly. With Vulnerability Measures, you can configure simple but effective measures to make sure that a critical vulnerability won’t remain unattended. Force update: An update process will be tried multiple times until it can be assumed development of a theme or plugin is abandoned. You will be notified during these steps. Quarantine: When a plugin or theme can’t be updated to solve a vulnerability, Really Simple Security can quarantine the plugin. Advanced Site Hardening Choose a custom login URL Automated File Permissions check and fixer Rename and randomize your database prefix Change the debug.log file location to a non-public folder Disable application passwords Control admin creation Disable HTTP methods, reducing HTTP requests Login Protection Secure your website’s login process and user accounts with powerful security measures. Two-Step verification (Email login) 2FA (two factor authentication) with TOTP Passwordless login with passkey login Enforce strong passwords and frequent password change Limit Login Attempts With Limit Login Attempts you can configure a threshold to temporarily or permanently block IP addresses or (non-existing) usernames. You can also throw a CAPTCHA after a failed login (hCaptcha or Google reCaptcha) Access Control Restrict access to your site for specific regions. Add specific IP addresses or IP ranges to the Blocklist or Allowlist. Useful Links Documentation Security Definitions Translate Really Simple Security Issues & pull requests Feature requests Love Really Simple Security? If you want to support the continuing development of this plugin, please consider buying Really Simple Security Pro, which includes some excellent security features and premium support. About Really Simple Plugins Our mission is to make complex WordPress requirements really easy. Really Simple Security is developed by Really Simple Plugins. For generating SSL certificates, Really Simple Security uses the le acme2 PHP Let’s Encrypt client library, thanks to ‘fbett’ for providing it. Vulnerability Detection uses WP Vulnerability, an open-source initiative by Javier Casares. Want to join as a collaborator? We’re on GitHub as well!