SAR One Click Security vs htaccess protect

There’s a lot of WordPress security plugins with many many options and pages to setup. And that is fine if you know what to do. But most of the times, you don’t need so much or simply you’re not sure about what to set or not. This plugin adds some extra security to your WordPress with only one click. No options page, just activate it! Features Like many other security plugins SAR One Click Security adds well known .htaccess rules, but only the ones probed to be safe to use in almost any type of site (including WooCommerce stores), to protect your WordPress from common attacks. This allows you to have a safer WordPress without worries about what protection you should be using. Turn off ServerSignature directive, that may leak information about your web server. Turn off directory listing, avoiding bad configured hostings to leak your files. Blocks public access (from web) to following files that may leak information about your WordPress install: .htaccess, license.txt, readme.html, wp-config.php, wp-config-sample.php, install.php Blocks access to wp-login.php to dummy bots trying to register in WordPress sites that have registration disabled. Blocks requests looking for timthumb.php, reducing server load caused by bots trying to find it. (*) Blocks TRACE and TRACK request methods, preventing XST attacks. Blocks direct posting to wp-comments-post.php (most spammers do this) and access with blank User Agent, reducing spam comments a lot and also server load. Blocks direct access to PHP files in wp-content directory (this includes subdirectories like plugins or themes). Protecting you from a huge number of 0day exploits. Blocks direct POST to wp-login.php and access with blank User Agent, preventing most brute-force attacks and reducing server load. Blocks access to .txt files under any plugin/theme directory to prevent scans for installed plugins/themes. Blocks any query string trying to get a copy of the wp-config.php file. Blocks gf_page=upload query string argument, this was deprecated in Gravity Forms on May 2015, if your copy of Gravity Forms still uses it, update now! Removes version information from page headers. This includes not only the page header (html or xhtml) but also feed headers (rss, rss2, atom, rdf) and opml comments. Only the version number is removed, not the entire generator information. (*) If your theme uses TimThumb, you can disable that blocking rule, check FAQ before installing the plugin to see how. Requirements WordPress 3.9.2 or higher. (Works with WordPress network/multisite installation). Apache 2.4.x web server It has been tested in many servers including large providers like HostGator, Godaddy and 1&1 with optimal results, and it will work fine in any decent hosting service (that allows you to set options from .htaccess files). Anyway, if you get any problem after activating the plugin, check FAQ for instructions on how to manually uninstall it. If you’re not sure of which server is your hosting company using or if they allow to use custom .htaccess rules, I would recommend you to contact with your host support before installing the plugin. Usage To apply above mentioned security rules simply install and activate the plugin, no options page, no user setup! If you need to remove the security rules for some reason, simply deactivate the plugin. If you want to add them again, activate the plugin again, that easy 😉 And remember, if your theme uses TimThumb, check FAQ before installing the plugin.

Using the password protection will give you extra security layer of protection from brute force hacking attacks. Additionally, it’s also an easy way to password protect your entire site, without needing to create separate WordPress users for each visitor. When you enable the password protection, the user won’t be able to see anything – not even see the protected page – until he/she inserts the username/password. You can password protect the whole website, including the administrator pages; you can password protect the administrator pages; or you can password protect the WordPress login page. The plugin options include: Enabling/disabling the password protection to wp-login.php, WordPress admin pages. Modifying the existing users: you can change any .htaccess user’s password and remove the users. Create/modify an unlimited number of .htaccess users; Protect your whole site, making it accessible to only those who have the .htaccess user. This plugin is originally was based on .htaccess Site Access Control. That plugin was working fine but it was abandoned for years and not compatible with the latest WordPress. Most part of the plugin were refactored and translated.