WP-OTP vs Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning

With WP-OTP you can easily set up 2 Factor Authentication with One Time Passwords for your WordPress login. This extra layer makes your WordPress site a lot more secure. The new stealth mode allows for invisible OTP code entry, making your login screen look like any other, no extra OTP code input field. Getting started After installing and activating the plugin, every user can enable WP-OTP on their profile page. It’s as easy as scanning the provided QR Code or entering the OTP secret to any OTP generator app. Then just activate it by entering the generated OTP and voilà, all set up. Now, the login requires an OTP code to succeed. Each user gets their own secret key to authenticate with, giving them control over their login security. Development This plugin is completely open source and a work of passion. If you would like to be part of it and join in, make your way over to the project page now. Also, if you have an idea you would like to see in this plugin or if you’ve found a bug, please let me know. Configuration WP_OTP_STEALTH: Set this to true to enable stealth OTP mode. Filters There are a multitude of filters to be adjusted. wp_otp_qr_code_provisioning_uri: URI for online QR Code rendering (must contain {PROVISIONING_URI} placeholder for QR Code data). wp_otp_login_form_text: Text for input field on the login screen. wp_otp_login_form_text_sub: Subtext for the input field on the login screen. wp_otp_login_form_invalid_code_text: Error text for an invalid code input on the login screen. wp_otp_code_expiration_window: Set the window of code verification expiration. wp_otp_recovery_codes_count: Number of recovery codes to generate. wp_otp_recovery_codes_length: Length of the recovery codes. wp_otp_secret_length: Length of the secret key. Minimum requirements WordPress 4.6, PHP 7.4. Donate / Support All donations are much appreciated, thank you 🙏 Get professional support for this plugin with a Tidelift subscription Tidelift helps make open source sustainable for maintainers while giving companies assurances about security, maintenance, and licensing for their dependencies. Security To report a security vulnerability, please use the Tidelift security contact. Tidelift will coordinate the fix and disclosure.

Most security plugins hand you a dashboard full of alerts and expect you to know what to do next. Shield works differently. It blocks threats automatically, repairs what it can on its own, and then shows you exactly what still needs your attention — ranked by impact, not volume. Less noise. More action. 🤖 Security That Runs Itself The most powerful thing Shield does is what it handles without you: Automatic IP Blocking — every visitor is quietly scored as they interact with your site. Failed logins, firewall blocks, silentCAPTCHA failures, and other signals accumulate into a reputation score. When a visitor’s score crosses the threshold, Shield blocks them — automatically, without you lifting a finger Automatic File Repair — when a file integrity scan finds a changed WordPress core file, Shield pulls the original from WordPress.org and restores it. Detected and fixed, without waiting for you to act Automatic Bot Recognition — Shield identifies legitimate crawlers (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Apple) and known services (ManageWP, Pingdom, Stripe, CloudFlare) and never blocks them. Your SEO and monitoring tools keep working 🧭 Guided Security, Not Just a Dashboard Shield organises your security into four focused areas so you always know where to look: Queue — things that need your attention, ranked by priority. Not everything at once — just what matters right now Investigate — dig into blocked IPs, security events, and the specific signals that triggered each one Configure — guided setup for each protection area, with clear recommendations matched to your site Reports — a clear view of what Shield has blocked, detected, and repaired over time The goal: guide you quickly towards action, not bury you in data. 🛡️ Free Protection Bot Blocking & Firewall silentCAPTCHA — blocks bad bots on login, registration, lost password, and comment forms using passive signals invisible to real visitors. No CAPTCHA keys. No external requests. No JavaScript that breaks your forms. Everything runs on your server (GDPR friendly). Firewall rules blocking common WordPress attack patterns — SQL injection probes, known exploit signatures, suspicious request parameters XML-RPC protection — disable or restrict entirely, including pingbacks and trackbacks REST API firewall — block unauthenticated requests Fake crawler detection — identifies bots spoofing legitimate search engines Login & Account Security Two-factor authentication (2FA) — email codes, Google Authenticator, or YubiKey OTP for all users Brute force protection with configurable login attempt limits and cooldown Session locking — tie sessions to a browser or IP to stop account theft after a successful login User enumeration blocking — closes off ?author= probes used to harvest usernames before an attack Scanning & Integrity Core file scanning — compares WordPress core against official checksums and repairs changed files automatically Suspicious PHP detection — flags PHP files in locations where they have no business being Abandoned plugin detection — identifies unmaintained plugins most likely to carry unpatched vulnerabilities Visibility & Control Security Admin PIN — lock Shield’s own settings so other administrators cannot quietly weaken your configuration Security activity log — logins, user changes, plugin and theme events, post edits, and suspicious requests: Everything in one clear view IP Rules — automatic & manual block and bypass rules, CIDR range support, full per-IP request history 🤝 CrowdSec Integration Shield is the only WordPress security plugin with a native CrowdSec integration. CrowdSec aggregates threat signals from millions of sites into a shared IP reputation network — your site blocks known attackers before they ever probe you, using intelligence far beyond your own traffic history. ✨ ShieldPRO Passkeys — phishing-resistant, passwordless login for users Backup login codes — emergency 2FA access when a device is lost AI-based malware scanner — detects known and unknown PHP malware Plugin & theme file scanning — compares installed files against WordPress.org originals, flagging unauthorised changes Vulnerability scanning — active checks across all installed plugins and themes Broader spam protection — WooCommerce, EDD, Contact Form 7, Ninja Forms, Elementor, and more Traffic rate limiting — cap request rates per IP to absorb high-volume bot floods User suspension — manual or automatic suspension of idle accounts MainWP integration White Label — rename and rebrand Shield for client sites Who It’s For Shield suits site owners, agencies, and MSPs who want protection that runs itself — not a plugin that demands constant attention to be useful. If you have been burned by security plugins that generate more noise than protection, or dashboards that tell you everything is wrong without telling you what to fix, Shield was built to be the alternative.