Practical, step-by-step WordPress security guides from the Silent Threads Security Team. Each one answers its question first, then shows you exactly how.
This WordPress security checklist has 29 steps in five groups. If you only do three, turn on two-factor authentication for every administrator, keep plugins updated while watching for known vulnerabilities in the versions you run, and get an alert when a new administrator account appears. Those three stop or expose most real-world compromises.
WooCommerce card skimmer detection means watching what runs on your checkout page: compare its scripts against a known list, scan files and the database for injected JavaScript, look for connections to unfamiliar domains, and check core and plugin files for changes. Skimmers hide in theme files, the database and third-party scripts, and often only activate on the checkout page for real shoppers.
To choose a WordPress security plugin, check twelve things: what it protects (scanning, firewall, logins), where its firewall runs, how fast and how safely its rules and signatures update, whether its own updates are verifiable, what data it sends off your site, how it avoids false positives and lockouts, its performance cost, its support, and what the base plan really includes. The rest of this guide explains each one.
Effective WordPress brute force protection uses layers: two-factor authentication so a guessed password isn’t enough, unique strong passwords, rate limiting and lockouts on wp-login.php and xmlrpc.php, and blocking usernames attackers try first. Two-factor authentication matters most: it defeats both guessing and stolen passwords.
A WordPress firewall is a web application firewall (WAF) that understands WordPress requests and users. Your host’s firewall usually filters network traffic by port and IP, and doesn’t inspect what a request is trying to do inside WordPress. Most sites benefit from both: the host or a cloud WAF absorbs volume, and the WordPress firewall blocks application-level attacks with full knowledge of the site.
A WordPress malware scanner reliably catches known malware in files, many obfuscated variants, modified core files and injected scripts in the database. It can miss brand-new or heavily disguised code, malware outside the folders it scans, and attacks that don’t leave files at all, such as a stolen password. Scanning is one layer: pair it with file integrity checks, a firewall and alerts.
The reliable way to remove malware from WordPress is to replace rather than repair: back up the infected site as evidence, lock the attacker out by changing every password, replace WordPress core, plugins and themes with fresh copies, clean the database and uploads by hand, then close the hole they came in through. Scanning tells you where to look; replacing clean files is what actually removes the malware.
To find out whether your WordPress site is hacked, look for the eleven signs below, then confirm with five checks: the user list, core file checksums, PHP files in uploads, the database, and Google Search Console. Any single strong sign, such as an administrator you didn’t create, means you should treat the site as hacked until you have proved otherwise.
