Are you concerned about the security of your WordPress website? In today’s digital landscape, ensuring the safety of your online presence is paramount.
Fortunately, there’s a wealth of free tools available to help you scan your WordPress site for vulnerabilities.
By leveraging these tools, you can proactively identify and address potential security risks, safeguarding your website against malicious attacks and data breaches.
In this article, we will discuss some of the best free tools to scan WordPress for vulnerabilities so that you can protect your website with ease.
Why is It Important to Scan Your WordPress Site for Vulnerabilities?
Scanning your WordPress site for vulnerabilities is crucial because WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that powers over 43% of all websites on the internet making it a prime target for hackers looking to exploit vulnerabilities and gain unauthorized access to your website.
Here are a few reasons why it is important to scan your WordPress site for vulnerabilities:
- Prevent Data Breaches: Regular scans can identify vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches, ensuring the safety of sensitive information.
- Protect User Privacy: By securing your site, you protect your users’ personal information from being compromised.
- Prevent Malware Infections: Hackers often exploit vulnerabilities to inject malware into websites. Malware can damage your site’s reputation and affect its performance.
- Maintain Site Availability: Vulnerabilities can also lead to website downtime, affecting your site’s availability and potentially causing financial losses.
- Stay Compliant: Many industries have regulations requiring websites to maintain certain security standards. Regular scans help ensure compliance with these standards.
How to Check WordPress Site for Vulnerabilities?
Keeping your WordPress site secure is important and it’s not that expensive though, and there are two ways to check your WordPress site for vulnerabilities.
- Remote Scanners:
Remote WordPress scanners are online tools that can check your site for vulnerabilities without getting access to your site’s backend.
You simply enter your site’s URL, and the scanner will analyze your site for common security issues and the report will be generated.
- Use a plugin:
If you want a deeper examination of your site, then you can do it easily with the help of the security plugin.
These plugins can check for outdated software, weak passwords, suspicious files, check into your database, and more to ensure your website’s security.
The only difference between the remote scanner and the plugin is the remote scanner can scan just the front of your website, as it appears on the browser, while a security plugin deeply scans your site’s server and checks for any malicious threat on your server.
There are many free tools to scan WordPress for vulnerabilities and those tools even have paid versions for advanced functionalities.
So let’s take a look at some of the best tools.
5 Best Free Tools To Scan WordPress For Vulnerabilities [Compared]
| Sl.No. | Plugins | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Malcare Security | Free + $149/yr |
| 2. | WordFence Security Scan | Free + $119/yr |
| 3. | Sucuri Site Check | Free |
| 4. | Defender Security | Free + $36/yr |
| 5. | Security Ninja | Free + $39.99/yr |
1. Malcare Security
![Malcare security 5 free tools to scan wordpress for vulnerabilities [protect site] from the plus addons for elementor](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MalCare-Security.webp "MalCare Security | The Plus Addons for Elementor")
Malcare is a WordPress security plugin that offers both free and paid services. It is a cloud-based scanning plugin.
This WordPress scanner checks for all the databases and files and checks for any complex malware on your site.
The best thing about this scanner is that it scans your WordPress site on its own cloud server so your website won’t slow down.
With its premium plans, You will be notified before your site goes down, You can remove malware instantly with its one-click malware removal, and you can restrict access for the users based on their geographical location.
You will also get premium and personalized support via email or chat.
Key Features of Malcare Security
- Cloud-Based Malware Scanning: MalCare uses cloud technology to scan your website for malware. This means the scanning process doesn’t slow down your website and is more efficient.
- Login Page Protection: It protects your website’s login page from brute force attacks. It monitors login attempts and blocks suspicious IPs, keeping your site secure.
- One-Click Malware Removal: If MalCare detects malware on your website, you can remove it with just one click. This makes cleaning up your site quick and easy.
- Uptime Monitoring: It monitors your website’s uptime, alerting you if your site goes down. This helps you quickly address any issues and minimize downtime.
Pricing of Malcare Security
Malcare has free as well as paid plans. The Price of paid plan starts from $149/yr for 1 site, for 3 sites, starting at $349/yr, and for 10 sites, starting at $799/yr.
Suggested Reading: How to Secure WordPress Login Page [11 Proven Ways]
2. WordFence Security Scan
![Wordfence security 5 free tools to scan wordpress for vulnerabilities [protect site] from the plus addons for elementor](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wordfence-Security-1024x331.webp "Wordfence Security | The Plus Addons for Elementor")
WordFence is a comprehensive security plugin. With its free WordPress Malware scanner, you can scan for outdated plugins, themes, or core files that may be vulnerable to attacks and compare your files in the WordPress.org repository, checking their integrity.
It also checks for any dangerous URLs or any suspicious file content in your files, posts, comments, etc.
The WordFence scanner also checks for malicious code and known security vulnerabilities in your website’s source code and image files. If any issues are found, it alerts you and provides recommendations for how to fix them.
The firewall is updated regularly with new firewall rules and malware signatures created by the WordFence Threat Intelligence team.
Key Features of WordFence Security Scan
- Two-Factor Authentication: Improves your website’s security with two-factor authentication, adding an extra layer of protection by requiring a second form of verification in addition to your password.
- Login Page CAPTCHA: Prevent bots from accessing your site by implementing CAPTCHA on your login page, ensuring that only humans can log in.
- Brute Force Attack Protection: Protect your site from brute force attacks by limiting the number of login attempts, making it difficult for attackers to gain unauthorized access to your site.
- Threat Defense Feed: This feature is the heart of Wordfence’s security prowess, providing real-time updates about the latest threats and vulnerabilities
Pricing of WordFence Security Scan
WordFence is a freemium WordPress security plugin. It has 3 premium plans which go like this: Wordfence Premium at $119 per year, Wordfence Care at $490 annually, and Wordfence Response at $950 yearly.
Recommended Reading: How to Remove Malware From WordPress Site [Guide]
3. Sucuri Site Check
![Sucuri site check 5 free tools to scan wordpress for vulnerabilities [protect site] from the plus addons for elementor](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sucuri-Site-Check.png "Sucuri Site Check | The Plus Addons for Elementor")
Sucuri SiteCheck is a free tool provided by Sucuri and it is considered as the best free WordPress vulnerability scanner online.
The tool scans your website and checks for known malware, viruses, blacklisting status, website errors, out-of-date software, and malicious code.
It also reveals your blacklist status with services like Google, AVG Antivirus, McAfee, etc. Remote scanners have limited access, and results are not guaranteed.
It is very easy to use, you only need to enter your website URL, and the scanner will do the rest.
Key Features of Sucuri Site Check
- Blacklist Monitoring: It checks if your website is blacklisted by Google, Norton Safe Web, McAfee SiteAdvisor, and other blacklisting authorities.
- Website Firewall (WAF) Integration: Sucuri’s Website Firewall protects your site from hackers and DDoS attacks, and SiteCheck can verify if your site is behind the Sucuri WAF.
- Domain Reputation: It checks the reputation of your domain and IP address to identify potential issues affecting your website’s trustworthiness.
- User-Friendly Interface: The tool is easy to use, with clear scan results and explanations for non-technical users.
Pricing Sucuri Site Check
It is free to use
Read Further: How to Block IP Address in WordPress [3 Easy Methods]
4. Defender Security
![Defender security 5 free tools to scan wordpress for vulnerabilities [protect site] from the plus addons for elementor](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Defender-Security.webp "Defender Security | The Plus Addons for Elementor")
Defender Security is an all-in-one WordPress security plugin. Its free wordpress vulnerability scanner allows you to scan all the core files of WordPress and compare them with the WordPress master copy file and reports changes so that you can easily revert back to the original file with one click.
It also protects your site from brute force attacks by limiting the logging attempts so intruders can’t guess passwords. Also, it triggers a timed lockout after a set number of logging attempts.
With its geo-blocking feature, you can restrict users from logging in from specific locations or countries.
Additionally, you can view all security actions taken by the Defender security plugin on your website in its activity log.
Key Features of Defender Security
- User Agent Banning: Defender allows you to block malicious user agents from accessing your website, enhancing security.
- Login Screen Masking: Defender hides your login screen to protect against brute-force attacks, keeping your login page secure.
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Defender offers two-factor authentication for an extra layer of security, requiring a second form of verification to log in.
- Notifications and Reports: Defender provides real-time notifications of security threats and comprehensive reports to keep you informed about your website’s security status.
Pricing of Defender Security
The Defender security plugin is a freemium WordPress security tool. This pricing of the pro plan starts from $36/yr for 1 site, $60/yr for 3 sites, $120/yr for 10 sites, and $240/yr for unlimited site license.
Suggested Reading: 6 Best WordPress Security Plugins [Both FREE & PRO]
5. Security Ninja
![Security ninja 5 free tools to scan wordpress for vulnerabilities [protect site] from the plus addons for elementor](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Security-Ninja.webp "Security Ninja | The Plus Addons for Elementor")
Security Ninja is a free and paid security tool. Its free security scanner for WordPress runs over 50 security tests with just one click and finds known vulnerabilities on your website that you even don’t know exist.
It can also optimize your database, improving your website’s performance.
Every test that is performed is explained, documented, and also instructions are provided on how to fix those problems.
The plugin also includes tests for various security aspects, such as brute-force attacks on user accounts, file permissions, version hiding, debug and auto-update modes, and more.
Key Features of Security Ninja
- Protection from Exploits: Security Ninja helps prevent 0-day exploit attacks, which are attacks that exploit vulnerabilities that are not yet known to the public
- Vulnerability Scanner: The plugin scans your website for known vulnerabilities and alerts you to any potential security risks.
- Non-Invasive: Security Ninja does not make any changes to your site without your permission, ensuring that you have full control over your website’s security.
- Preventive Measures: The plugin helps you take preventive measures against attacks, protecting your site from potential threats.
Pricing of Security Ninja
The Pricing plan of the Security Ninja starts from $39.99/yr for 1 site, $99.99/yr for 3 sites, $149.99/yr for 5 sites, and $249/yr for 10 sites.
Read Further: How To Create Elementor Password Protected Page
![20 checklist for wordpress site maintenance 5 free tools to scan wordpress for vulnerabilities [protect site] from the plus addons for elementor](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20-Checklist-for-WordPress-Site-Maintenance-1024x1024.webp "20 Checklist for WordPress Site Maintenance | The Plus Addons for Elementor")
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Wrapping Up
That’s all, we have discussed some of the best free tools to scan WordPress for vulnerabilities.
Ensuring the security of your WordPress site is important in protecting your data, maintaining site availability, and staying compliant with regulations.
Regularly scanning your site for vulnerabilities can help you identify and address potential security risks before they are exploited by cybercriminals.
Here are the top 5 free tools to scan WordPress for vulnerabilities:
- Malcare Security
- WordFence Security Scan
- Sucuri Site Check
- Defender Security
- Security Ninja
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FAQs on Free Tools to Scan WordPress for Vulnerabilities
How to know if a WordPress site is secure or not?
To ensure WordPress site security, regularly update themes/plugins, use strong passwords, employ security plugins, monitor for suspicious activity, implement SSL certificates, conduct regular backups, and stay informed about security best practices and vulnerabilities through reputable sources and security audits.
What is the largest danger in WordPress site security?
The largest danger in WordPress site security is the prevalence of vulnerabilities stemming from outdated themes/plugins, weak passwords, and lack of regular updates, making it susceptible to hacking, data breaches, and malware infections.
Why WordPress has so many vulnerabilities?
WordPress often faces vulnerabilities due to its popularity, extensive plugin/theme ecosystem, open-source nature, and diverse user base, leading to frequent exploitation by attackers through code vulnerabilities, insufficient security measures, and delayed patching.
What cannot be traced by a Vulnerability scanner?
A vulnerability scanner cannot trace sophisticated security threats like zero-day exploits or advanced malware that is not yet known to the public. It also cannot trace vulnerabilities that require manual testing, such as logic flaws or complex misconfigurations in the website’s code or server settings.
How do Hackers scan for vulnerabilities?
Hackers scan for vulnerabilities using automated tools that search for weaknesses in websites and servers. They look for outdated software, misconfigured settings, and known vulnerabilities to exploit. They may also use techniques like port scanning and network sniffing to identify potential targets.
How to find security vulnerabilities?
To find security vulnerabilities in your website, you can use various methods such as manual code review, automated vulnerability scanners, and penetration testing. These methods help identify weaknesses in your website’s code, configuration, or architecture that could be exploited by attackers.
