WordPress plugins allow you to extend the functionality of your blog or other WordPress-powered website. Among the useful features you can add to your blog is heightened security. WordPress’ popularity and success also makes it a common target for cybercriminals, but with the right security, you can prevent most attacks. These plugins are designed to help you fight off unwanted visitors.

1. WP Login Security 2 – Using IP authentication, this handy plugin will email a user for email confirmation if they login from an unrecognized IP address.

2. BBQ (Block Bad Queries) – Those naughty cybercriminals will come at you with all sorts of PHP script attacks attempting to gain access to your database. This tool blocks bad requests such as eval and base64 from doing harm to your site.

3. WordPress File Monitor Plus – Whenever your WordPress installation changes in any way, this plugin will alert you so that you can take action.It monitors files for hash, timestamp, and file size changes.

4. Wordfence – Taking the file monitoring a step further, Wordfence will check your WordPress installation, plugins, and themes against their official versions and alert you of any discrepancies.

5. Login Security Solution – You can add even more security features to your login with Login Security Solution. This plugin tracks IP addresses, usernames and passwords. It enforces strong passwords, and has an idle timeout feature. It will immediately lockout a breached user account and notify the administrator.

You can never be too secure, so making the extra effort to shore up your WordPress defenses can go a long way in preventing cyber attacks.