WordPress Security Hardening

WordPress sites face 90,000 attacks per minute. Security plugins help, but the most effective protection happens at the server level, before attacks reach your WordPress installation. We harden your server with firewalls, brute force protection, file permission lockdown, and attack surface reduction.

90,000

attacks per minute target WordPress sites globally, and 97% of those attacks exploit plugin and theme vulnerabilities that server-level hardening can block before they reach your WordPress code

Wordfence, 2023

WordPress Security Hardening

Server-level WordPress security hardening including firewall configuration, brute force protection, file permission lockdown, directory access controls, XML-RPC hardening, database security, and automated malware scanning.
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What's Included

Everything you get with our WordPress Security Hardening

Firewall and Access Controls

Server-level firewall rules, IP-based access restrictions for wp-admin, geographic blocking for high-risk regions, and rate limiting for login and API endpoints

File and Directory Hardening

Correct file permissions, directory listing disabled, wp-config.php protection, .htaccess hardening, and sensitive file access blocked at the server level

Attack Surface Reduction

XML-RPC disabled or restricted, REST API endpoints locked down, file editor disabled, unnecessary HTTP methods blocked, and security headers configured

Our Security Hardening Process

1

Security Audit

We scan your current WordPress installation for vulnerabilities: outdated software, weak file permissions, exposed sensitive files, unnecessary attack surfaces, and existing security gaps. We document every finding with severity and remediation priority.

2

Server-Level Hardening

We configure the server firewall, set up IP-based access restrictions for admin areas, implement rate limiting for login and API endpoints, configure security headers, and harden PHP settings. These changes block the majority of automated attacks before they reach WordPress.

3

WordPress Hardening

We lock down the WordPress installation itself: correct file permissions on every directory and file, wp-config.php protection, disabled file editor, restricted XML-RPC, locked down REST API endpoints, removed version information, and configured security keys and salts.

4

Monitoring and Maintenance

We set up automated malware scanning that runs independently of WordPress, file integrity monitoring that detects unauthorized changes, and login attempt logging. We provide ongoing monitoring to detect and respond to new threats as they emerge.

Key Benefits

Defense Before WordPress

Server-level hardening blocks attacks before they reach your WordPress installation. Firewall rules stop malicious traffic at the network level. Web server rules block requests to sensitive files before PHP processes them. This is orders of magnitude more efficient than processing every attack through WordPress and a security plugin.

Reduced Attack Surface

Every WordPress feature you do not use is an attack surface you do not need. We disable XML-RPC if you do not use it, lock down the REST API to only necessary endpoints, disable the file editor, block directory browsing, and remove version numbers that tell attackers what vulnerabilities to try. Less surface means fewer ways in.

Layered Protection

No single security measure is enough. We implement defense in depth: network-level firewall, web server access rules, PHP configuration hardening, WordPress-specific restrictions, file permission lockdown, and automated malware scanning. An attacker would need to bypass every layer to compromise your site.

Research & Evidence

Backed by industry research and proven results

WordPress Attack Volume

WordPress sites face 90,000 attacks per minute globally

Wordfence (2023)

Attack Vectors

97% of WordPress attacks exploit vulnerabilities in plugins and themes

WPBeginner (2023)

CMS Hacking Targets

90% of all hacked CMS sites are WordPress, making it the most targeted platform on the internet

Sucuri (2022)

Frequently Asked Questions

I already have Wordfence installed. Do I still need server hardening?

Yes. Wordfence is excellent but it runs inside WordPress, meaning every attack request is processed by PHP before Wordfence can block it. Server-level hardening blocks malicious requests before they reach PHP, reducing the load on your server and stopping attacks that application-level plugins cannot see. The two approaches complement each other: server hardening handles the bulk of attacks efficiently, and Wordfence handles WordPress-specific threats.

Will security hardening break any features on my site?

We audit your site's functionality before making any changes. Features like XML-RPC are only disabled if you do not use the WordPress mobile app or Jetpack features that require it. REST API restrictions are configured to allow necessary endpoints while blocking unnecessary ones. We test everything after hardening to verify all functionality works correctly.

What is included in file permission hardening?

WordPress has specific file permission requirements: directories should be 755, files should be 644, and wp-config.php should be 440 or 400. Many hosting setups have overly permissive settings that allow attackers to modify files. We set correct permissions on every directory and file, block write access where it is not needed, and protect sensitive configuration files from web access.

How do you protect against brute force login attacks?

We implement protection at multiple levels: server-level rate limiting that throttles repeated login attempts, IP blocking after a configurable number of failed attempts, restricted access to wp-login.php and xmlrpc.php by IP if appropriate, and fail2ban integration that automatically blocks attacking IP addresses at the firewall level. The result is that brute force attacks are stopped at the network level before they can consume server resources.

Harden Your WordPress Site Against Real Threats

With 90,000 attacks per minute targeting WordPress, plugin-level security is not enough. Let us harden your server to stop attacks before they reach your site.