When it comes to website security, you need to consider the evolution of threats. If just a decade ago https protocols were unknown to the average internet user, this is not the case anymore. Everybody knows about what it stands for today. But this is not because the average user went on to learn security, it was because of the increasing number of online threats.
If you’re a website owner, you know that website safety is a ranking factor. Furthermore, a safe website means maintains the safety of its visitors and their data. Over the years, Sucuri became one of the most popular website safety tools.
Today, the safety tool is recommended by some of the largest hosting companies in the world. Among them, you’ll always find GoDaddy and Hostinger. Other software companies such as Yoast and WPBeginner also recommend this safety tool.
I think it’s an extra layer of security on your website. It even sends you an e-mail notification whenever someone is trying to log in to your website without your approval.
Sucuri Features
Brute Force Attacks
The main reason I chose Sucuri was to limit the potential threats with brute force attacks. In the beginning, my website wasn’t getting too much traffic. But as I was starting to gain traffic over the years, I got a phone call from my web host. They recommended extra security measures as their servers were picking up activity on the safety department.
Brute force attacks can take your website down even if it isn’t hacked. This method is often used by all types of individuals paid to hack a competitor’s website. I think that unless you run a website that is irrelevant, there’s someone who wants to outrank you.
Brute force attacks are logged. You have access to their history. On my website, they were mostly during the night. But these brute force attacks can come at any moment and I know that my website is protected by this service a bit better than with others due to its regular updates.
Removing Malicious Code
Malicious code can be inserted in your website’s code whenever you are hacked. You don’t necessarily notice anything different about your website when this happens.
But if you have the software installed on your website, this malicious code is detected automatically or randomly. It is removed and you are notified about the issue. In some cases, you’ll need the help of a web developer to have the website running again after such threats are removed.
But removing malicious code is normally a measure taken after an infection. It’s worth investing in the software to prevent these situations. Apart from using this software, I also change my password frequently to increase safety further.
Protected Page Feature
You may be running a website with sensitive data. But your website might also have areas for its top visitors only. The protected page feature of the software is specifically made for these 2 situations.
If you want to keep the data extra safe, you’ll add the protected page function with its passwords. Typical password and authentication methods include the following.
But this feature is particularly important for government websites. Universities deal with student grades and portfolios. They might be particularly interested in running these safety measures which lock page access for the average visitor.
CDN Website Speed
The software takes website performance and speed to the next level. Unlike other tools that only offer local safety, the tool also offers CDN safety. Caching options lead to faster website load speeds. But they can also make your website more vulnerable. The safety tool ensures your website’s security when working with CDN networks.
But website load speed mainly benefits website visitors. Not everybody can understand its importance properly. For me, it’s clear that a user coming from the US and a user coming from Australia need closer servers for the website load speed to be the same.
If you choose such a CDN speed-safety plan, you will pay at least $199 per year. I recommend this service for a successful website. But I can also see it implemented on a smaller website if it's expected to grow exponentially shortly.
Discounted Website Backup
If you already use the safety tool, you benefit from discounted rates for automatic backup. These rates are fixed and they start at $5 per month.
But why would you choose to backup your website with a security tool? The most important benefit of this tool is that it keeps your backup safe.
Let’s say you have a website with thousands of pages. They are among the most important to backup. If you lose your website, years of work can be gone. A safe backup is a copy of your website which can’t be hacked. They’re locked in the safety tool’s cloud infrastructure. You’ll have to find the right schedule for your website to make these backups.
Another advantage of this backup system is the archiving on the company’s servers. You don’t need to keep a backup on your computer. Years ago, I had to download backups weekly on my computer.
But today, these backups are stored on cloud servers. They are normally stored for 90 days before being deleted. As a result, my automatic backup schedule is set to 90 days. If there’s a problem or a security issue within this 90-day time, I might create a backup on the spot to prevent further losses of data. But normally, these backups are made automatically.
SEO Spam Scanner
This is another tool made for better rankings. The safety software aims to prevent malicious SEO attempts. Your website might be subject to these discretization efforts. If it is associated with malicious websites, Google drops it from its search results.
This is why this small tool has been developed to discover these malicious effects before Google. In most cases, you will need to find them in advance to notify the search engine, not to index links and spam keywords associated with your website.
Pros
Cons
Final Verdict
The top safety tool is one of the most popular of its type. Under WordPress, you simply install it as a plugin. From here, you need to process and set it up correctly. I’ve encountered an issue where it slowed down my website.
But once you see the options it comes with, you can customize it to make your website safe without slowing it down. On the other hand, you may also want to look at the third-party functions it associates with.
Apart from improving website safety, it also comes with backups and CDN network support. It can be reassuring to know the safety tool also improves website speed for better user experience. You can try it out for free with limited functions if want to check it out yourself.
