Alexis Kestler
With over 60 million websites built on WordPress, it has become a prime target for hackers. Recent statistics show that WordPress sites are hacked every 39 seconds! As a WordPress user myself, keeping my site secure is one of my top priorities.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through 9 powerful WordPress vulnerability scanners to help audit your site and find security flaws before the bad guys do.
Why WordPress sites get hacked
WordPress powers over 35% of all websites, making it the #1 content management system globally. With that kind of market share, hackers are highly motivated to find vulnerabilities in WP sites.
According to Sucuri‘s latest research, here are some key reasons WP sites get hacked:
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Outdated software: Not updating to the latest WP version or using outdated plugins/themes makes a site an easy target. Hackers exploit known vulnerabilities that have already been patched in newer software.
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Insecure passwords: Research shows over 90% of compromised sites used weak admin passwords like "password" or "admin". Brute force attacks try common passwords to gain access.
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Vulnerable plugins: Plugin vulnerabilities accounted for over half of infected sites scanned by Sucuri. Using popular plugins means hackers know how to target them.
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Susceptible hosts: Over 50% of infected sites were hosted at just 3 companies known to have security issues. Choosing secure, reliable hosting is critical.
The bottom line is that WordPress sites can attract hackers looking for quick targets. Running frequent vulnerability scans using specialized tools is crucial to identify and fix security flaws before they can be exploited.
Top 9 WordPress vulnerability scanners
Here are the top 9 WordPress vulnerability scanners I recommend based on hands-on testing and experience with clients‘ sites.
1. Sucuri SiteCheck
Sucuri SiteCheck is a fast and free online scanner that checks for common infections like blacklisting, malware, and outdated software. It‘s a great first line of defense.
It also offers the Sucuri Security WordPress plugin to run scans right from your dashboard and monitor for security issues.
For full protection, Sucuri‘s site cleaning and their WAF firewall are excellent options. I‘ve used them successfully for years to keep client sites secure.
2. Intruder
Intruder runs comprehensive and continuous scans across your entire infrastructure including websites, servers, cloud environments, databases, and more.
It has prevented multiple security crises for my clients by detecting threats like unencrypted admin services, SQL injection risks, cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, and expired certificates.
The detailed reports have helped me quickly identify and remediate security flaws. I also appreciate the Jira and Slack integrations which improve workflow and collaboration with my clients when issues arise.
3. HackerTarget
While limited in some regards, the free HackerTarget WordPress scan provides a quick baseline check for several common vulnerabilities including:
- Outdated WP and plugin versions
- Weak user passwords
- Vulnerable server settings
- Malicious redirects
- Cross-site scripting risks
It‘s easy to use with no signup required. The instant results help spot low-hanging fruit to address right away for improved security.
4. Detectify
For enterprise-level WordPress sites, Detectify is one of the most thorough vulnerability scanners available. It tests for over 500 common web app risks including the OWASP Top 10.
Detectify features useful compliance checks for standards like SOC2, ISO27001, and more. For ecommerce sites, it also scans for credit card data leaks.
The reports are detailed yet easy to understand compared to some other enterprise-focused scanners. I recommend considering Detectify for high-value WordPress sites.
5. WPScan by WPSEC
WPSEC leverages WPScan‘s huge database of over 18,000 known vulnerabilities to scan WordPress core, plugins, and themes for outdated software with security holes.
It‘s a useful tool but fairly limited in scope compared to other scanners that check for vulnerabilities beyond just versioning issues. However, it‘s free and fast to use.
For more extensive WPScan scanning, check out my guide for installing and using WPScan manually.
6. Security Ninja
As a WordPress plugin, Security Ninja runs entirely inside your WP dashboard to scan for vulnerabilities. In just 2 minutes, it checks over 50 potential issues including:
- Outdated software
- Insecure file permissions
- SSL configuration
- Database visibility
- File integrity monitoring
- And more
It‘s handy for a quick check, especially for non-technical users. I wouldn‘t rely on it solely but it‘s a useful complementary scanner.
7. Pentest-Tools
The Pentest-Tools WordPress scan utilizes WPScan under the hood while adding a few extra checks for things like insecure password practices.
It allows exporting full scan reports as PDFs which makes sharing results with clients easier.
Overall it‘s a decent scanner but pretty basic in scope and lacks the depth of more advanced tools.
8. WP Neuron
WP Neuron focuses primarily on code analysis by scanning WordPress core, plugins, and libraries for potential backdoors, malicious injections, and other threats buried in the source.
This code auditing approach complements other scanners that mainly just check software versions and configurations.
It has helped me find compromised files and injections on several hacked sites that went undetected by other vulnerability scanners.
9. Quttera
While limited as a standalone scanner, the free Quttera WordPress plugin provides complimentary malware detection on top of traditional vulnerability checking.
It scans site files, URLs, external resources for hidden malware, blacklisting status, malicious redirects and other infections.
For WordPress sites hit with complex hacks and malware that other scanners miss, Quttera has proven very useful in my security toolkit.
Wrapping Up
No single scanner can catch every possible WordPress vulnerability and threat. I recommend using a layered approach with multiple tools like:
- Sucuri SiteCheck for initial auditing & ongoing monitoring
- Intruder for comprehensive infrastructure scanning
- A malware-focused tool like Quttera
- Ongoing authenticated scanning via a plugin like Wordfence
Taking a proactive approach allows you to identify and remediate security holes before hackers can find them. Don‘t wait until it‘s too late!
What scanners have you found most valuable for securing WordPress sites? I‘d love to hear your experiences and feedback in the comments below!
