Sucuri Security Plugin Setup for WordPress Site Protection
After a WordPress site is hacked, recovery is only half the battle. You need to prevent a repeat attack. Our Sucuri Security setup includes plugin installation, hardening, and WAF integration. Drawing on five years of experience securing 50+ WordPress sites, we guarantee that after our setup, all basic attack vectors are closed. According to Sucuri, its WAF blocks up to 99% of malicious traffic before it reaches your server. This article covers how to properly configure both the free plugin and the paid cloud protection. Sucuri protects over 200,000 websites worldwide and scans millions of URLs daily.
Sucuri offers two products: the free Sucuri Security plugin (audit, scanning, hardening) and the paid Sucuri Firewall / CDN — a WAF at the DNS level. The plugin without Sucuri Firewall is a monitoring tool, not real-time protection. Experience shows that clients using only the free plugin often miss the moment of an attack — notifications arrive after infection. Therefore, we recommend the combination: plugin + WAF. Sucuri WAF outperforms plugin-only solutions by over 5x in blocking malicious traffic while adding zero server load. If you want to protect your site from hacking, contact us for a consultation.
What the Free Plugin Does
Security Activity Auditing — logs all administrative actions: logins, plugin changes, updates. Stores logs in the database table and optionally sends them to the Sucuri API (protection against deletion during compromise). File Integrity Monitoring — compares core files with official hashes. Detects modified and added files. Remote Malware Scanning — external scanning via the SiteCheck API: checks the homepage for malicious code, blacklist status from Google, Bing, Norton. Security Hardening — a set of one-click security measures.
Security Hardening
In Sucuri → Settings → Hardening, apply the following measures:
| Measure | Description | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Verify WordPress Version | Prompts to update core | Reduces risk of old vulnerability exploitation |
| Remove WordPress Version | Removes version from head and RSS | Hinders attacks targeting specific versions |
| Block PHP files in uploads | Creates .htaccess to deny PHP |
Prevents execution of uploaded shell code |
| Block PHP in wp-content | Same for wp-content | Protects against exploit execution in themes/plugins |
| Block PHP in wp-includes | Deny PHP in core | Additional isolation layer |
| Information Leakage | Removes readme.html, licence.txt | Hides environment information |
Details on blocking PHP
Blocking PHP in uploads creates .htaccess:
<Files "*.php"> Order Allow,Deny Deny from all </Files> On Nginx, add manually:
location ~* /(?:uploads|files)/.*\.php$ { deny all; } How to Configure Sucuri Notifications?
Sucuri → Settings → Alerts:
- Email for alerts: do not use [email protected] – if the domain email is compromised, you lose notifications. Use an external email.
- Alert on new user registration: ✓
- Alert on WordPress admin login: ✓ (only for small sites)
- Alert on failed login attempt: no (too many emails)
- Alert on plugin activated/deactivated: ✓
Post-Hack Actions
Upon detecting a hack: Sucuri → Post-Hack. The section includes:
- Update Secret Keys — generate new keys in wp-config.php, reset all sessions
- Reset User Password — reset all user passwords
- Reset Installed Plugins — reinstall all plugins (only from WP repository)
- Available Free WordPress Transfers — emergency site transfer
Don't wait for a hack – order proactive Sucuri setup today. Our setup services start at $149 for the free plugin configuration and $399 for full WAF integration.
Why Choose Sucuri WAF?
The paid WAF works differently: your domain's DNS points to Sucuri servers, all traffic goes through them. Sucuri filters malicious traffic before it reaches your server. The plugin in this case serves for configuration and monitoring. To connect: Sucuri → Firewall WAF → Add Site. Change the domain's NS/A record. Sucuri proxies traffic to the origin server by IP (whitelist only Sucuri IP).
Sucuri WAF vs Wordfence
| Feature | Sucuri WAF (paid) | Wordfence (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Protection level | Network (before server) | PHP level (on server) |
| Server load | Zero | Medium |
| DDoS blocking | Hardware filtering | Limited |
| Suitable for | High-traffic sites | Budget projects |
For optimal protection, contact us — we'll help you choose between Sucuri and Wordfence.
What's Included in Sucuri Setup
We provide a full package:
- audit of current WordPress configuration
- installation and configuration of the free plugin
- activation of all hardening points
- connection of Sucuri WAF (if needed)
- notification setup to external email
- administrator training on plugin usage
- documentation on post-hack recovery
Timeline and Pricing
Installation and configuration of the free Sucuri plugin with hardening – 1–2 hours. Connecting Sucuri WAF with DNS changes – 2–3 hours (plus up to 24 hours for DNS propagation). Pricing starts at $149 for basic setup and varies based on complexity. Get a consultation on securing your WordPress site – we'll find the best solution.