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Login Security Solution

By Daniel Convissor

Security & Privacy / Security Scanning & Malware Protection

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Login Security Solution Review - In-Depth Analysis

Enhance your WordPress login security with this plugin. It blocks brute force attacks, monitors logins, and enforces strong password policies. Features include idle timeout and maintenance mode.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.83/10

User Rating

4.4/5 (based on 54+ reviews)

Active Installations

4,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin provides a simple way to secure login for both multisite and regular WordPress installations. It effectively blocks brute force and dictionary attacks without inconveniencing legitimate users or administrators.

The plugin tracks IP addresses, usernames, and passwords while monitoring logins made through form submissions, XML-RPC requests, and authentication cookies. If a login failure matches past failures, it slows down response times, making it harder for attackers to probe your site.

In case of a potential breach, the user is logged out and prompted to use WordPress' password reset utility. Notifications can be sent to administrators regarding attacks and breaches, and the plugin supports IPv6.

Password strength is thoroughly examined, with customizable minimum length and requirements for numbers, punctuation, and character variety. The plugin also blocks username discovery via query strings and offers optional password aging and idle session logout features.

Maintenance mode can be activated to restrict logins to administrators only, useful during maintenance or emergencies. The plugin ensures no information disclosures occur from failed logins, enhancing overall security.

Comparing to Alternatives

Login Security Solution is one of several plugins designed to enhance login security on WordPress sites. It competes with a variety of alternatives that offer similar brute force protection and login security features.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Effectively blocks brute force attacks as reported by users.
Tracks IP, user, and date to monitor attack origins.
Simple and straightforward to use with no complex setup.
No known security vulnerabilities reported.
Highly rated with over 74% 5-star reviews.

Weaknesses

No response from developer reported in case of issues.
No pro version or advanced features beyond the free offering.
Limited recent updates or active development indicated.
Lacks some advanced features found in competing plugins.

User Sentiment Analysis

The plugin holds a strong positive sentiment with 83.4% of users rating it 4 or 5 stars, reflecting satisfaction with its core functionality. However, about 14.8% of users gave it 1 or 2 stars, highlighting some concerns mainly related to support.

Positive highlights

"Good work team! It is exactly what I needed and you made a great job with it!" - idmesspass
"It works with WordPress 4.5 and successfully blocked a brute force attack" - ppotier
"This plugin is effective. IP, user and date enable you to track origins of attacks." - tomkinsrichard
"Another must have!" - Steve
"Plugin works very well and blocked brute force attempts multiple times." - stephaneleveteau

Common complaints

Reported security bug with no developer response.

Weaknesses

Lack of developer support and communication.
No recent updates or active maintenance indicated.
Limited features compared to some alternatives.
No premium support or advanced options available.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a straightforward, free plugin to protect their WordPress login from brute force attacks without needing advanced features or premium support.

Not ideal for

Users who require active developer support, frequent updates, or advanced security features such as two-factor authentication or firewall integration.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers essential brute force protection, logging of IPs and users, and basic login security features sufficient for many users.

Final Verdict

Login Security Solution is a reliable and well-rated plugin that effectively protects WordPress sites from brute force login attacks. It offers essential security features with no known vulnerabilities and has received positive feedback for its effectiveness and simplicity.

However, the lack of developer responsiveness and absence of a pro version with advanced features may limit its appeal for users needing comprehensive support or enhanced security options. Alternatives with more active development and premium features might better suit those needs.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Login Security Solution plugin.

Brute force protection

Strong passwords

FAQ

Before installing this plugin, read the FAQ!
If your WP install is behind a proxy or load balancer, please be aware
that this plugin uses the REMOTE_ADDR provided by the web server
(as does WordPress’ new comment functionality and the Akismet plugin).
If you want our brute force tracking to work, we advise adjusting your
wp-config.php file to manually set the REMOTE_ADDR to a data
source appropriate for your environment. For example:
```
    $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = preg_replace('/^([^,]+).*$/', '\1',         $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']); 
```
Download the Login Security Solution zip file from WordPress’ plugin
site: https://wordpress.org/plugins/login-security-solution/
Unzip the file.
Our existing tests are very effective, catching all of the 2 million
entries in the Dazzlepod password list. But if you need to block
specific passwords that my tests miss, this plugin offers the ability
to provide your own dictionary files.

Add a file to the pw_dictionaries directory and place those passwords
in it. One password per line.

Please be aware that checking the password files is computationally
expensive. The following script runs through each of the password
files and weeds out passwords caught by the other
tests:
```
    php utilities/reduce-dictionary-files.php 
```
If your website has a large number of non-English-speaking users:
- See if a keyboard sequence file exists in this plugin’s
  pw_sequences directory for your target languages. The following steps
  are for left-to-right languages. (For right-to-left languages, flip the
  direction of the motions indicated.)
  - Open a text editor and create a file in the pw_sequences
    directory
  - Hold down the shift key
  - Press the top left character key of the keyboard.
    NOTE: during this entire process, do not press function, control
    or whitespace keys (like tab, enter, delete, arrows, space, etc).
  - Work your way across the top row, pressing each key across the
    row, one by one
  - Press the left-most character key in the second row
  - Go across the second row pressing each key
  - Continue through the entire keyboard in the same manner
  - Let go of the shift key
  - Re-start the process at the top left key of the keyboard and
    work your way through the keyboard, now in lower-case mode
  - Save the file and close the editor
  - Feel free to submit the files to me so others can use it. See
    the features request section, below.
- If a translation file for your language does not exist in this
  plugin’s languages directory, add one. Read
  https://codex.wordpress.org/I18n_for_WordPress_Developers for
  details. The files must use UTF-8 encoding. Send me the file and
  I’ll include it in future releases. See the features request
  section, below.
The last step of the new password validation process is checking if
the password matches an entry in the dict program. See if dict
is installed on your server and consider installing it if not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dict
Upload the login-security-solution directory to your
server’s /wp-content/plugins/ directory
Activate the plugin using WordPress’ admin interface:
- Regular sites: Plugins
- Sites using multisite networks: My Sites | Network Admin | Plugins
Adjust the settings as desired. This plugin’s settings page can be
reached via a sub-menu entry under WordPress’ “Settings” menu or this
plugin’s entry on WordPress’ “Plugins” page. Sites using WordPress’
multisite network capability will find the “Settings” and “Plugin”
menus under “My Sites | Network Admin”.
Run the “Change All Passwords” process. This is necessary to ensure
all of your users have strong passwords. The user interface for
doing so is accessible via a link in this plugin’s entry on
WordPress’ “Plugins” page.
Ensure your password strength by changing it.

Hooks

Do not commit the .mo files! They get created as part of the
release process.
Translation commits and pull requests should only touch the .po
file. If you have other changes you wish to see made, please do so
via separate commits in separate pull requests.
When translating a new feature, please make that one commit. If other
parts of the translation need updating, please make them in a separate
commit.
Please don’t change formatting inside the .po file
Run git diff before all commits. Ensure only expected changes
are being made.
Do NOT translate items that have a comment above them saying
Translation from WordPress. DO NOT TRANSLATE IT IN THIS PLUGIN.
When starting a new translation, please take a look at an existing
.po file to see which strings they are. Those phrases are already
translated in WordPress’ core. Leaving them untranslated here ensures
consistency with the rest of WordPress.
To start a new translation:
```
cd languages 
```

To update the .pot file:
1. WordPress’ makepot utility directory should be in the same directory
  as the login-security-solution directory. If you don’t have this
  setup, here’s what to do:
  - cd into the directory above this one.
  - svn checkout https://i18n.svn.wordpress.org/tools/trunk/ makepot
  - So, now you’ll have:
```
parent dir     |- login-security-solution/     |- makepot/ 
```
2. cd login-security-solution/languages
3. ./makepot.sh
Then, bringing the .po files up to date is as easy as:
1. ./updatepos.sh
Finally, to update the .mo files for testing or release:
1. ./makemos.sh