With over 455 million sites powered by WordPress, it has become cybercriminals‘ content management system of choice to target. By leaving the default /wp-login path intact, you practically invite endless waves of brute force bot attacks trying to crack user passwords and infiltrate sites.
Obscuring your WordPress login URL is the first line of defense, causing the majority of these attempts to fail right from the start. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll cover everything you need to know about safeguarding administrative access, keeping your data secure even as automated threats multiply globally.
You‘ll discover:
- New 2021 statistics revealing the scale of the password guessing epidemic
- Exactly how hiding your login thwarts 90% of automated hacking attempts
- Step-by-step instructions for installing top login-concealing plugins
- 6 essential layers of security to apply beyond just altering your URL
With 30 million new sites launched on WordPress annually, it has never been more crucial for beginners and agencies alike to lockdown admin pages properly. Protect yourself starting today with these pro tips and best practices.
The Scale of Brute Force WordPress Attacks in 2021
To understand exactly why obscuring your login area is critical, you first need to comprehend the sheer frequency of malicious login attempts targeting WordPress sites:
- Researchers estimate over 25,000 brute force attacks occur every hour, a number that continues rising exponentially
- Sucuri observed 167 million total intrusion attempts on WordPress sites in 2020, up 290% from 2019
- Of compromised sites, 82% were using outdated software full of security flaws
These shocking statistics reveal just how aggressively hackers are unleashing password guessing bots and scripts at any discoverable login page they can find.
But what kind of damage can such intrusions do if access is granted? Far more than you might imagine:
- Entire sites deleted, ransomed, or replaced with spam
- Visitor data like emails and personal details stolen for resale
- Credit card numbers siphoned from order forms if stored improperly
- SEO value destroyed by malicious links hidden in content
The outcomes when hackers gain admin rights can range from mere nuisance to catastrophe. Fortunately obscuring your login access forces them to find it first before launching thousands of timed password attempts.
How Hiding Your Login Thwarts Automated Hacking
Changing the default /wp-login URL location leverages security through obscurity against enemies using brute force techniques.
Without easy discovery of the admin page or any clear path to try and guess passwords, you instantly render useless 90% of automated bot traffic searching for an easy score.
Altering this endpoint buys you time even if other vulnerabilities exist, as scripts must first somehow determine the new location before firing away login attempts. Many amateur "script kiddies" give up at this point seeking easier targets.
Hardened veterans may employ site probing tools to locate altered paths. However, choosing a truly random URL significantly hinders the login discovery process.
The effectiveness stems from drastically slowing down hackers reliant on freely available scripts indexing every public /wp-login address in sight. Force them to manually find pages first, and you remove tools attacking at scale.
Introducing WPS Hide Login Plugin
Rather than trying to alter your site address structure manually, the easiest method for obscuring WordPress login access is a dedicated security plugin like WPS Hide Login.
With over 200,000 active installs and a flawless 5-star rating, WPS Hide Login lets you change the admin URL via one-click in seconds. It offers several advantages:
- Works across single site, multisite network, subdomain, and subfolder configurations
- Lets you set a unique login URL with custom path for each site
- Instantly disables default /wp-login access after changing URL
- No need to edit directory structures or alter core WordPress files yourself
The sheer simplicity of randomly generating a new endpoint, memorizing the URL, and letting the plugin handle everything else is what makes this method so appealing.
You get all the security benefits of obscurity without any wasted time playing hide and seek in your site‘s folder structure.
How WPS Hide Login Defends Against Intrusion
While the process of hiding your login access is straightforward, understanding exactly how this thwarts different hacking techniques reveals why the plugin is so invaluable:
Blocks Bot Brute Force Attempts
The most common login attack – bots blindly guessing passwords – are completely stopped in their tracks without an entry point to target.
Obstructs Login Page Scanners
Automated tools that probe sites for wp-login locations won‘t discover the new URL, sending them elsewhere.
Prevents Login Error Information Leaks
Changing the location means hackers can‘t isolate failures to specific users, narrowing their guessing.
Defeats Admin URL Guessing Attacks
Even if hackers know you run WordPress, random URLs are too unlikely to just luck into.
With so many hacking avenues cut off simultaneously, you can see why this one simple change is so advantageous. Obscurity done right acts as an impediment to progress at every stage of an attack.
How WPS Hide Login Compares to Alternatives
Certainly alternative plugins for concealing WordPress login pages exist, but WPS maintains distinct advantages:
| WPS Hide Login | iThemes Security | Rename wp-login.php | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change URL with 1-click | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Works on Multisite Networks | ✔ | ❌ | Limited |
| Instantly Disables Default | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Zero Conflicts Reported | ✔ | Some | Some |
While other plugins or manual tweaks may get the job done, none match the simplicity and reliability of using WPS Hide Login.
Step-By-Step Installation Guide
Let‘s walk through precisely how to install WPS Hide Login and alter your admin URL in under 5 minutes:
Install the Plugin
First, log into your WordPress dashboard and click Plugins > Add New. Next search for "WPS Hide Login" and click the Install Now button.
Lastly on the following screen click Activate Plugin to enable the security extension.
Adjust the Settings
Find WPS Hide Login under the Settings sidebar menu and click to access options. Scroll down and locate the large text field labeled "WPS Hide Login" next to your URL.
Delete the existing sample text and enter your own custom login path. For example:
yourdomain.com/17xq9Z1vDsq3
The more obscure the better! Continue the pattern across multisite instances:
site1.yourdomain.com/1a85qeFnDDSA62
site2.yourdomain.com/Zb7NCz9Qwek5LS
Once saved, enable Force SSL if you have an SSL certificate installed for added security.
Test & Memorize the New URL
You can test the altered URL by logging out and attempting to access wp-admin again unsuccessfully. Visiting your obscure new path will grant access.
Be sure to record the new login location somewhere convenient but private. Losing the URL means regaining access only via web host or database edits.
6 Vital Layers of WordPress Security Beyond Hiding Login
Understanding how to properly obscure default admin paths is only the beginning. Applying these additional protocols will form an impenetrable shield:
Layer 1: Install a Web Application Firewall
WAF services like Cloudflare cast a protective bubble around sites screening all traffic for malicious payloads. Enable these before attackers ever reach your login gate.
Layer 2: Leverage Two-Factor Authentication
Forcing users to enter an access code from another device when logging in blocks 99% of brute force hacks immediately.
Layer 3: Limit Login Attempts
Plugins that temporarily block IPs after a small handful of failed logins prevent nearly all password guessing attacks.
Layer 4: Disable File Editor & Upgrade Automatically
Shutting down the built-in file editor reduces backdoor modification risks. Enable auto-updates to fix vulnerabilities.
Layer 5: Secure Admin Accounts with Strong Passwords
Enforce length and complexity rules of 12+ characters for all users able to access wp-admin areas.
Layer 6: Leverage Intrusion Detection & Site Backups
Monitoring unauthorized changes gives you alerts to lock things down. Backups let you restore content quickly after malicious tampering.
While each item on this checklist strengthens site security substantially, hiding your login URL should happen first before undertaking anything else.
Obscurity protects against the widest spectrum of automated threats targeting any discoverable admin path. Shifting this access point makes everything else far more effective.
What Does the Future Hold for Login Security?
As hackers continue evolving more sophisticated attacks targeting WordPress sites, we can expect new defensive innovations to emerge from the community:
- Two-factor required by default – New sites launched could enforce 2FA universally
- AI threat detection – Machine learning trains algorithms to identify intrusion patterns earlier
- Real-time forensic monitoring – Services may perform continuous vulnerability scans with instant reporting
- Proactive patch rollout – Automated updates could fix flaws globally before exploits spread
I anticipate admins having an AI digital security guard monitoring sites 24/7 to identify unnatural changes the moment they occur. The future of login protection and WordPress security overall looks bright however as more teams dedicate resources to hardening it against attack.
Take Action to Guard Your Login Today
I hope this guide gave you unmatched clarity into brute force dangers, exactly why hiding admin access is so crucial, and how tools like WPS Hide Login make safeguarding WordPress profoundly simple.
Please let me know any other login security best practices I may have missed or questions you have around improving site protection! With cyberthreats only growing year after year, we must remain vigilant.
