=== WordPress Brute Force Protection, Brute Force Protection by GuardGiant === Contributors: guardgiant Tags: brute force, security, wordpress security, login, captcha, limit login Requires at least: 3.3 Tested up to: 5.6 Stable tag: 2.2.1 License: GPLv2 or later License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html The best way to prevent WordPress brute force attacks without locking out genuine users. Brute force protection using trusted devices. == Description == The best way to prevent WordPress brute force attacks without locking out genuine users. Brute force protection using trusted devices. **WordPress Protection** This plugin implements a security approach used by many large websites such as Facebook, Google etc. When a genuine user makes a successful login to their account using their mobile phone, tablet, or computer GuardGiant starts treating their device as Trusted. * Failed login attempts from trusted devices are directed towards 'Lost Password' forms rather than being subject to account lockouts or additional counter measures. * Users receive an alert when anyone logs into their account from an unrecognized device or browser. **Brute Force Protection** GuardGiant uses a range of strong counter-measures to limit failed login attempts from unrecognized devices. The default behaviour is: * After 3 failed login attempts from the same unrecognized device, a Google ReCaptcha field is added to the login page. ReCaptcha is a strong counter-measure that is very hard for an automated process to solve. * After 10 failed login attempts a temporary block of 2 minutes is applied to the device/IP address. No login attempts can be made during this time. * Each further failed login attempt increases the block time by another minute. This slows down attacks to the point where they quickly become unviable. All behavior is fully customizable to achive the level of brute force protection that you require. **Activity Log** A fully featured login activity log gives you visibility to login attempts on your site. * Provides geographic location, device type, IP address and more for each login attempt. * Filter login attempts by Trusted or Unrecognized devices. * Search by IP address or username. * Filter by successful or failed attempts. * Easy to display successful logins from unrecognized devices that could indicate a hacked account. This activity log should form an essential part of your brute force login protection plan. GDPR compliant. **Features Summary** * Brute force login protection - limits login attempts made by an attacking device/IP address. * Does not impact genuine users who have lost their password etc. * Detailed logging of all login attempts. * Uses the same security approach as many large websites such as Facebook, Google etc. **Other Security Improvements** GuardGiant implements other security improvements recommended by the Open Web Application Security Project® (OWASP) to keep your site safe: * Obfuscates login errors to stop hackers detecting valid account names. * Option to disable XMLRPC. * And much, much more. This brute force protection plugin is exceptionally easy to use no matter what your level of technical expertise. The default settings are highly optimized, designed to prevent brute force attacks whilst not disturbing genuine users from logging in. Advanced users can fully customize the behavior of this plugin to suit their own environment. **Background Information** The most common threat that WordPress site owners face is a password guessing attack known as a brute force attack. A brute force attack is where an attacker uses a brute force tool (or script) to discover your password by systematically trying every possible combination of letters, numbers, and symbols until the correct password is found. A brute force attack will always work eventually, but the problem for the brute force attacker is that it may take many years to do it. Brute force prevention techniques focus on slowing down these attacks to the point where they become unviable. Using long and complex passwords (that are not dictionary words) is a good brute force attack prevention method to start with. This greatly increases the time an attacker will need. A common way to block brute force attacks is to lock out the WordPress account after a defined number of failed login attempts (there are various brute force plugins that do this). The problem with this approach is that the site administrator ends up with unhappy users who have been locked out, often needing manual intervention to regain access. This is not sustainable or desirable for sites of any size. The modern approach to brute force prevention is to track the devices that genuine users use to log in, ensuring they are always treated kindly if they forget their password. Unrecognized devices face a progressive but temporary timed lockout. Brute force protection is never possible to achieve completely, but you can massively reduce your risk by implementing the modern methods above. **Activity Log Patterns** Periodic monitoring of your security logs can help with brute force protection. Here are patterns that indicate a brute force attack or some other account abuse: * Failed login attempts using alphabetically sequential usernames or passwords * Multiple different usernames being used by the same IP address * Logins for a single account coming from many different IP addresses * Failed logins at a specific period e.g. every 5 minutes GuardGiant brute force protection offers the best brute force protection for any site. == Installation == How to install the GuardGiant brute force protection plugin **Using the WordPress dashboard** * Navigate to 'Plugins' in the WordPress dashboard. * Click on 'Add new' to add a new plugin. * Search for ‘guardgiant brute force’ * Click ‘Install Now’ * Click the 'Activate' link when your download has completed. **Uploading files via the WordPress Dashboard** First, download the GuardGiant brute force prevention plugin file to your computer. * Navigate to 'Plugins' in the WordPress dashboard. * Click on 'Add new' to add a new plugin. * Click on 'Upload Plugin' at the top of the page. * Click 'Choose File' * Select guardgiant.zip from your computer * Click ‘Install Now’ * Click the 'Activate' link when your download has completed. == Frequently Asked Questions == = What level of expertise do I need to configure this plugin? = This plugin is exceptionally easy to use no matter what your level of technical experience. The default settings are highly optimized to limit login attempts and prevent brute force attacks, whilst not disturbing genuine users from logging on. For advanced users, you can fully customize the behavior of the plugin to ensure it works best for your application. = Is this plugin compatible with Cloudflare or other CDNs? = Yes. Load balancers and CDNs are known as reverse proxies. Due to the nature of these services, all visits to your website are logged with the IP address of the proxy rather than the visitor’s actual IP address. To remedy this, the visitor's IP address is provided in a 'header field' which GuardGiant will pick up and use. == Screenshots == 1. Recent login activity showing brute force login protection. 2. Login screen when reCaptcha has been deployed. WordPress login brute force protection. 3. New device sign on email. Brute force attack prevention by notifying the user that their account could be compromised. 4. Main guard giant settings page. A WordPress brute force plugin. == Changelog == = 2.2.1 = * Added help tabs to settings pages. = 2.2.0 = * Added the ability to disable XMLRPC to reduce attack vectors. * Performance improvements. = 2.1.1 = * Improvements to the IP address geolocation feature. = 2.1.0 = * Initial release to WordPress.