sweetwatermedia

Steel Security & Hardening – Site Audit Tools focuses on practical security hygiene for WordPress administrators.
The free plugin provides:
<ul>
<li>on-demand security scans</li>
<li>risk summaries grouped by severity and category</li>
<li>checks for common WordPress hardening gaps</li>
<li>checks for exposed root-level artifacts such as <code>.env</code>, SQL dumps, <code>phpinfo</code> files, and backup archives</li>
<li>a quarantine vault for operator-reviewed file isolation</li>
<li>uploads PHP execution blocking on supported server environments</li>
<li>manual guidance when automatic server hardening is not safely supported</li>
</ul>
This plugin is positioned as an auditing and hardening tool. It helps surface risk and apply selected preventive controls, but it does not promise malware removal, incident response, or complete server protection.
<h4>Included checks</h4>
The scan currently looks for items such as:
<ul>
<li>PHP error display exposure</li>
<li><code>WP_DEBUG</code> and <code>debug.log</code> exposure</li>
<li>XML-RPC availability</li>
<li>author and REST user enumeration exposure</li>
<li>theme/plugin file editor availability</li>
<li>WordPress generator meta output</li>
<li>comments enabled by default</li>
<li>uploads PHP execution hardening status</li>
<li>root-level sensitive files and archives</li>
</ul>
<h4>Server-aware behavior</h4>
This plugin only auto-applies server config changes where it can do so in a scoped and reversible way.
<ul>
<li>Apache and LiteSpeed: uploads PHP blocking is managed through a Steel Security-marked <code>.htaccess</code> block</li>
<li>IIS: uploads PHP blocking is managed through a Steel Security-marked <code>web.config</code> section</li>
<li>Nginx and unsupported environments: Steel Security provides manual guidance instead of claiming automatic protection</li>
</ul>
<h4>Pro companion</h4>
This plugin can work with a separate Pro companion plugin that adds features such as scheduled scans, scan history, reports, and managed server-level controls such as directory listing protection and baseline security headers. The free plugin remains usable on its own.

Steel Security & Hardening – Site Audit Tools

High-signal WordPress security auditing and hardening with practical site audit tools for administrators.

Rafal Gierlicki

NETSENSAI Shield offers a range of security features, including:
Changing the login URL to reduce brute force attack risks.
Disabling the REST API (WP API JSON) for non-logged-in users.
Disabling XML-RPC to prevent unauthorized access.
Disabling the WordPress file editor to avoid accidental or malicious changes.
Disabling Application Passwords to block unauthorized API access.
Applying advanced HTTP security headers (e.g., HSTS, X-Frame-Options, Content-Security-Policy).
Integration with W3 Total Cache:
Permanently disable .htaccess writes by W3TC
Runtime disabling of Page Cache UI
One-time full cache flush on first admin page load
Automatic cache flush on Secure Options save
Physical cleanup and permanent disable via the W3TC API
Suppression of Site Health REST API availability notices for non-logged-in users (removes false Site Health errors while maintaining full API blocking).
In addition, the plugin provides helpful user feedback:
Email notifications when the login URL changes – sends a localized HTML email (Polish or English) with your old and new login links, change date and the plugin logo, so you remember to update your bookmarks.
Admin popup when disabling the WP API JSON – displays a friendly modal warning that disabling the REST API may break plugins like WooCommerce or contact forms. The popup includes a purchase link to upgrade to the PRO version if you need this feature without losing functionality.
Scoped styling – the custom colour for the “Save changes” button is now limited to the Secure Options page, so other admin pages keep the default WordPress look.
Promotional banner assistant – notifies administrators of summer discount codes and NETSENSAI Shield PRO features.
The free version provides both core and advanced Level 3 security functionalities. A PRO version offers extended support, additional features, and automatic protection enhancements.

NETSENSAI Shield

Hardens and protects your site by locking down login, REST API, XML‑RPC, file editor, and applying HTTP security headers.

Steel Security & Hardening – Site Audit Tools vs NETSENSAI Shield