Question about safely installing plugins

  • Resolved tomdkat

    (@tomdkat)


    3 days, 16 hours ago

    Hi! Long time fan and user of Wordfence here. 🙂 In fact, Wordfence is one of the first plugins I install on every WordPress installation I do. 🙂

    So, I’m looking for a plugin to estimate the reading time of posts. There are a bunch out there. I found a few that have been updated fairly frequently (w/in the past 3-6 mos) yet they hardly have any users and not much activity in the support forum. I’m concerned about installing a plugin that looks good, but that’s actually a “trap” of some kind.

    I trust Wordfence to protect my site, but I also don’t want to unintentionally install a plugin I shouldn’t install. lol

    I’m using the free version of Wordfence. Would this be sufficient to protect against installing a “questionable” plugin? Would Wordfence block a “bad” plugin at install time or only after it’s been activated or only during a scan?

    Thanks in advance!

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Plugin Support wfpeter

    (@wfpeter)

    2 days, 22 hours ago

    Hi @tomdkat, thank-you for your support and getting in touch!

    We can’t recommend or check specific plugins here, but Wordfence and other researchers in the community are regularly helping to keep the WordPress ecosystem a safer place. A plugin being tested with a recent version of WordPress and available for download through the official repository (even with a small install-base) is a pretty good sign that it won’t immediately be flagged.

    Wordfence has many rules and signatures in place to protect sites against emerging threats. Wordfence’s WAF can block requests if an uploaded or installed plugin immediately matches a known malicious file or exploit pattern. Daily quick-scans will also check your site for outdated plugins in addition to vulnerable ones.

    Many thanks,
    Peter.

    Thread Starter tomdkat

    (@tomdkat)

    2 days, 11 hours ago

    Thanks for the reply and for the info!

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

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