A Brute Force Attack is one of the simplest—and surprisingly effective—ways hackers try to break into your website. It works by systematically trying thousands (or millions) of username and password combinations until one of them works. No hacking finesse required—just persistence and automation.

Imagine someone standing at your front door with a list of every password they can think of, punching them into the keypad one by one. That’s basically how brute force attacks work, just faster—and digital.

How a brute force attack works

Most brute force attacks rely on bots: automated scripts that run 24/7, testing login credentials on thousands of sites at once. These bots don’t need to target you specifically—if your site’s login page is public (which WordPress login pages usually are), you’re already on their radar.

There are a few variations:

• Simple brute force – Trying every possible password combination
• Dictionary attack – Using common passwords or real-word combinations (like admin, password123, or qwerty)
• Credential stuffing – Using username-password pairs from leaked data breaches, assuming people reuse their logins

And yes, many people still use weak or repeated passwords—which is why brute force attacks continue to work.

Why it matters for business owners

Even if you think your password is strong, brute force attempts put your website under constant pressure. These attacks can:

• Overload your server with login attempts
• Lock out legitimate users if your security tool blocks too many failed attempts
• Compromise admin accounts if a weak or reused password is guessed
• Install malware or inject spam if the attacker gets in
• Hijack your site for phishing, redirects, or SEO abuse

The worst part? You may not even notice right away. Many attacks happen quietly in the background—until your site is defaced, blacklisted, or customer data is compromised.

Signs your site is under attack

• Multiple failed login attempts (especially from unknown IPs)
• Slow backend performance or server overloads
• Security plugin warnings or logs showing repeated login tries
• Unexpected lockouts or changes to user accounts

How to protect against brute force attacks

You can’t stop bots from trying—but you can make it impossible for them to succeed.

Here’s how:

• Use strong, unique passwords
  Avoid real words, and never reuse admin passwords across platforms.
• Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
  A second verification step stops even the best guessers (see separate entry).
• Limit login attempts
  Plugins like Limit Login Attempts Reloaded or Wordfence can block repeated failures.
• Rename or protect your login URL
  Tools like WPS Hide Login help obscure your login page from bots.
• Use CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA
  Prevents bots from submitting forms or logins too easily.
• Block known malicious IPs
  Many security tools maintain databases of bad actors to block automatically.
• Monitor your logs
  Knowing what’s happening behind the scenes helps you react fast.

Bottom line

A Brute Force Attack is a numbers game. It relies on weak passwords, poor protections, and your site being “just one of many” on a bot’s target list. But with a few smart steps, you can make your login page a brick wall rather than an open door.