Bot Lockout vs TrustSig Security

Bot Lockout is a security plugin that implements a lightweight cryptographic challenge system to distinguish between real browsers and automated bots. Unlike traditional CAPTCHA systems, it uses JavaScript-based cryptographic operations that are easy for humans but difficult for most bots to solve. Key Features Lightweight Protection: Uses minimal resources and doesn’t impact site performance Cryptographic Challenges: SHA-256 hashing with date and user agent binding Smart Whitelisting: Allow trusted bots (Google, Bing, etc.) and IP addresses Flexible Configuration: Exclude specific pages and customize block messages Comprehensive Logging: Track blocked attempts for analysis Custom Styling: Add custom CSS to match your site’s design Daily Token Expiration: Prevents long-term bypass attempts How It Works Initial Request: When a visitor accesses your site, the plugin checks for a valid challenge token JavaScript Challenge: If no token exists, a cryptographic challenge is presented Token Generation: The challenge combines the current date with the user agent string and creates a SHA-256 hash Secure Storage: The hash is base64 encoded, truncated, and stored as a secure cookie Validation: Subsequent requests are validated against the stored token Security Features Cryptographically Secure: Uses SHA-256 hashing algorithm Time-Bound: Tokens expire daily to prevent long-term bypass Browser-Specific: User agent binding prevents token sharing Secure Cookies: Implements proper cookie security settings Whitelist Support: Allow trusted services and IP addresses Multi-Site Support Bot Lockout supports WordPress Multi-Site installations with both network-wide and site-specific configurations: Network Activation: Apply settings to all sites in the network Site-Specific Activation: Independent settings for each site Mixed Configuration: Network-wide defaults with site-specific overrides Security Advisory Bot Lockout is one layer in a broader security strategy, not a silver bullet. While Bot Lockout is designed to deter automated bots and AI scrapers through cryptographic JavaScript challenges, no single solution can offer complete protection. Web scraping technologies continue to evolve, and determined actors may find ways to bypass front-end defenses. This plugin should be used as part of a multi-layered approach to website security. For best results, we recommend combining Bot Lockout with additional tools such as server-level firewalls, rate limiting, CAPTCHA systems, behavior-based threat detection, and CDN-level bot mitigation. Kognetiks makes no guarantee that this plugin will block all unwanted bot traffic. It is intended as a proactive, lightweight defense mechanism—not a comprehensive security system. Users are responsible for evaluating their own threat model and deploying appropriate complementary protections. Support For support, please visit the WordPress.org support forums or check the plugin documentation. Credits Developer: Kognetiks This plugin is licensed under the GPL v3 or later.

TrustSig Security stops scripted bots and brute-force attacks on WordPress forms and API endpoints. There are no puzzles to solve and no “I am not a robot” checkboxes to tick, and you do not have to sign up for anything before it starts working. What exactly gets checked depends on the protection mode you pick, described below. Why TrustSig Covers the forms that matter out of the box: login, registration, comments, password reset, WooCommerce checkout, BuddyPress signup, Easy Digital Downloads, Elementor Pro forms, WPForms (including the Mesmerize and Materialis contact form), Contact Form 7, SureForms, plus any custom form via a shortcode. Locks out brute-force login attempts after repeated failures. Real visitors never notice it. The browser check runs on its own and finishes in about a second, with no images to click. Three protection modes: Monitor logs and never blocks, Challenge (the default) shows a short interstitial and retries, Enforce blocks outright. Nothing to configure. Activate the plugin and protection is live. The anonymous free tier needs no account. Works with caching plugins, WPML, multisite and most themes, because forms are signed server-side with a per-site secret. A developer API: the PHP helper trustsig_verify(), the REST endpoint /wp-json/trustsig/v1/verify, and filters and actions for custom forms. An optional guard for admin-ajax and the REST API on sites that need it. An optional scan-on-submit mode that runs the browser check only when a visitor actually uses a form, not on every page view. GPLv2, fully open source. How it works TrustSig loads a small browser SDK, signs every rendered form with a per-site secret, and checks submissions against the TrustSig Edge service. A real visitor passes the check in about a second without doing anything. A scripted client that never runs JavaScript produces no token and gets stopped. When a request arrives without a valid token, the plugin does not quietly wave it through. Depending on the mode, it either serves a short “please wait” page that re-verifies the browser and then continues the original request, or blocks it. No account and no API keys are needed; the anonymous free tier is the default. Connecting a TrustSig dashboard account is optional and only adds analytics and higher limits. Protection modes Monitor: verify and log only, never block. Good for a safe rollout. Upgrades also pin existing sites here, so behaviour never changes silently on update. Challenge (default for new installs): a missing or invalid token triggers the interstitial, which then continues or blocks. Enforce: a missing or invalid token is blocked immediately. What it protects Browser forms are covered automatically, no code needed: WordPress core: login, registration, comments, lost and reset password WooCommerce: login, registration, checkout, pay order, lost password BuddyPress: registration Easy Digital Downloads: login, registration Elementor Pro forms WPForms: contact and other forms, on by default (this also covers the Mesmerize and Materialis contact section) Contact Form 7: feedback submissions, on by default, guarded on the REST endpoint CF7 submits to SureForms: form submissions, on by default, guarded on the REST submit-form endpoint Anything else via the site-wide “protect all forms” option, the [trustsig_form] shortcode, or a hidden trustsig-response input On top of that there is an optional brute-force lockout for repeated failed logins, an opt-in guard for admin-ajax and the REST API, and a verification API for developers. For developers PHP: trustsig_verify( array( ‘token’ => $t, ‘action’ => ‘my_form’ ) ) returns pass, fail or challenge. Filters: trustsig_pre_verify, trustsig_result. Action: trustsig_blocked. REST: POST /wp-json/trustsig/v1/verify with { “token”: “…” }. Known limitations XML-RPC (xmlrpc.php) is deliberately out of scope and is not verified. If your site does not use XML-RPC, disable it separately. admin-ajax and the REST API are only guarded when you enable that in Settings. This is on purpose, so third-party integrations do not break the moment you install the plugin. File uploads and AJAX submissions cannot show the interstitial. In Challenge or Enforce mode a missing token on those is blocked. It is never silently allowed. External services This plugin relies on the TrustSig Edge service to decide whether a request comes from a human or an automated client. That verdict cannot be produced locally, so the service is required for the plugin to do its job. Service provider: TrustSig, https://trustsig.eu Remote script loaded in the browser: https://edge.trustsig.eu/trustsig.js loads on pages that contain a protected form, on the login screen, and on the verification interstitial. It runs the non-interactive browser check and produces a verification token. Data sent from the visitor’s browser or your server to https://edge.trustsig.eu/verify: the TrustSig verification token generated by the SDK in the visitor’s browser; your site’s host name (for example example.com) on the anonymous free tier, or the secret key you entered if you connect a dashboard account; as with any HTTPS request, the visitor’s IP address and standard request metadata such as the user agent are visible to the service. When data is sent: when the SDK loads on a protected page, when a protected form is submitted, and once per browser when the optional verified-session cookie is bootstrapped. Data stored locally on your site: TrustSig writes a verification log to your own WordPress database (custom tables) with visitor IP addresses, the action attempted, and the verdict. This log is not sent to TrustSig, and you can clear it at any time under Settings, TrustSig, Tools. By installing and activating this plugin you, the site administrator, consent to this data being sent to TrustSig so that requests can be verified. Inform your own visitors as your local privacy obligations require. Terms of Service: https://trustsig.eu/terms-of-service/ Privacy Policy: https://trustsig.eu/privacy