BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform vs Watchdog Security Lite

BotBlocker Security is a complete security platform that blocks 99% of attacks before WordPress loads. Firewall, bot detection, rate limiting, CAPTCHA, 2FA, analytics, notifications, tools – one plugin replaces your entire security stack: no need for separate firewall, CAPTCHA, 2FA, and anti-spam plugins. No bloat, no monthly fees for core protection. If your site is hit by login brute force, spam comments, fake Googlebots, content scrapers, or XML-RPC floods, you are not alone: bots generate over 47% of all web traffic. Most security plugins react after WordPress boots, wasting CPU and memory on every bad request. BotBlocker stops them at the door – then gives you the analytics, alerts, and tools to understand exactly what it blocked and why. Because BotBlocker intercepts traffic before themes and plugins run, it also shields vulnerabilities in your entire plugin and theme stack. Zero-days in contact form plugins, unpatched slider code, outdated e-commerce extensions – attackers never reach the vulnerable code. BotBlocker is your first and last line of defense, every day. Why site owners switch to BotBlocker Faster than the competition. Runs on early init through three interception layers, before themes and plugins load. Server load drops during attacks instead of spiking. Zero database queries for returning visitors – 11 pre-generated PHP files with SHA-256 integrity, loaded via native include. One plugin, full security stack. Firewall, CAPTCHA, 2FA, anti-spam, rate limiting, bot detection – BotBlocker covers virtually every security need a WordPress site has. Most users uninstall 2-3 separate plugins after switching. PRO adds malware scanning, security headers, speed optimization, and behavioral analysis – still one plugin. Smarter bot detection. 2,899 User-Agent signatures – largest blacklist among WordPress plugins – plus 2,800+ additional bot signatures. 13 header checks including AdBlock detection, incognito mode detection, Canvas/WebGL fingerprinting, and device API verification. Anti-detect scoring with 9 weighted signals catches headless Chrome, Puppeteer, Selenium, and PhantomJS even when they spoof user-agent strings. Smarter CAPTCHA. 9 modes including Silent Auto-Verify – zero clicks for humans, hard wall for bots. Proprietary CAPTCHAs defeat AI-based solvers that crack reCAPTCHA for $2-3 per 1,000. Honest free version. Full firewall, all 9 CAPTCHA modes, full 2FA, full logging, full Multisite, Redis/Memcached, shortcodes, command palette, Telegram alerts, visual analytics, 15 diagnostic tools. No nag screens, no crippled features. Privacy-first. No visitor data leaves your server. GDPR and CCPA compliant out of the box. Works with everything. Cloudflare, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, WooCommerce, Elementor, multisite, IPv6, PHP 7.4 to 8.5. 🛡️ Core Firewall (Free) Three-Layer Architecture – intercepts traffic at wp-config.php (before WordPress), MU-plugin phase, and main shield. Known threats are blocked before WordPress, plugins, or themes load – saving 30-100ms and 5-20MB RAM per blocked request. Zero-day attacks on other plugins never reach the vulnerable code. Web Application Firewall (WAF) with real-time rule updates via the BotBlocker Threat Defense Feed 2,899 User-Agent + 2,800+ bot signatures – largest blacklist among WordPress plugins, covering Scrapy, Selenium, Puppeteer, PhantomJS, curl, wget, Python, Java, Perl, SQL injection tools Brute force protection with progressive lockouts – 5 attempts per 15 minutes, escalating bans Rate Limiting – sliding window velocity per IP. 30 req/min triggers CAPTCHA; 50/min blocks IP for 10 min. Subnet aggregation catches distributed attacks. Floor protection prevents false positives. Anti-spam for comments, registration, contact forms XML-RPC and REST API locked down by default with allowlist for trusted services HTTP method-level hardening – CONNECT and TRACE blocked (XST attack prevention). OPTIONS handled for CORS preflight. Fake crawler detection via FCrDNS (dual-direction DNS verification), ASN tokens, and published IP ranges – 95% effective, impossible to spoof without controlling the provider’s DNS zone. LLM / AI crawler management – allow or block GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Bytespider via CIDR-verified IP ranges (1,435 synced from cloud). Country, ASN, IP range, User-Agent, Referer blocking rules with instant enforcement. ASN database: 3.6M verified records. Geo-blocking with visual country selector and import/export. Cloudflare-aware real-IP resolution and origin bypass protection TLS fingerprinting (JA3/JA4) – detects bots by TLS handshake signature, cross-validates against User-Agent. 189 signatures. Opt-in, requires server module. RKN (Roskomnadzor) blocking – 852 CIDR ranges, cloud-synced, auto-updated with self-healing tamper recovery Full IPv6 support – separate tables and logic for IPv4 and IPv6 Live traffic monitor with attack map, country, ASN, device, browser, block reason Built-in caching via Redis and Memcached – free, auto-disable on connection failure 🔍 Bot Detection & Anti-Detect (Free) 13 HTTP header checks run on every visitor, catching bots others miss: Empty User-Agent / UA Anomalies / Empty Accept-Language PTR/DNS Mismatch – forward/reverse DNS mismatch, impossible to fake Geo vs Language Mismatch – language claimed differs from visitor’s country Incognito/Private Mode detection AdBlock/uBlock detection in visitor’s browser Canvas & WebGL Fingerprinting – JS consistency verification WhatsApp Preview / OPTIONS Preflight – legitimate traffic whitelisted Anti-Detect Challenge Page activates when header checks raise suspicion – silent browser fingerprinting before any CAPTCHA appears: 9 weighted signals: navigator (×2), fake plugins (×3), font rendering (×2), WebGL (×2), Chromium properties (×3), JS jitter, touch events (×2), language (×3), incognito (×2) Critical signal combinations trigger immediate block Cookie capability test + sessionStorage retry counter HMAC-signed responses resist DDoS provider interference Circuit Breaker: 3 failures → 30-second cooldown → auto-retry CAPTCHA appears only if auto-verification fails 🎯 CAPTCHA System – All 9 Modes Free 9 CAPTCHA modes, all free: Silent Auto-Verify (recommended – zero clicks, silent JS fingerprint check), Simple Button, Color Buttons, Image CAPTCHA (5 packs: Eagle, Horse, Raccoon, Dog, Cat), reCAPTCHA v2 (+ Button), Dynamic Shapes (60fps Canvas, 25 combinations), Dynamic Digits, Hold Button (hold in the green zone). Hybrid Mode – internal CAPTCHA + invisible reCAPTCHA v3, two-layer defense DDoS Resilience Mode – HMAC-signed responses prevent forged challenge bypass Session Token Verification – cookie-less fingerprint for restricted hosting CAPTCHA Diagnostics – failure reason codes (token decrypt, transient, hash, mode mismatch) Image Delivery: Inline Base64 (single request, recommended) or Separate Requests (cache-friendly) 🔒 Login Security & 2FA (Free) Two-Factor Authentication (Google Authenticator, Authy, 1Password, Bitwarden) – TOTP, 10 backup codes 9 CAPTCHA modes on login, registration, lost password, and custom forms Hybrid Mode – internal CAPTCHA + reCAPTCHA v3 two-layer invisible defense on login Hide login URL (PRO) Configurable lockout escalation – failed CAPTCHA = short ban, repeat = 24-hour ban 💳 Payment Gateway Bypass (Free) Auto-detects 25+ e-commerce platforms (WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, SureCart, MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, Give, Dokan, CartFlows, FunnelKit and more) and 150+ payment providers (Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Adyen, Braintree, Square, Razorpay, Klarna, Paddle, Authorize.Net, YooKassa, LiqPay and more), plus form plugin webhooks (Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, Fluent Forms). Four detection layers – 198 path patterns, 227 query keys, 360 action names, 114 signature headers – ensure zero false positives. Webhooks, IPN callbacks, and payment notifications never get blocked. 📊 Visibility & Control (Free) Visual dashboard – KPI cards (Requests, Blocked, Search engines passed, Protection score), hourly bar chart, donut charts (Hosting, Device, Browser, OS) Dashboard social proof card – live WordPress.org rating, installs count, ratings, link to WP.org (cached 12h) Inline IP rule widget – add IP allow/block rules via AJAX. Bulk import with 4 one-click buttons (IPv4/IPv6 whitelist/blacklist) Protection Status Checklist – per-feature toggles with “Enable remaining” bulk action Health Score gauge – 44 parameters, 3 categories, 5 levels from Critical (<25) to Secure (≥85), real-time updates 3 security presets – Light, Strong, Full – one-click configuration. Plus Default for new installs Setup Wizard – 8 steps, under 5 minutes ⌘K Command Palette – Ctrl+K / ⌘K on any admin page to search every setting, tab, and action. 30+ quick-action shortcuts. Near-zero-click configuration Interactive analytics – 8 KPI metrics, donut charts, traffic line chart, world map, top IPs and countries rankings 55 diagnostic event codes across 12 log categories – exact block reason for every decision Detailed event log – IP, country, ASN, User-Agent, browser, OS, device, exact block reason 17 interface languages – English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Polski, Русский, Українська, العربية, עברית, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Nederlands, Português, Svenska, Türkçe, 中文 + POT Admin page header bar – “Blocked today: X · Total: Y” on every admin page Admin bar toolbar node – protection status + Dashboard + Settings links Configurable retention with timezone/DST awareness, Daily Summary with incremental aggregation X-Robots-Tag control – SEO directives (noindex, nofollow, noarchive, nosnippet, noimageindex, notranslate, unavailable_after) on blocked/challenge pages – no search engine indexing of security barriers Clean uninstall – drops 17 tables, 40+ options, 22+ transients, 12 cron hooks, MU-plugin files, uploads/botblocker/. Departure feedback dialog. Zero leftover data 📬 Notifications & Alerts (Free) Email reports – daily / twice-weekly / monthly security summaries. Critical server load warnings and Cloud API expiry alerts. Telegram Bot integration (add-on) – weekly security summaries via @BotFather: requests, allowed, blocked, suspicious, search/fake bots, timezone, protection mode, security score, block rate. Connection test button. Add-ons → Telegram Notifications. Admin Dashboard Alerts (8 types) – cloud lost, missing runtime files, API expired, hits exhausted, ASN/addon update failed, addon incompatible, cache incompatibility 🧩 Shortcodes & Developer Tools (Free) 20 shortcodes for frontend dashboards, client portals, and status pages. * WP Connectors (WordPress 6.7+) – native WordPress Connector on the Connections admin page * Custom verification endpoint (bbcs-verify) – decoupled from permalink structure * WordPress Admin → Tools → Site Health → Info integration * Plugin update changelog injection – changelog displayed in the plugin update screen * Floating support widget – submit support tickets from dashboard without leaving site 🔧 Tools & Diagnostics (Free) 15 maintenance and diagnostic actions built into the admin panel: Export Data & Settings Full JSON backup of settings, rules, IP lists Import Data & Settings Restore from JSON backup Reinstall Database Factory-reset all BotBlocker tables Repair & Optimize DB WordPress database repair and optimization Clear All Visitor Data Purge hits, counters, and statistics Clear Transients Remove expired WordPress transients Update ASN Database Download latest 3.6M-record ASN geolocation database Update RU-Gov List Download latest 852-range RKN CIDR blocklist Sync LLM Providers Refresh 1,435 AI crawler IP ranges from cloud Clear Visitor Cookies Reset all BotBlocker cookies – forces re-verification Reset URL Rewrite Rules Fix 404 errors after permalink changes Clear Object Cache Flush WordPress + Redis/Memcached caches Site Health Open WordPress Site Health diagnostic Clear Debug Log / Download Debug Log Purge or download wp-content/debug.log 🚀 PRO Adds (Premium / Pro / Ultimate) Cloud Threat Intelligence – 5M+ attack IPs cross-checked globally. Zero-day behavioral and heuristic detection catches unknown attack patterns before signatures exist. VPN, Tor, proxy, ASN, hosting reputation checks. Early Init Mode – filtering before WordPress Core loads via wp-config.php boot code. Saves 30-100ms and 5-20MB RAM per blocked request. Multisite-aware, auto-disables if Cloud API inactive. Self-healing runtime files. Hide Login URL – custom admin URL slug. Four behaviors on default URL: 403, 404, home redirect, custom redirect. Reserved slug detection prevents page conflicts. Security Headers – MU-plugin deployment before plugins load. HSTS, CSP with custom domain whitelist, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Permissions-Policy. Auto-detects reCAPTCHA Google + BotBlocker API domains in CSP. Speed Up WordPress – 14 frontend and server optimizations: disable emojis, jQuery Migrate, dashicons, global styles, embeds, RSS feeds, XML-RPC, hide WP version, shortlinks, self-pingbacks. Malware Scanner – 25+ detection patterns: eval() chains, base64 obfuscation, injected scripts, webshell markers. Deobfuscation preprocessor. Scans files (core, plugins, themes, uploads, custom paths) + database (posts, wp_options, users, cron). Truth Source comparator. Scheduled background scanning (hourly to 5 days). Severity: Critical to Info. Confidence: Review to Confirmed. HTTPS Protocol – HTTP→HTTPS 301 redirect. Mixed content auto-fix via output buffering. SSL detection behind 7 proxy headers (Cloudflare, load balancers). Cookie Alert – lightweight first-party cookie consent banner. Custom text, policy link, button label, position, theme, custom CSS. WP accessibility: aria-label, role attributes. 1-year cookie lifetime. Behavioral Analysis Engine – 3-layer AI bot detection. Free: RPM velocity + subnet pressure. Pro: multi-signal scoring (velocity, URI diversity, session depth, timing, referer consistency). Reputation: IP/subnet tracking with lazy decay. 3 quick presets. Cron Jobs – advanced WordPress cron management, monitoring, and debugging Truth Source – file integrity verification against known-good WordPress core, plugin, theme references. Detects modified, added, missing files. Per-file and wildcard ignores. Scheduled background scanning. XMLRPC Tunnel – secure XML-RPC via IP-allowlisted endpoints. IPv4/IPv6/CIDR/wildcard entry formats. Multi-header real-IP resolution. Auto-block non-allowlisted access. Priority support – 24-hour response time Four plans to match your traffic: Premium ($12/month, 25k cloud checks), Pro ($50/month, 100k cloud checks), Ultimate ($100/month, 250k cloud checks + emergency 24h support). Annual billing includes 1 month free. 30-day refund policy. Licensed per domain via Freemius. Compare plans → ⚡ Performance & Compatibility Zero database queries for returning visitors – 11 runtime PHP files with SHA-256 integrity, loaded via include Measured overhead: +3-15ms TTFB for cached visitors, +50-200ms first-time PTR lookups, +2-4MB memory 100+ configurable settings without affecting performance Redis and Memcached support – free, auto-disables gracefully on connection failure Cache plugin compatibility – automatic DONOTCACHEPAGE and cache-bypass headers (Cache-Control: no-store, X-LiteSpeed-Cache-Control: no-cache, X-Accel-Expires: 0, CDN-Cache-Control: no-store, private, Surrogate-Control: no-store, max-age=0) covering PHP caches, Nginx, CDN edge, and surrogate caches in one pass. Works with WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, Hummingbird, WP Fastest Cache, Cache Enabler, Swift Performance. CDN and WAF compatibility – Cloudflare, Sucuri, Incapsula, AWS CloudFront, Fastly, KeyCDN, StackPath. Multi-header real-IP resolution (CF-Connecting-IP, X-Forwarded-For, X-Real-IP) DDoS Protection Compatibility – auto-detects JS-challenges from DDoS-Guard, Stormwall, Qrator. HMAC-signed AJAX responses, Circuit Breaker with retry/backoff. The only WordPress plugin that works correctly behind aggressive DDoS protection without manual configuration. Fatal Error Hive Mode – during PHP fatal errors from other plugins or themes, renders an emergency page instead of a white screen, preserving the security barrier. Multisite Support – network activation, per-site data, settings, cleanup. Free on all plans. PHP 7.4 – 8.5, tested across 7 versions. WordPress 5.1 – 7.0+. Linux and Windows. 50+ OS versions detected – Windows 95–11, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, Linux distros, HarmonyOS, Fire OS, KaiOS, Tizen, FreeBSD, gaming consoles 50+ browsers identified – Opera, Edge, Vivaldi, Brave, Samsung Internet, UC Browser, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, Tor, Headless Chrome, Lynx/ELinks, and more GDPR and CCPA compliant – no PII, technical parameters only, Legitimate Interest basis (Art. 6(1)(f))

Watchdog Security Lite is the free WordPress security edition powered by the Lumiverse Nexus ecosystem. It brings together active request protection, local malware scanning, vulnerability intelligence, official-file integrity checks, login protection and WooCommerce-aware controls in one security-focused dashboard. Watchdog Lite is designed to provide useful protection without turning every unusual request into an attack claim. Detection, observation and enforcement are kept distinct wherever possible so site owners can understand what the plugin actually saw and what it actually restricted. Core security features Traffic Shield Lite – conservative request-abuse protection for suspicious scanning, repeated hostile traffic and selected XML-RPC pressure. Login Guard – login abuse protection with lockout controls designed to avoid treating ordinary mistakes as attacks. Malware Scanner – local PHP/file scanning with high-confidence signatures, changed-file-first routine scanning and MU-plugin coverage. Vulnerability Watch Lite – checks installed WordPress, plugin and theme versions against Nexus vulnerability intelligence and provides severity plus update guidance. Official File Integrity – compares WordPress core and supported WordPress.org components with official checksums or packages. Safe Core Repair – manually restores verified modified or missing WordPress core files after creating a protected restore point. Optional administrator TOTP 2FA – authenticator-app protection and one-time recovery codes, configured separately by each administrator. Security Incident Inbox – groups related security activity into readable incidents. Site Change Watch Lite – records important administrator, plugin, theme and risky file changes. WP-Cron persistence checks – highlights high-confidence suspicious scheduled-task patterns and risky combinations. Watchdog Live Pulse – a real-data visual view of recent traffic, bots and protection activity. It does not invent attack events. Weekly Security Digest – optional once-weekly email summarizing protection activity, scan coverage and important security health signals. Nexus Threat Network Lite – optional shared threat intelligence with selected high-confidence signal contribution and privacy-preserving aggregate security telemetry. WooCommerce-aware protection WooCommerce stores receive cart, wishlist, catalog, checkout, AJAX and crawler traffic that should not all be treated as ordinary page requests. Watchdog Lite includes WooCommerce Bot Cart Guard Lite. When enabled, crawler-claimed and obvious automation may still access public pages while supported cart, wishlist or remove-item mutations are neutralized before they create unwanted shopping state. Normal shoppers, logged-in users and ordinary browser traffic are not handled by this crawler/automation rule. For business sites and stores that need earlier request containment, advanced WooCommerce resource protection, deeper incident investigation, richer Threat Network intelligence and recovery workflows, see Lumiverse Nexus PRO. Optional TOTP two-factor authentication TOTP 2FA is optional and configured separately by each administrator. It protects the standard WordPress administrator login; API, XML-RPC and application-password authentication remain separate controls. Watchdog Lite does not force 2FA after installation, after an update or when Recommended Local Protection is applied. The feature works with standard time-based authenticator applications, stores the secret locally and provides one-time recovery codes. Administrators should keep recovery codes in a secure location. Nexus Threat Network Lite Nexus Threat Network Lite is disabled by default. When an administrator enables Threat Intelligence Lite, the site joins the Nexus Threat Network participation model. While enabled, the site can: receive compact shared threat intelligence; contribute selected, high-confidence security signals used to strengthen network intelligence. Selected verified security signals are a separate part of Threat Network participation and may include the attacking public IP address together with limited security metadata such as event type, rule reference, confidence, request category, aggregated observation count, plugin version and a pseudonymous contributor credential. Disabling Threat Intelligence Lite stops Threat Network participation and discards unsent aggregate telemetry. Confirmed-match blocking remains a separate protection choice. Learn more at Nexus Threat Network. Lite and Nexus PRO Watchdog Security Lite provides practical security foundations for WordPress sites and WooCommerce stores. Lumiverse Nexus PRO adds the broader protection and investigation platform, including Early WAF / pre-WordPress protection, advanced WooCommerce resource defense, deeper Threat Network classifications, Security Twin, Threat Constellation, Incident Replay, Threat Continuum and Rescue Center workflows. Learn more at Lumiverse Nexus PRO. External Services Watchdog Security Lite performs routine malware/file scanning locally. Website files and file contents are not uploaded for routine malware scanning. Lumiverse Nexus services Watchdog Lite may communicate with services under: lumiversenexus.com These services provide malware-signature updates, vulnerability intelligence and Nexus Threat Network functions. Signature and vulnerability intelligence: requests may include normal HTTPS connection information and the public component information needed to retrieve the relevant intelligence. Installed component versions are evaluated locally. Website files, page content, usernames, passwords, customer data and order data are not uploaded for these checks. Threat Network participation: While enabled, selected high-confidence verified security signals may include an attacking public IP address plus limited security metadata such as event type, rule reference, confidence, request category, aggregated observation count, plugin version and a pseudonymous contributor credential. Threat Network registration does not require a customer name, email address, WordPress username, license key or site URL. Service information: Lumiverse Nexus Privacy Notice and Terms of Service.