OpenPorte Spam Protection vs Ultimate Security – Vulnerability Scanner, 2FA, and Login Protection

OpenPorte is a free and open-source plugin that protects WordPress forms from spam using a lightweight Proof-of-Work challenge instead of CAPTCHAs. The goal is to make spam expensive for bots while keeping the experience almost invisible for legitimate visitors and respecting their privacy. For site owners, OpenPorte offers an easy to configure and deploy modern spam protection under their control. For the site users, it offers an accessible, transparent and privacy-friendly alternative to CAPTCHAs. OpenPorte is built around the open-source ALTCHA widget. Some highlights: CAPTCHA-free spam protection Fully open source (GPL) Self-hosted – no mandatory external service Designed to be accessible and privacy-friendly Compatible with existing ALTCHA integrations Easy migration for users of ALTCHA Spam Protection v1 (≤ 1.26.3) For the list of contributors, refer to our GitHub project: Contributors. AI-assisted development AI-assisted project. Architecture, security decisions, and final review are mine; AI tools (Claude, Mistral, and others) help with drafting code, tests, translations, and documentation — without them, one person couldn’t keep this fork alive. Background The original ALTCHA Spam Protection WordPress plugin (v1) was open source (GPLv2). Its authors have since released a version 2/3 which is no longer open source. They no longer maintain the open source project and recommend that users migrate to v2/v3. See the official project at https://altcha.org for their offering. OpenPorte started as a fork and continues the v1 line as free software (GPLv2 or later) for users who want to stay on a fully open-source, self-hosted solution. It is a faithful fork: existing v1 installations can switch to OpenPorte and keep their settings (see Upgrading). Compatibility OpenPorte is backward-compatible with ALTCHA Spam Protection v1 plugin: Your existing settings are migrated automatically on activation. The [altcha] shortcode keeps working (alongside the new [openporte]). The altcha_* filters and actions keep firing as deprecated aliases. Custom API Mode has been verified against GateCHA, an open source server implementing the creation and verification of ALTCHA challenges. See the Deprecations section for the full list of compatibility aliases and what they map to. Upgrading From the original ALTCHA v1 plugin Deactivate the old ALTCHA plugin, then install and activate OpenPorte. Your existing configuration is detected and copied into the OpenPorte settings on first activation; the original ALTCHA settings are left untouched, so you can roll back to ALTCHA v1 without losing anything. Do not run both plugins at the same time. From ALTCHA v2/v3 If your site was already moved to ALTCHA v2/v3 (for example by the automatic 3.0.0 update), your original v1 settings are normally still in the database: the v2/v3 upgrade neither migrates nor removes them. Deactivate ALTCHA, then install and activate OpenPorte — it finds and imports the v1 settings, even when the v1 plugin itself has long been deleted. Settings made in v2/v3 are not read. Deprecations The following ALTCHA-era identifiers are kept as aliases for backward compatibility and are scheduled for removal in a future release: The [altcha] shortcode — use [openporte]. The altcha/v1 REST namespace — use openporte/v1. The altcha_* filters and actions — now firing through WordPress’ deprecated hook mechanism; use the openporte_* equivalents. The AltchaPlugin class and the ALTCHA_VERSION / ALTCHA_WIDGET_VERSION constants — use OpenPortePlugin and the OPENPORTE_* constants. Integrations targeting paid-only third-party plugins; affected users should migrate to the official ALTCHA v2/v3 plugin. The “Custom HTML” integration (auto-configuration of hand-written tags) — place the [openporte] shortcode instead. You can re-enable it for now under Settings → OpenPorte → Integrations. Privacy No cookies, no tracking OpenPorte prioritizes user privacy by avoiding the use of cookies and fingerprinting techniques. No external service This plugin remains fully contained within your WordPress installation, eliminating any reliance on external services. Modes of Operation OpenPorte verifies submissions in one of two modes, selected in the settings (API Mode): Self-hosted (default) — a proof-of-work challenge is issued and verified by your own WordPress site through the REST API. Fully self-contained, with no external service and no additional setup beyond enabling the integrations you need. Custom — point the Challenge URL at your own ALTCHA-compatible backend (for example a self-hosted ALTCHA Sentinel, or GateCHA). Submissions are verified with your site’s shared secret. The paid altcha.org regional SaaS classifier offered by earlier versions has been removed; both remaining modes are free and self-hostable. REST API This plugin requires the WordPress REST API. If you are using any “Disable REST API” plugins, ensure that the endpoint /altcha/v1/challenge (marked for deprecation) and /openporte/v1/challenge are allowed. Supported Integrations CoBlocks Contact Form 7 Elementor Pro Forms (deprecated — paid plugin, see Deprecations) Formidable Forms Forminator GravityForms HTML Forms wpDiscuz WPForms WordPress Login, Register, Password reset WordPress Comments WooCommerce Many other plugins and your own content (via the [openporte] shortcode, or the deprecated [altcha] alias) Source Code All source code for the plugin, and the ALTCHA widget is available on GitHub. In the repository, you’ll also find versions of non-minified JavaScript and CSS assets: Plugin: https://github.com/openporte/openporte ALTCHA Widget: https://github.com/altcha-org/altcha

Ultimate Security handles the traffic that actually reaches a WordPress site: automated login attempts, brute-force runs, comment and form spam, and probes at well-known paths. It covers two-factor authentication, login lockouts, CAPTCHA, a movable login URL, session controls, vulnerability scanning, and Cloudflare edge rules — set up from one admin screen, without editing files or writing firewall rules by hand. There is no usage tracking and nothing phones home. The plugin contacts an outside service only when you switch on a feature that needs one, and each is listed under External Services below. Features that belong to the Pro add-on are labelled as such. Setup wizard The first run is a five-step wizard. You answer a few questions about the site, it runs a quick scan, and you pick one of seven starting templates: basic, moderate, strict, agency, blog, membership, or WooCommerce. Before it changes anything it shows you a full diff, and you can undo everything it did later without losing edits you made yourself. It also gives you an emergency access link — keep it somewhere safe, and you can switch the plugin off from a browser if you ever lock yourself out. Two-factor authentication Email one-time codes, no app required, for any user. Authenticator apps (TOTP and HOTP) with QR enrolment — Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator and similar. Per-role configuration: pick which roles use email codes and which use an app. Rate limiting on code entry, with a configurable attempt limit and lockout. Optional 2FA event logging. Covers the WordPress, WooCommerce and Ultimate Member login forms, with a separate setting for XML-RPC. Login access control Move wp-login.php to a secret URL so bots can’t find it, with a configurable post-login redirect. HTTP Basic Authentication in front of wp-login.php and wp-admin, no .htaccess editing. The password is stored hashed, repeated failures trigger a lockout, and you can let trusted IPs through. Show your own consent or policy text on the login form. Password policies Require a minimum length, mixed case, numbers and special characters, or start from a preset. Expiry with advance warning, a grace period, and email notification. Password history, so old passwords can’t be reused. Force a password change on first login. Reject compromised passwords, checked against the Have I Been Pwned range API by k-anonymity — the password itself never leaves the site. Optionally turn off self-service password reset and point people at your own process instead. Brute-force protection Limit failed logins and lock offenders out automatically. Progressive lockouts, so repeat offenders wait longer each time. Configurable retry-reset window, plus a permanent block list. A one-time recovery link, so a lockout doesn’t strand you. Session management Limit concurrent logins per user; block the new login or end the oldest session. Idle timeout for inactive sessions. HttpOnly, Secure and SameSite flags on auth cookies. Optionally bind a session to its IP and/or browser to catch hijacking. CAPTCHA and spam Google reCAPTCHA v2 and v3, with a v3 score threshold, IP and user-agent allowlists, a bypass for logged-in users, and a verification log. Cloudflare Turnstile, with theme, size, language and appearance options, deferred loading, custom failure messages, and its own log. Both cover the WordPress login, registration, lost-password and comment forms, and the WooCommerce login, registration, lost-password and checkout forms. No-conflict mode and provider priority keep two CAPTCHAs off the same form. Validate your site and secret keys from the settings page before going live. If the provider is unreachable, forms keep working. Vulnerability scanning Scans WordPress core, plugins and themes for known vulnerabilities. No API key needed — it uses the keyless WPVulnerability database by default. Add a WPScan or Patchstack key for more coverage, with automatic failover between providers. Scheduled scans and email alerts, filtered by severity. Flags plugins that haven’t been updated in a long time. Scan history, run-to-run comparison, and an ignore list for findings you’ve accepted. Results show up in Site Health, the dashboard widget, the plugins list, and menu counters. Cloudflare WAF rules Connect your own Cloudflare account and manage edge rules from wp-admin. Let verified search, monitoring, backup, SEO and social crawlers through. Block aggressive crawlers and sensitive WordPress paths. Block data-center hosts and TOR exit nodes. Challenge large cloud providers and specific countries. Challenge VPN traffic and requests to wp-login.php. Virtual patches that block requests exploiting known core CVEs at the edge until you can update. Preview the generated expressions before deploying, review the live rules on your zone, and read request, threat and bandwidth analytics. Security keys (salts) Rotate the keys and salts in wp-config.php on demand or on a schedule — daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or twice a year. Advance notice before a scheduled rotation, so the forced re-login isn’t a surprise. Quiet hours, plus pause and skip-next controls. Rotation history, with the option to restore a previous set. Update manager Set auto-update policy for core, plugins and themes, with per-plugin and per-theme overrides. Update windows, allowed days, and freeze periods for when you don’t want changes. Delay updates by a set number of days to let others hit the bugs first. Optional maintenance mode during updates, and detection of version-controlled installs. Email notifications and a daily digest. Monitoring, security score and logs A security score with a per-check breakdown of what’s pulling it down. Activity log for logins, logouts, lockouts, and 2FA and password events, with a retention period you set. Session log for session events and anomalies. A “who’s online” view of currently active users. Core file-integrity check against the official WordPress.org checksums. Site Health entries covering plugin, server, database, filesystem, theme and WordPress diagnostics. A dashboard widget summarising failed logins, issues found, outdated plugins and the current score. Test mode Run your rules without blocking anyone and review a log of what would have been blocked before you enforce it. Choose which roles it applies to, keep admins excluded, and an admin-bar marker plus a dashboard notice remind you it’s on. Tools, migration and backup Import from Wordfence Login Security — preview what comes across, run it, and roll it back if you change your mind. Export and import settings as JSON for staging-to-production moves or recovery. Reset all settings to defaults, and clear the plugin cache. Diagnostics for REST API, cron (with a manual run trigger), and server status. An emergency deactivation URL that switches the plugin off if you’re locked out. Works with what you already run Ultimate Security detects and adapts to WooCommerce, Ultimate Member, common page builders, form plugins, caching plugins and SEO plugins, and warns you when another security plugin is already doing the same job. WP-CLI wp ultimate-security template list wp ultimate-security template apply [--dry-run] wp ultimate-security template undo wp ultimate-security export [--file= ] wp ultimate-security import [--dry-run] wp ultimate-security status Learn more Website — features and articles. Documentation — setup guides, troubleshooting and how-tos. YouTube — walkthroughs and tutorials. External Services This plugin connects to the following third-party services, and only when you use the related feature: Google reCAPTCHA When: reCAPTCHA protection is enabled. The reCAPTCHA script is then loaded in your visitors’ browsers on the protected forms. Data sent: the visitor’s reCAPTCHA response token, your site secret key, and the visitor’s IP address for verification. Endpoints: https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js (browser script, with a preconnect to https://www.gstatic.com) and https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/siteverify (server-side verification). Terms: https://policies.google.com/terms — Privacy: https://policies.google.com/privacy Cloudflare Turnstile When: Cloudflare Turnstile protection is enabled. The Turnstile script is then loaded in your visitors’ browsers on the protected forms. Data sent: the visitor’s Turnstile response token, your site secret key, and the visitor’s IP address for verification. Endpoints: https://challenges.cloudflare.com/turnstile/v0/api.js (browser script) and https://challenges.cloudflare.com/turnstile/v0/siteverify (server-side verification). Terms: https://www.cloudflare.com/website-terms/ — Privacy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/ WPVulnerability When: the Vulnerability Scanner runs. This is the default vulnerability database and requires no API key. Data sent: your WordPress version and the slugs of your installed plugins and themes. Endpoint: https://www.wpvulnerability.net/ Privacy: https://www.wpvulnerability.net/ WPScan When: the Vulnerability Scanner runs and you have configured a WPScan API key. Data sent: your WPScan API key, your WordPress version, and the slugs of your installed plugins and themes. Endpoint: https://wpscan.com/api/v3/ Terms: https://wpscan.com/terms-of-service/ — Privacy: https://wpscan.com/privacy-policy/ Patchstack When: the Vulnerability Scanner runs and you have configured a Patchstack API key. Data sent: your Patchstack API key, your WordPress version, and the slugs of your installed plugins and themes. Endpoint: https://patchstack.com/database/api/v2/ Terms: https://patchstack.com/terms-of-service/ — Privacy: https://patchstack.com/privacy-policy/ WordPress.org Plugin and Theme Information API When: the Vulnerability Scanner checks whether an extension has been abandoned, and when the Update Manager gathers update information. Data sent: the slugs of your installed plugins and themes (no user data). Endpoints: https://api.wordpress.org/plugins/info/1.2/ and https://api.wordpress.org/themes/info/1.2/ Privacy: https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ WordPress.org Core Version Check When: the Update Manager checks for available WordPress core updates. Data sent: a standard WordPress core version-check request (no user data). Endpoint: https://api.wordpress.org/core/version-check/1.7/ Privacy: https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ WordPress.org Core Checksums When: you run the WordPress core file-integrity check. Data sent: your WordPress version and locale, in order to retrieve the official file checksums for comparison. Endpoint: https://api.wordpress.org/core/checksums/1.0/ Privacy: https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ WordPress.org Secret-Key (Salt) API When: you rotate WordPress security keys and salts, on demand or on a schedule. Data sent: a request for randomly generated salt strings (no site or user data). Endpoint: https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/ Privacy: https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ Cloudflare API When: you connect Cloudflare or preview, deploy, remove or analyse WAF rules. Data sent: your Cloudflare credentials or API token, the selected zone and rule data, and the API requests needed for verification, deployment and analytics. Endpoint: https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/ Terms: https://www.cloudflare.com/website-terms/ — Privacy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/ Have I Been Pwned (Pwned Passwords) When: the “refuse compromised passwords” password-policy option is enabled and a password is set or changed. Data sent: the first 5 characters of the SHA-1 hash of the password (a k-anonymity range query). The password itself is never sent. Endpoint: https://api.pwnedpasswords.com/range/ Privacy: https://haveibeenpwned.com/Privacy Feedback and support email When: only when an administrator explicitly submits contact, migration, or deactivation feedback. Choosing “Skip & Deactivate” sends nothing. Data sent: the submitted message or deactivation reason and optional notes. Contact and migration requests also include diagnostic details shown with the form, such as the site URL, WordPress/PHP versions, active theme and plugin count, administrator profile, IP address, user agent, and referrer. Destination: support@wpultimatesecurity.com, delivered through the site’s configured WordPress email service. Privacy: https://www.wpultimatesecurity.com/privacy-policy/