Defender Security - Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall

About Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall

Defender is a WordPress plugin that adds security features to your website, including a malware scanner, firewall, and login security. It protects your site from brute force attacks, malware, and other security vulnerabilities. Additionally, with the Pro version, you get extra features like scheduled malware scanning and known vulnerability detection.

Screenshots

Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall screenshot

Frequently asked questions

What does Defender do?

Defender adds the best in WordPress plugin security to your website with just a few clicks. Stop brute force login attacks, SQL injections, cross-site scripting XSS, and other WordPress vulnerabilities and hacks with Defender’s malware scanner, antivirus scans, IP blocking, firewall, activity log, security log, and two-factor authentication (2FA) login security.

What are some of the security recommendations provided by Defender?

Defender provides a list of one-click hardening techniques that add layers of protection and security to your site. Some of these recommendations include two-factor authentication, login masking, login lockout, malware scanner, security headers, 404 detection, geolocation IP lockout, and more.

What are the features of Defender's Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)?

Defender's Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) features include mobile app verification, backup code generation, lost device emails, WooCommerce 2FA, Biometric Authentication (fingerprint/facial recognition), and Hardware Key Authentication (USB security keys).

How does Defender integrate with Google reCAPTCHA?

Defender allows you to add reCAPTCHA to your login / registration pages, lost password forms, and post comments. You can select the reCAPTCHA type, language, location, and style to suit your needs.

What is the purpose of Defender's Firewall and IP Manager?

Defender's Firewall and IP Manager help keep your site safe by allowing you to manually block specific IPs, import a list of banned IPs, and set automated timed and permanent lockouts. The advanced firewall (WAF) makes it easy to block and unblock specific locations quickly.

Changelog

5.0.2 ( 2025-02-14 )

Improvement: Update 404 logic with AntiBot service to better detect and mitigate potential threats
Improvement: Enhancing IP Detection in Defender to prevent blocking of server IPs

5.0.1 ( 2025-01-31 )

Fix: AntiBot service sync issue
Fix: AntiBot toggle behavior is inconsistent when managed on the Hub
Fix: Usage Tracking improvements

5.0.0 ( 2025-01-27 )

New: AntiBot Global Firewall
Enhance: Global IP Blocker renamed to Central IP List and located under Local Firewall
Enhance: Prevent execution of CREATE TABLE query on every page load
Enhance: Scan lines about suspicious code are displayed even after deleting files
Enhance: Update WPMU DEV IP management
Enhance: Show Vulnerability details for Pro plugin version
Enhance: Usage Tracking improvements
Fix: Error while uninstalling Defender
Fix: Wrong usage of WPMU DEV Dashboard settings function
Fix: SUI Alert appears when trying to make any action to files detected by Malware Scanning
Fix: PHP notices appear in logs when running a malware scan

4.12.0 ( 2024-12-09 )

Enhance: Ability to scan malicious code in files in the site’s root
Enhance: Optimize WAF traffic management
Enhance: Optimize XML-RPC traffic management
Enhance: Remove strict declarations for default WP filters
Fix: Notice for _load_textdomain_just_in_time called incorrectly
Fix: Update malware signature to avoid false positives
Fix: Undefined array key warning when creating a new subsite on multisite if Audit logging is enabled

4.11.0 ( 2024-11-04 )

Enhance: Compatibility with WordPress 6.7
Enhance: Malware signatures update
Enhance: Update SUI to the latest version
Fix: Optimize security recommendations flow
Fix: Malware Scanning can’t detect the suspicious code
Fix: Max included file size in Malware Scanning isn’t working
Fix: Detecting changes in files whose names match default folders
Fix: SEOPress plugin files are being falsely flagged as suspicious

4.10.1 ( 2024-10-03 )

Fix: Optimize XML-RPC traffic management

4.10.0 ( 2024-10-01 )

Enhance: Update malware signatures to detect different infected files
Enhance: Display notice on the Malware Scanning page if a file is missing or unreadable
Enhance: Defender > Recommendations > Disable XML-RPC syncs with Hosting XML-RPC Protection
Enhance: Improvements in deleting and exporting IPs
Enhance: Translation improvements
Fix: False positive in Malware Scanning for Toolset plugin
Fix: Defender does not recognize phishing code
Fix: Malware Scanning gets stuck on fresh multisite
Fix: Text content not displayed in the Services upsell on the Malware Scanning page
Fix: Security keys not getting updated
Fix: Malware Scanning detects the old plugin file as modified
Fix: 404 Detection > Duration Unit disappears when changing the Firewall logs count to 100

4.9.0 ( 2024-09-02 )

New: Smart IP Detection method
Enhance: Improved error handling of Malware Scan during checksum
Enhance: Improved scan logic to detect plugins from wp.org
Enhance: Mention Defender in Cloudflare and X-Forwarded-For IP detection notices
Enhance: Usage Tracking improvements
Fix: Google reCAPTCHA verification failure on WooCommerce my-account and checkout pages
Fix: Google reCAPTCHA V3 error in the console log
Fix: 2FA settings issue in WooCommerce
Fix: Issues when uploading Config
Fix: Getting ‘ERROR: Something went wrong’ when registering a new authenticator
Fix: Copy error in translations
Fix: Undefined array key in Audit logs
Fix: Foreign key getting duplicated
Fix: Broken error notice design in 2FA methods

Changelog for previous versions.

Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall