Behavioral WAF: learning, monitor, and block modes
PowerSEC's Behavioral WAF is a pattern-inspection layer that runs on top of the standard Firewall. It is off by default and ships with three operating modes designed to roll out safely without breaking your site. Why three modes? Web Application Firewalls famously block…
Whole-site malware scanning and webshell detection
PowerSEC's malware scanner reviews PHP-like executable files across your entire WordPress installation, including writable and non-standard directories — uploads, cache, backup folders, and security-plugin log folders — where attackers often hide malicious files. Active…
Does PowerSEC scan for malware automatically?
Yes. As of plugin v1.4.107 PowerSEC runs its full malware scanner automatically in the background on a schedule, in addition to on-demand scans. Available on every plan.
How PowerSEC's malware scanner stays safe (it never runs the code it scans)
PowerSEC's scanner detects malware by static pattern matching and never executes, evals, or unpacks-by-running the code it scans — so a scanned file can't compromise the scanner.
Actively-exploited vulnerabilities: why some are flagged "fix first"
PowerSEC flags vulnerabilities that are confirmed exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) and sorts them to the top so you patch what attackers are actually using first.
Web Application Firewall (WAF) basics
The PowerSEC WAF inspects every HTTP request to your WordPress site and blocks attacks before they reach your code. How requests flow Rule sets PowerSEC includes: - OWASP Core Rule Set — covers SQL injection, XSS, RFI/LFI, and other OWASP Top 10 categories - WordPress-specific…
File integrity monitoring explained
File integrity monitoring (FIM) detects when files on your server change unexpectedly. PowerSEC compares your live filesystem against a known-good baseline. What PowerSEC monitors PowerSEC's File Integrity Monitoring watches for file changes across your entire WordPress…
Understanding malware types found by PowerSEC
When PowerSEC scans your site, suspicious files get one of these verdicts: clean The file matches a known-good signature (WordPress core, official plugin, or your committed code). No action needed. low risk (unconfirmed) Heuristics suggest the file is benign but it doesn't match…
Common WordPress attack vectors
Here are the attacks PowerSEC defends against most often, in rough order of frequency. 1. Brute-force login attacks Bots try thousands of common username/password combinations against /wp-login.php and /xmlrpc.php. Most attacks come from compromised IoT devices. PowerSEC…
Why your WordPress site needs security
WordPress powers 43% of all websites — which makes it the 1 target for attackers. If your site is online, it's being probed automatically every few minutes by bots looking for known weaknesses. What attackers are after - Spam injection — your site sends pharmacy spam without…
Trigger an on-demand scan
You can trigger a manual security scan at any time from the dashboard, CLI, or API. Using the CLI From the dashboard 1. Dashboard → Sites → your site 2. Click Run scan now 3. Choose scan type: - Quick scan — malware signatures + changed files only (30 seconds) - Full scan —…