Adam Greenwell

Guard Dog is a comprehensive security plugin designed to protect your WordPress site from unauthorized access and brute-force attacks. With features like custom login URLs, two-factor authentication, and multiple CAPTCHA providers, Guard Dog provides enterprise-level security for any WordPress site.
Key Features:
<ul>
<li>Custom Login URLs – Hide your wp-admin and wp-login.php from attackers</li>
<li>Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) – TOTP-based authentication with recovery codes</li>
<li>Social Login (OAuth) – Sign in with Google, Microsoft, or Apple</li>
<li>Passkeys – Use device-based biometric authentication like Face ID, Touch ID or Windows Hello</li>
<li>Multiple CAPTCHA Providers – Support for Google reCAPTCHA v2/v3, hCaptcha, and Cloudflare Turnstile</li>
<li>Login Attempt Limiting – Prevent brute-force attacks with intelligent lockout</li>
<li>Access Control – IP-based whitelist/blacklist protection</li>
<li>Activity Monitoring – Comprehensive logging of security events</li>
<li>Temporary User Access – Create temporary WordPress users with time-limited, secure access</li>
<li>User Management – Advanced user permission controls</li>
</ul>
Why Choose Guard Dog?
<ul>
<li>Privacy-Focused – Multiple CAPTCHA options including privacy-first providers</li>
<li>WordPress.org Compliant – Built following WordPress coding standards</li>
<li>Enterprise-Ready – Scalable features suitable for any site size</li>
<li>User-Friendly – Intuitive interface with helpful documentation</li>
<li>Regular Updates – Actively maintained and updated</li>
</ul>
Perfect For:
<ul>
<li>Business websites requiring enhanced security</li>
<li>WordPress sites handling sensitive data</li>
<li>Multi-user sites with complex access requirements</li>
<li>Anyone wanting comprehensive protection without complexity</li>
</ul>
<h3>Additional Information</h3>
Support: 
For support questions, please use the WordPress.org support forums.
Privacy: 
Guard Dog respects user privacy and offers multiple privacy-focused CAPTCHA options. No data is transmitted to third parties except for CAPTCHA verification when enabled.
Security: 
Guard Dog follows WordPress security best practices and undergoes regular security audits. All user input is sanitized and all output is escaped.
<h3>Third-Party Services</h3>
Guard Dog integrates with the following third-party services to provide CAPTCHA protection. These services are optional and only used when CAPTCHA features are enabled.
<h3>Google reCAPTCHA (v2 and v3)</h3>
What it is: Google’s CAPTCHA service that helps protect websites from spam and abuse.
What it’s used for: 
– Verifying that login, registration, and password reset attempts are made by humans 
– Preventing automated bot attacks on your WordPress forms
What data is sent and when: 
– User interaction data (mouse movements, time spent on page) when CAPTCHA is solved 
– IP address of the user 
– Site domain for verification 
– CAPTCHA response token
Privacy and Terms: 
– <a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy</a> 
– <a href="https://policies.google.com/terms" rel="nofollow ugc">Google reCAPTCHA Terms of Service</a> 
– <a href="https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/v3#data_usage" rel="nofollow ugc">Google reCAPTCHA Data Usage</a>
<h3>Cloudflare Turnstile</h3>
What it is: Cloudflare’s privacy-first CAPTCHA alternative that doesn’t require user interaction.
What it’s used for: 
– Invisible verification of human users during login, registration, and password reset 
– Privacy-focused protection without tracking or cookies
What data is sent and when: 
– Non-interactive browser signals when forms are submitted 
– IP address for verification 
– Site domain for validation
Privacy and Terms: 
– <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/" rel="nofollow ugc">Cloudflare Privacy Policy</a> 
– <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/terms/" rel="nofollow ugc">Cloudflare Terms of Service</a> 
– <a href="https://developers.cloudflare.com/turnstile/" rel="nofollow ugc">Turnstile Documentation</a>
<h3>hCaptcha</h3>
What it is: A privacy-focused CAPTCHA service that doesn’t track users across websites.
What it’s used for: 
– Human verification during login, registration, and password reset forms 
– Privacy-conscious alternative to Google reCAPTCHA
What data is sent and when: 
– User interaction with CAPTCHA challenge 
– IP address for verification 
– Site domain for validation
Privacy and Terms: 
– <a href="https://www.hcaptcha.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">hCaptcha Privacy Policy</a> 
– <a href="https://www.hcaptcha.com/terms" rel="nofollow ugc">hCaptcha Terms of Service</a> 
– <a href="https://www.hcaptcha.com/data-processing" rel="nofollow ugc">hCaptcha Data Processing</a>
<h3>Google OAuth (Social Login)</h3>
What it is: Google’s OAuth 2.0 service that allows users to sign in using their Google account.
What it’s used for: 
– Authenticating WordPress users via their Google account 
– Retrieving basic profile information (name, email) to link or create accounts
What data is sent and when: 
– User is redirected to Google’s authorization server when clicking “Sign in with Google” 
– An authorization code is exchanged for an access token on your server 
– Basic profile information (name, email, Google user ID) is retrieved from Google’s API 
– No ongoing data sharing – data is only retrieved during the login process
Privacy and Terms: 
– <a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google OAuth Privacy Policy</a> 
– <a href="https://policies.google.com/terms" rel="nofollow ugc">Google OAuth Terms of Service</a> 
– <a href="https://developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-policy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google API Services User Data Policy</a>
<h3>Microsoft Azure AD (Social Login)</h3>
What it is: Microsoft’s OAuth 2.0 service via Azure Active Directory that allows users to sign in using their Microsoft account.
What it’s used for: 
– Authenticating WordPress users via their personal Microsoft account or organizational (work/school) account 
– Retrieving basic profile information (name, email) to link or create accounts
What data is sent and when: 
– User is redirected to Microsoft’s authorization server when clicking “Sign in with Microsoft” 
– An authorization code is exchanged for an access token and ID token (JWT) on your server 
– Basic profile information (name, email, Azure object ID) is extracted from the ID token 
– No ongoing data sharing – data is only retrieved during the login process
Privacy and Terms: 
– <a href="https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement" rel="nofollow ugc">Microsoft Privacy Statement</a> 
– <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement" rel="nofollow ugc">Microsoft Services Agreement</a> 
– <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity-platform/" rel="nofollow ugc">Microsoft Identity Platform Documentation</a>
<h3>Apple Sign In (Social Login)</h3>
What it is: Apple’s OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect service that allows users to sign in using their Apple ID.
What it’s used for: 
– Authenticating WordPress users via their Apple ID 
– Retrieving basic profile information (name, email) to link or create accounts
What data is sent and when: 
– User is redirected to Apple’s authorization server when clicking “Sign in with Apple” 
– An authorization code is exchanged for an access token and ID token (JWT) on your server 
– Basic profile information (email, user ID) is extracted from the ID token 
– User’s name is only provided on first authorization; subsequent logins return only the user ID 
– Apple may provide a private relay email address instead of the user’s real email 
– No ongoing data sharing – data is only retrieved during the login process
Privacy and Terms: 
– <a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/" rel="nofollow ugc">Apple Privacy Policy</a> 
– <a href="https://developer.apple.com/sign-in-with-apple/get-started/" rel="nofollow ugc">Sign in with Apple Guidelines</a> 
– <a href="https://developer.apple.com/terms/" rel="nofollow ugc">Apple Developer Program License Agreement</a>
<h3>TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) Standard</h3>
What it is: An open standard (RFC 6238) for generating time-based one-time passwords used in two-factor authentication.
What it’s used for: 
– Generating secure, time-limited authentication codes for 2FA 
– Providing backup authentication when primary 2FA methods are unavailable 
– Enabling compatibility with popular authenticator apps (Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, etc.)
What data is sent and when: 
– No external data transmission – TOTP codes are generated locally using the TOTP algorithm 
– Secret key generation – A unique secret key is generated locally when 2FA is enabled for a user 
– QR code generation – QR codes are generated locally for easy setup with authenticator apps 
– Code verification – Generated codes are verified locally against the stored secret key
Privacy and Terms: 
– <a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6238" rel="nofollow ugc">RFC 6238 – TOTP Standard</a> 
– <a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google Authenticator Privacy Policy</a> (if using Google Authenticator app) 
– <a href="https://authy.com/privacy/" rel="nofollow ugc">Authy Privacy Policy</a> (if using Authy app) 
– <a href="https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement" rel="nofollow ugc">Microsoft Authenticator Privacy Policy</a> (if using Microsoft Authenticator app)
<h3>Data Handling Summary</h3>
When CAPTCHA is disabled: No data is sent to any third-party services.
When CAPTCHA is enabled: Only the specific provider you choose receives verification data. Data is not shared between providers or stored by Guard Dog beyond the verification process.
When 2FA is disabled: No external data transmission occurs.
When 2FA is enabled: 
– All TOTP operations (code generation, verification) happen locally on your server 
– No data is transmitted to external services for 2FA functionality 
– Authenticator apps only receive the initial setup QR code or secret key 
– Recovery codes are generated locally and stored securely
When Social Login is disabled: No data is sent to any OAuth provider.
When Social Login is enabled: 
– Data is only sent to the configured providers (Google, Microsoft, Apple) during the login process 
– Only basic profile information (name, email, user ID) is retrieved 
– Social account links are stored locally in your WordPress database 
– Users can unlink their social accounts from their profile at any time
User control: Users can choose which CAPTCHA provider to use, or disable CAPTCHA entirely. 2FA can be enabled/disabled per user, and users can choose their preferred authenticator app. Social login can be enabled/disabled by administrators, and users can manage their linked social accounts. All security features are optional and configurable.

Guard Dog

Comprehensive WordPress security plugin with custom login URLs, two-factor authentication, social login (OAuth), CAPTCHA protection, event and activit …

Paul

Shield Security

Shield stops bot attacks before they hack your site. Bots CAN be stopped. Shield stops them.
<h3>Key Security Features At A Glance</h3>
<h3>[PRO-Only] Zero-Configuration, Fast & Reliable WordPress Backups Included</h3>
We’ve made WordPress backups faster than ever with our integrated WordPress Disaster Recovery Backups solution – <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/shieldbackups" rel="nofollow ugc">ShieldBACKUPS</a>.
No more risky Cloud Storage/OAuth credentials exposed on your sites; Backups that work without relying on a temperamental WordPress cron.
ShieldBACKUPS keeps your data off-site, encrypted, and far away from hackers.
<h3>silentCAPTCHA Bad Bot Protection</h3>
Bad bots are your #1 security threat. They account for nearly all WordPress security probes, attacks, injections, malware, and vulnerability exploitation.
Google reCAPTCHA and CloudFlare Turnstile are considered the best way to detect bots, but these along with all other CAPTCHAs interrupt the user experience.
Shield’s exclusive silentCAPTCHA detects bad bots and blocks them from taking any abusive actions on your site, such as brute-force user login attacks and WP Comments SPAM.
Furthermore, privacy directives from legislation such as Europe’s GDPR restrict what data you may share of your visitors. All silentCAPTCHA data is kept on your WordPress site and ensures full compliance with GDPR regulations.
<h3>Comprehensive Activity Log</h3>
Shield’s has best-in-class logging that documents every WP action on your site.
Unlike existing logging solutions, Shield detects changes to your WordPress sites that happen directly on your database. e.g. by hackers that have infiltrated your defenses via an exposed vulnerability.
No other WordPress security plugin does this.
<h3>Limit Login Attempts and Block User Registration SPAM</h3>
silentCAPTCHA technology is invisible to your visitors and protects your WordPress login, registration and lost password forms from brute force attacks, and eliminates user registration SPAM from bots.
<h3>User Session Theft Protection</h3>
Shield can lock user session to browsers, or IP addresses. Combine with 2FA (below), you can protect your users from session theft and account theft.
<h3>Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for all users</h3>
Two-Factor Authentication is a crucial part of WordPress user security. It protects against account theft, takeover, and sharing. Shield supports email-based login code, Google/Microsoft/Lastpass Authenticator, Yubikey One-Time Passwords and Passkeys (pro).
<h3>Exclusive Security Admin Protection</h3>
Not only does Shield Security protect your WordPress site, it also provides security against tampering of key WordPress options and the Shield Security plugin itself. With Shield’s exclusive Security Admin feature, you can lockdown the security plugin from other admins to prevent accidental or malicious changes that will impact your security.
<h3>CrowdSec Partnership</h3>
Shield is the only WordPress security plugin with strategic partnerships that bring powerful protection to your WordPress sites. With our CrowdSec integration, your WordPress sites benefit from crowd-sourced IP Block Lists so your site can block malicious bots before they can do any damage whatsoever.
<h3>All The Features You’ll Absolutely Love</h3>
<ul>
<li>[ShieldPRO] ShieldBACKUPS – Disaster-proof your WordPress site with fast, reliable, easy WordPress backups!</li>
<li>Exclusive <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/ju" rel="nofollow ugc">silentCAPTCHA Security</a> – WordPress-specific bot-detection alternative to Google reCAPTCHA and CloudFlare Turnstile.</li>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j0" rel="nofollow ugc">Automatic Bot & IP Blocking</a> – reputation-based security intelligence to block repeat offenders automatically.</li>
<li>Instant Bad Bot Blocking with <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/l5" rel="nofollow ugc">our exclusive CrowdSec Security integration</a></li>
<li>Easy To Understand Security Dashboard that highlights quick wins and areas to rapidly improve site security</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/lf" rel="nofollow ugc">Artificial Intelligence based PHP Malware Detection</a></li>
<li>Security for your important user forms, by blocking Block Bots:
<ul>
<li>Login Forms</li>
<li>User Registration Forms</li>
<li>Lost Password Reset Forms</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] WooCommerce & Easy Digital Downloads</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Contact Form SPAM Protection: Contact Form 7, NinjaForms, Elementor, WP Forms, and more!</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Memberpress, LearnPress, BuddyPress, WP Members, ProfileBuilder</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/iw" rel="nofollow ugc">Brute Force Security Protection, Limit Login Attempts + Login Cooldown</a></li>
<li>Powerful Firewall Rules</li>
<li>Restricted Security Admin Access
<ul>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/ix" rel="nofollow ugc">Prevents Unauthorized Changes By Compromised Admins</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>(MFA) <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/iy" rel="nofollow ugc">Two-Factor / Multi-Factor Login Authentication</a>:
<ul>
<li>Email</li>
<li>Google Authenticator</li>
<li>Yubikey</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Passkeys</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Backup Login Codes</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Multiple Yubikey per User</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Remember Me (reduces 2FA requests for users)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/iz" rel="nofollow ugc">Block XML-RPC</a> (including Pingbacks and Trackbacks)</li>
<li>Security firewall for the REST API – block anonymous requests</li>
<li>Powerful IP Addresses-based Security:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j0" rel="nofollow ugc">Automatic IP Address Blocking Using Points-Based System</a></li>
<li>Block or Bypass individual IPs</li>
<li>Block or Bypass IP Subnets</li>
<li>Full IP Security Analysis in 1 place to review activity on your sites</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Comprehensive WordPress File Scanner for Intrusions and Hacks
<ul>
<li>Detect File Changes – <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j1" rel="nofollow ugc">Scan & Repair WordPress Core Files</a></li>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j2" rel="nofollow ugc">Detect Unknown/Suspicious PHP Files</a></li>
<li>Detect Abandoned Plugins.</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Malware Scanner – detects known and unknown malware.</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Plugin and Theme Scanning – identify file changes in your plugins/themes.</li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Detect Plugins/Themes With Known Security Vulnerabilities.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j3" rel="nofollow ugc">Create a Private Secure Login URL by hiding wp-login.php</a></li>
<li>Comment SPAM Blocking – Block <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/jf" rel="nofollow ugc">Comment SPAM from Bots and Humans</a>.</li>
<li>Never Block Google: Smart Security Automatically Detects Known Good Bots: GoogleBot, Bing and other Official Search Engines including:
<ul>
<li>Google</li>
<li>Bing,</li>
<li>DuckDuckGo</li>
<li>Yahoo!</li>
<li>Baidu</li>
<li>Apple</li>
<li>Yandex</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Automatically Detects 3rd Party Services and Prevents Blocking Of:
<ul>
<li>ManageWP / iControlWP / MainWP</li>
<li>Pingdom, NodePing, Statuscake, UptimeRobot, GTMetrix</li>
<li>Stripe, PayPal IPN</li>
<li>CloudFlare, SEMRush</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Full Security Activity Log – <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j5" rel="nofollow ugc">Monitor All Site Activity, including</a>:
<ul>
<li>Activity log for all user login & registration attempts</li>
<li>Plugin and Theme installation activity logs, including activation & deactivation etc.</li>
<li>User creation activity log, including detection of administrator promotions</li>
<li>Activity log for Page/Post create, update, delete</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Advanced User Sessions Control
<ul>
<li>Restrict Multiple User Login</li>
<li>Restrict Users Session To IP</li>
<li>Password Security – Block Pwned Passwords</li>
<li>User Enumeration Blocking – Firewall blocks requests to <code>?author=x</code></li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Security for old and idle user account with manual and automatic User Suspend.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Full/Automatic Support for All IP Address Sources including Proxy Support</li>
<li>HTTP Request/Traffic Logging – <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j7" rel="nofollow ugc">Full Traffic Logging and Request Monitoring</a></li>
<li>[ShieldPRO] Traffic Rate Limiting Security – prevent server overload from DoS Attacks</li>
<li><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/j6" rel="nofollow ugc">HTTP Security Headers & Content Security Policies (CSP)</a></li>
</ul>
<h4><a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/shieldfeatures" rel="nofollow ugc">Full Shield Security Features List</a></h4>
Shield is the only security plugin for WordPress that prioritises protection and intrusion prevention before repair. With Shield Security, your site will immediately to block visitors as they probe your site looking for vulnerabilities, and before they can do damage.
No other standalone WordPress security plugin (including <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/shieldvswordfence" rel="nofollow ugc">Wordfence</a>, WP Cerber, Ninja Firewall, All-In-One Security) approaches security in this way. The 1st step in any good security system is Intrusion Detection/Prevention, the 2nd step is repair. Shield Security does both.
<h4>Get the highest rated 5* Security Plugin for WordPress</h4>
Per download, Shield Security <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/jl" rel="nofollow ugc">has the highest 5* rating</a> in the WordPress plugin repository.
<h3>Leave Behind the Security Marketing Hype and Scare Mongering</h3>
Our solution isn’t designed to scare you and make you feel unsafe.
<h3>2 Key WordPress Security Strategies</h3>
Shield Security uses 2 simple key strategies to protect your WordPress sites:
<ol>
<li>Intrusion Prevention System – Detect Bots/Malicious IPs that will try to hack and invade your WordPress sites.</li>
<li>Block & Recover – Block Bad Bots and Repair Hacks</li>
</ol>
<h4>Key Security Strategy #1: Hacking Prevention</h4>
Bad Bots are the primary cause for nearly all our security troubles – they’re relentless, automatic and powerful.
Shield Security is highly focused on their detection and eradication from your WordPress sites.
Blocking malicious bots before they do damage through malware and exploitation of vulnerabilities is the #1 security strategy to protect and enhance security on a WordPress site.
Shield detects these malicious visitors, then blocks their access to your site completely. This involves analysing different security bot-signals and combining them to identify a visitor as malicious.
These security signals include:
<ul>
<li>site probes that generate 404 errors</li>
<li>failed logins</li>
<li>logins with invalid usernames</li>
<li>xml-rpc access</li>
<li>fake search engine web crawlers</li>
<li>invalid user agents</li>
<li>excessive website requests and resource abuse</li>
<li>and many more signals our security team have identified.</li>
</ul>
Early identification and blocking of malicious bots reduces your WordPress site’s vulnerability to any sort of attack.
<h4>Key Strategy #2: Hacking Recovery</h4>
Even with the best security efforts, a site can get hacked. This usually involves file modification: either a hack file is added, or a file is changed.
There are 3 key WordPress assets whose files can be hacked:
<ol>
<li>WordPress Core</li>
<li>WordPress Plugins</li>
<li>WordPress Themes</li>
</ol>
Almost every security plugin can now do #1 – it’s easy because WordPress.org provides checksums for core files.
But, there are no hashes available for plugins and themes, particularly premium plugins, so they can’t do it.
Shield is the only WordPress security plugin that offers accurate detection of file modifications for all plugins and themes because we build our own file fingerprints.
Shield can compare the file contents of every plugin & theme in the WordPress.org repository, looking for changed or new files
And, if you’re a ShieldPRO client, you can protect premium plugins/themes too, including Yoast SEO and Advanced Custom Fields Pro.
Where possible, Shield will repair any unrecognised/modified files it detects.
<h4>Non-stop Security Notifications Are Not Okay.</h4>
Your security plugin must be smarter, and take responsibility for decisions, so you don’t have to.
Shield handles many problems for you, making intelligent decisions without noisy email notifications.
<h3>Dedicated Premium Support When You Go PRO</h3>
The Shield Security team prioritises email technical support over the WordPress.org forums. 
Individual, dedicated technical support is only available to customers who have <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/ab" rel="nofollow ugc">purchased Shield Pro</a>.
Discover all the advantages of switching your WordPress security Pro at <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/ab" rel="nofollow ugc">our Shield Security store</a>.
<h3>Partnerships & Integrations</h3>
We believe that <a href="https://clk.shldscrty.com/ol" rel="nofollow ugc">silentCAPTCHA</a> is one of the simplest and most powerful solutions available today for all WordPress site owners to block and eliminate automated bot spam.
That’s why we’ve started a collaboration campaign with other WordPress plugin developers to adapt their plugins to natively support Shield’s silentCAPTCHA solution, alongside Google reCAPTCHA & Cloudflare Turnstile.
When you use one of the products from any of our partners, you will be able to activate Shield’s silentCAPTCHA bot spam protection so that your forms are protected from automated spam. You won’t need any site/API keys, custom integrations, or JavaScript that can breaks your forms. It all works automatically for you when you enable the feature.
As of this release, we have partnered with the following WordPress form providers:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-form-builder/" rel="ugc">Easy Form Builder</a> v4+</li>
</ul>

Shield: Blocks Bots, Protects Users, and Prevents Security Breaches

Shield stops bot attacks before they hack your site. Bots CAN be stopped. Shield stops them.

Guard Dog vs Shield: Blocks Bots, Protects Users, and Prevents Security Breaches