I can see exactly how many bots SiteLock blocks every day. Knowing the firewall is actively working — not just sitting there — is genuinely reassuring.
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL (WAF)
Stop attacks before they reach your site.
Automatically blocks malicious traffic, bots and exploits around the clock — set up in minutes, no technical expertise required.
Bot and DDoS defence — smarter every day
Uses machine learning, bot‑behaviour analysis, IP reputation, and rate‑limiting to stop abusive bots, scrapers, credential‑stuffing attempts, and DDoS‑style floods—while keeping real visitors and search engines moving through without friction or delays.
Attack and exploit protection
Blocks common web attacks — including OWASP Top 10 threats like SQL Injection and Cross-Site Scripting — and uses virtual patching to filter exploit traffic targeting known vulnerabilities. Your site stays protected even when you're between updates or waiting on a plugin fix.
See every threat your firewall stops
Your dashboard shows human vs. bot traffic, blocked attack types, and where requests originate — so protection isn't just happening in the background, you can see exactly how much your firewall is intercepting and what kind of attacks are targeting your site.
12.6x
more bot traffic than human visitors on the average website
568
attacks hit the average SMB website every single day
567M
threats blocked per month across SiteLock's network
Setup took five minutes. I expected to spend a day on it. Now I’d never run a site without a WAF.
We had a SQL injection attempt that SiteLock blocked automatically. We only knew about it because it showed up in the dashboard. That’s exactly what I wanted.
Your WAF comes with a CDN built in
Block threats and boost your site speed at the same time — our global network of 44+ data centers has been proven to load sites up to 50% faster.
Expert help when it really matters
Most threats are handled automatically by the firewall, but if something urgent or unusual happens, you are not on your own. SiteLock’s security experts can help you interpret threat logs, fine‑tune rules, and respond to active attacks—so you are not trying to decode bot traffic and exploit attempts by yourself at 2 a.m.
Web Application Firewall (WAF) in-depth
| Attack Blocking & Threat Prevention | |
|---|---|
| Block the most dangerous web attacks automatically | The WAF filters every incoming request against a ruleset covering the OWASP Top 10—SQL injection, cross‑site scripting (XSS), command injection, and more—so threats are blocked before they reach your server, with no manual rule‑writing required. |
| Stop bad bots without slowing down real visitors | Bots now generate 12.6× more traffic than real human visitors on the average website. The WAF uses machine learning, bot behavioural analysis, and IP reputation to block scrapers, credential‑stuffing bots, and DDoS probes while letting genuine visitors and authorised bots through without friction |
| Use smart verification to challenge suspicious traffic | When traffic behaves suspiciously, the firewall can apply targeted verification challenges—like cookie, JavaScript, or CAPTCHA tests—to confirm legitimacy and block malicious bots while genuine visitors continue without disruption. |
| Cut off backdoor access before attackers use it | Detects backdoor files and blocks attacker access to them automatically, so even if a backdoor was previously installed, attempts to use it are denied at the firewall.. |
| Protect against vulnerabilities before you can patch them | Virtual patching applies firewall‑level blocks on known vulnerability exploit attempts as soon as they are identified, closing the gap between a vulnerability being discovered and your permanent fix being applied. |
| Keep comment spam off your site automatically | Identifies and blocks spam submission attempts on forms and comment sections, reducing manual cleanup and keeping malicious or deceptive links off your site. |
| Absorb DDoS traffic before it affects your uptime | Uses behaviour analysis and IP reputation to spot DDoS‑style traffic patterns and reject the malicious volume before it overwhelms your server, helping keep your site available during attacks. |
| Setup & Activation | |
|---|---|
| Get protected in five minutes with one DNS change | Requires no installation, server‑side configuration, or code changes. A single DNS change routes traffic through SiteLock’s network so the WAF can start protecting your site in minutes. |
| See your protection status at a glance | Shows a simple status panel for your firewall and CDN, so you can tell in seconds whether protection is active and correctly configured. |
| Manage SSL end-to-end through the firewall | Lets you configure SSL directly at the firewall layer and verify that encryption is active from browser to origin, so there are no gaps an attacker can exploit |
| Adjust your IP routing without contacting support | If your server IP changes, you can update the routing target yourself in the dashboard and have changes take effect within minutes—no support ticket needed. |
| Traffic Visibility & Reporting | |
|---|---|
| See exactly what’s reaching your site and what’s being blocked | Breaks traffic down into human visitors, bot visitors, and total sessions over any date range, plus high‑level geography and client details, so the scale and source of automated traffic is finally visible—not just a vague background risk. |
| Know which types of attacks are targeting you | Provides a detailed log of blocked threats—including attack type, source, and targeted entry page—so you can see exactly how attackers are probing your site and export evidence for compliance reporting or deeper analysis. |
| Understand where your traffic comes from | Countrylevel and browserlevel breakdowns show where visitors originate and which clients they use, helping you spot unusual geographic or tool patterns that may indicate targeted attacks. |
| Manage threat exceptions when you need to | If a blocked request turns out to be legitimate, you can manage exceptions directly from the Found Threats view without editing raw rules or contacting support. |
| Clear your cache on demand when content changes | Lets you clear cached content instantly—across your site or for specific URLs—so visitors see the latest changes right away while the CDN continues offloading traffic from your server |
| Generate a PCI compliance report for your firewall | Generates a PCI‑ready firewall report in one click. Especially useful for businesses giving businesses that handle card payments the documentation they need without manual data gathering or extra tools. |
| Site Health & Dashboard Integration | |
|---|---|
| See your firewall status in your Site Health score | WAF status feeds into your Site Health score; if the firewall is disabled or misconfigured, that gap is reflected in your score and surfaced in the Prioritized Security Action Queue so it cannot be missed. |
| Manage WAF alongside every other SiteLock scan | The Firewall & CDN section sits inside the same dashboard as your malware scans, vulnerability checks, SSL monitor, and backup status — one login, one view, no tool-switching. |
Security + Speed In One Layer
WAF and CDN — built to work together
SiteLock’s WAF and Content Delivery Network (CDN) work as a paired layer. Traffic routes through the WAF for threat filtering and through the CDN for delivery — so your site is protected and fast at the same time.
Behind the scenes, machine learningpowered detection keeps watching traffic as it flows through the WAF and CDN layer, helping the system adapt to new attack patterns without extra tuning
The CDN caches static and dynamic content across a global network of data centres, compresses code on the fly, and serves pages from the location closest to your visitor. The result: a firewall that doesn’t slow your site down and a CDN that doesn’t leave it exposed.
FAQ
Will the WAF slow my site down?
No. Traffic routes through SiteLock’s global network for filtering, and the integrated CDN caches and compresses content at the same time — so most sites see a speed improvement after enabling the WAF, not a slowdown. The off-server architecture means your hosting environment carries none of the processing load.
How does setup work?
A single DNS change points your domain to SiteLock’s network. No installation, no code changes, no server access required. The WAF and CDN activate together, and your dashboard shows confirmation once routing is live. The whole process takes around five minutes.
What attacks does the WAF actually block?
The WAF covers the OWASP Top 10 — the ten most common and dangerous web application attack types — including SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), command injection, and broken access control. It also blocks bad bots and DDoS traffic using behavioral analysis and IP reputation, and cuts off backdoor file access. The virtual patching feature adds an extra layer of protection against newly discovered vulnerabilities.
What’s the difference between WAF and malware scanning?
The WAF is a prevention layer — it blocks attacks before they reach your site. Malware scanning is a detection and remediation layer — it finds and removes malicious code that has already been injected. Both are important. The WAF closes the door before attackers get in; SMART File Scan and SMART Database Scan deal with anything that slips through. SiteLock 2.0 runs both, together, in the same platform.
Does the WAF work with my CMS?
Yes. Because the WAF operates at the DNS/network layer — not inside your CMS — it works with any web platform: WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Drupal, IIS/.NET, and custom-built sites. Nothing is installed on your server and no CMS configuration is required.
Reduce your website security risks
Start blocking attacks in five minutes
SiteLock’s WAF and Content Delivery Network (CDN) work as a paired layer. Traffic routes through the WAF for threat filtering and through the CDN for delivery — so your site is protected and fast at the same time.
