What is a Website Intrusion Detection System (IDS)?

A Website Intrusion Detection System continuously monitors your website for unauthorized changes, file modifications, and signs of compromise. It helps detect intrusions early, preventing further damage and data loss.

How does Sucuri’s IDS detect website intrusions?

Sucuri’s IDS uses file integrity monitoring, anomaly detection, and remote scanning to identify suspicious activity and code changes. It compares your website’s files and behavior against known malware signatures and attack patterns.

Will Sucuri alert me when suspicious activity is detected?

Yes. Sucuri provides real-time alerts when your website shows signs of intrusion, unauthorized changes, or other suspicious activity. You can receive alerts via email, Slack, or custom integrations.

Does the Intrusion Detection System work with all website platforms?

Absolutely. Sucuri’s IDS is platform-agnostic and works with WordPress, Joomla, Magento, Drupal, and any other CMS or custom-built website.

Can Sucuri help remediate a detected intrusion?

Yes. If an intrusion or malware infection is detected, Sucuri’s team of security experts can remove malicious code, repair core files, and harden your website to prevent future attacks.

Website Intrusion Detection System (IDS)

Block hacks. Boost performance. Stay secure.

Protect your site from hacks and attacks. Our Web Application Firewall (WAF) and Intrusion Detection System (IPS) provide the protection you need against website threats. Preserve your website traffic and rankings while increasing your website performance.

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Digital illustration of a shield icon surrounded by interconnected computer nodes on a dark background; represents Sucuri’s ecommerce website security solutions that protect online stores through network-wide threat detection and prevention.

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Guaranteed Malware Removal
Protection Against Furture Hacks
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What Is Website Intrusion Detection?

A website intrusion detection system (IDS) monitors and inspects incoming requests to identify indicators of attack, like exploit payloads, credential‑stuffing attempts, or anomalous behavior; so you can stop threats before they reach your application. Paired with a web application firewall (WAF) and prevention rules, IDS becomes a proactive shield against hacks.

At Sucuri, IDS is built into our Web Application Firewall and included in all Complete Website Security Platform plans, so you get layered protection without extra complexity or hidden costs.

How Sucuri’s IDS & WAF Work Together

Sucuri combines an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) with a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to deliver proactive, layered security. This integration stops attacks before they reach your site by detecting anomalies, blocking malicious traffic, and applying virtual patches in real time. Here are four core protections that make this possible:

Malware & Hack Protection

We protect your website against malicious code and prevent website hacking with our Web Application Firewall (WAF).

Zero-Day Exploit Prevention

Hackers discover new vulnerabilities every day. We protect sites and stop suspicious behavior. Mitigating new threats rarely requires a patch.

DDoS Attack Mitigation

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks can cause downtime. We block layer 3, 4, and 7 DDoS attacks.

Brute Force Protection

Automated hacker tools target all sites. We stop brute force attacks and password cracking to prevent site abuse.

Key Features of Our IDS

Sucuri’s Intrusion Detection System is more than just monitoring—it’s a proactive defense layer built into our Web Application Firewall and included in all Complete Website Security Platform plans. These features work together to detect, block, and mitigate threats in real time, keeping your site secure and fast.

Virtual Patching & Hardening

If a security patch is released, but you can’t update your site, it becomes an easy target for hackers. We constantly update patches and server rules to protect your site.

Machine Learning

Protect your website from emerging security threats. We correlate attack data across our network to better understand malicious behavior and keep your site secure.

Protected Pages

Add another layer of protection to sensitive pages by enabling the Protected Page feature. Add passwords, CAPTCHA, 2FA (via Google Authenticator), or IP allowlisting.

IP Allowlisting

Allowlisted IP addresses ensure that only your team can access website administrative areas. Restrict your admin panels so malicious users don’t gain access.

Application Profiling

Each site has its CMS, server software, and other technologies in the stack. We analyze all the traffic to block requests that don’t fit your web application’s profile.

Signature Detection

All HTTP/HTTPS web traffic is inspected before reaching your server. With heuristic and signature-based techniques, we block malicious requests and attack patterns.

Bad Bot Blocking

When our systems detect a malicious bot or hacker tool trying to attack your site, it is blocked automatically. We protect your site from vulnerability exploitation attempts.

Geo Blocking

Most website attacks come from only a handful of countries. Block all visitors from the top three attack countries with one click or choose which countries to block.

Web traffic is
malicious

0 %

Websites are
hacked daily

0 k

DDoS attack 
increase yearly

0 %

Money back
guarantee

0 %

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How to Activate IDS Protection (Takes Minutes)

Add Your Site to the Sucuri Firewall

After signing up, simply type your website domain name to get started. If your site is under a significant DDoS attack, select the option “I am currently under attack”. You can also restrict admin access to allowlisted IP addresses. More setting options available.

Activate Website Protection in Seconds

Enable the website firewall by changing your DNS records. When activated, the firewall intercepts and inspects all incoming HTTP/HTTPS packets to ensure that only safe requests arrive at your server. Our analysts are always happy to set it up for you.

Add SSL & Protect Data in Transit

We will automatically create SSL certificates (HTTPS) for your firewall server. Professional or Business plans can upload custom SSL certificates. You can open a support ticket anytime if you need assistance.

Choose from Caching Options

Power up your website with our content delivery. Not only is your website protected from hacks and attacks, site speed is optimized due to our high-performance caching.

Why Choose Sucuri?

99 %

Support Ticket
satisfaction

20,000

Sites Cleaned
Monthly

Speed Without Sacrificing Security

Our global CDN and smart caching improve site speed by up to 60%—while our WAF filters threats in real time.

Built-In DDoS & Intrusion Protection

Layered defense against Layer 3, 4, and 7 attacks, credential stuffing, and brute force attempts powered by machine learning.

Virtual Patching for Vulnerable Sites

Protect outdated plugins and CMS versions without touching your code. Our WAF blocks known exploits instantly.

Easy Setup & Scalable Security

Activate protection via DNS or dashboard—no installation required. Sucuri scales with your needs, from SMBs to enterprise.

Who Uses Sucuri’s Intrusion Detection System

Partners

Deliver proactive protection to your clients. Offer real-time monitoring and threat detection as part of your managed services. Sucuri’s IDS helps you identify issues before they escalate, adding value to your security offerings.

Agencies

Monitor multiple client sites from one dashboard. Stay ahead of threats with centralized alerts and activity logs. Sucuri’s IDS helps agencies maintain uptime and reputation across all hosted websites.

SMBs

Get enterprise-grade visibility without complexity. Sucuri’s IDS monitors file changes, login attempts, and suspicious behavior—so you can focus on running your business while staying protected.

Ecommerce

Protect customer data and transaction integrity. Monitor for unauthorized access, malware injections, and suspicious admin activity. IDS helps ecommerce sites maintain trust and compliance.

Enterprises

Scale monitoring across complex environments. Sucuri’s IDS integrates with your existing infrastructure to provide deep visibility into website activity, helping security teams respond quickly to threats.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sucuri an IDS, IPS, or WAF?

Sucuri combines the strengths of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) and a Web Application Firewall (WAF) into one solution. Our firewall inspects all HTTP/HTTPS traffic, detects malicious patterns, and actively blocks attacks in real time. This means you get both detection and prevention, plus performance benefits from our global CDN—all in a single platform.

How does virtual patching help with zero‑day and known CVEs?

Virtual patching applies security rules at the edge of your network, blocking exploit attempts before they reach your site. This is critical for zero‑day vulnerabilities and known CVEs because it buys you time to safely update your CMS, plugins, or themes without leaving your site exposed. No code changes are required on your end.

How does Sucuri mitigate DDoS attacks?

Guarantee your website availability and performance against the largest attacks. Our globally distributed Anycast Network and secure content delivery keep your site online during large traffic spikes and massive DDoS attacks.

Will geo‑blocking hurt SEO?

Not if configured correctly. Sucuri’s Geo‑Blocking lets you block POST requests (like logins or form submissions) from high‑risk regions while keeping view access open for search engines and legitimate visitors. This approach minimizes SEO impact while reducing attack surface.

Do I get 24/7 support and a guarantee?

Yes. Our security team is available 24/7/365 via chat and ticket for any issues or questions. All plans include a 30‑day money‑back guarantee, so you can try Sucuri risk‑free.

How do I get started?

Sucuri offers both remote website and server side monitoring. Once these are properly set up, we will scan your website externally and internally for indicators of compromise. You’ll also receive weekly and monthly reports and have access to audit logs.

Our malware monitoring identifies the following:

Obfuscated javascript injections
Cross-site scripting
Website defacements
Hidden & malicious iframes
PHP mailers
Phishing attempts
Malicious redirects
Backdoors
Drive-by downloads
SEO blackhat spam

Additional Resources

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Sucuri Blog

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Technical Hub

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