Know Your Website Security Changes And Enhancements

As the security administrator for your WordPress websites, knowing what changes and enhancements have been made to your security plugin are critical to your success in this role.

We aim to make it as easy as possible to know what’s going on so you can adapt and improve your security as we evolve. Please refer to the changelog below for further information on each new release.

The Shield team is running an initiative (with 3000+ members) to raise awareness of WordPress Security and to provide further help with the Shield security plugin.

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Latest Point Release: v5.8.2

Released: 24th April, 2017

  • (v.2) IMPROVEMENTS: The core file scanner now works more reliably for international WordPress installations.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Login Cooldown now uses only the flag file as an indicator of login times.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Filter to allow for changing the two factor timeout period, from 5 (minutes). Filter: icwp-wpsf-login_intent_timeout.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Changed timeout for two-factor authentication email to 5 minutes to account for slower email-sending providers.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Added further clarification to the Login Notification email indicating that two-factor authentication was pending.

5.8 Series

Released: 7th April March, 2017

  • (v.2) IMPROVEMENTS: The core file scanner now works more reliably for international WordPress installations.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Login Cooldown now uses only the flag file as an indicator of login times.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Filter to allow for changing the two factor timeout period, from 5 (minutes). Filter: icwp-wpsf-login_intent_timeout.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Changed timeout for two-factor authentication email to 5 minutes to account for slower email-sending providers.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Added further clarification to the Login Notification email indicating that two-factor authentication was pending.
  • (v.1) FIXED: Fixed a couple of bugs with the Login Authentication Portal, for certain edge cases.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Major overhaul of Two-Factor / Multi-Factor Login Authentication.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Introduction of Login Authentication Portal for improved Multi-Factor Authentication.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Option to choose between two-factor or multi-factor login authentication.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Administrators can remove Google Authenticator from another user’s profile.
  • (v.0) ADDED: When Security Admin is active, only Security Admins may remove Google Authenticator from other admins.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Yubikey login authentication is now managed directly from the User Profile screen, as with Google Authenticator.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Email-based login authentication no longer uses a separate database table.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Core file scanning now adequately handles Windows/Unix new lines during scan.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Certain crons weren’t setup correctly.
  • (v.0) IMPROVEMENTS: Further preparation for Shield Central release.

5.7 Series

Released: 19th March, 2017

  • (v.3) FIXED: Attempt to improve the Google Authenticator flow for more reliable activation.
  • (v.2) IMPROVEMENTS: More admin notices when saving Google Authenticator settings.
  • (v.2) IMPROVEMENTS: Further reparation for Shield Central release.
  • (v.0) IMPROVEMENTS: Shortcode for displaying plugin badge in pages/posts.
  • (v.0) IMPROVEMENTS: Enabled JS eval() for the Content Security Policy by default.
  • (v.0) IMPROVEMENTS: Replace YAML configuration files with JSON.
  • (v.0) IMPROVEMENTS: Preparation for Shield Central release.
  • (v.0) IMPROVEMENTS: Security Admin notices are more refined and optimized.
  • (v.0) IMPROVEMENTS: Removed unnecessary files/code.

5.4 Series

Released: 18th July, 2016

  • (v.1) FIXED: Nasty bug that caused an infinite loop bug in some configurations.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Per-site plugin statistics gathering – summary display on admin dashboard.
  • (v.0) ADDED: HTML class to the “I’m a human” checkbox field.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Ability to change minimum user role for login notification emails with use of `add_filter()`. See FAQs.
  • (v.0) REMOVED: Option ‘Prevent Remote Login’ causes more trouble with than it’s worth with too many hosting configurations.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: For websites that don’t run WP Crons correctly, added code for automatic database cleaning.
  • (v.0) CLEANED: Removed Twig render code as it was never being used.

5.3 Series

Released: 4th July, 2016

  • (v.2) IMPROVED: HTTP Security Headers Content Security Policy now supports specifying HTTPS for domains/hosts.
  • (v.2) FIXED: Human Comment SPAM Feature didn’t fire under certain circumstances.
  • (v.2) FIXED: Fixed parsing of Human Comment SPAM dictionary words.
  • (v.1) TRANSLATIONS: Dutch / German.
  • (v.0) ADDED: New Feature – HTTP Security Headers.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Prevent renaming WP Login to “/login”.

5.2 Series

Released: 11th May, 2016

  • (v.0) ADDED: Guard against core file scanner and automatic WordPress updates clashing.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Logic for brute force login checking is improved – they all run before username/password checking.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Certain older versions of PHP don’t like combined IPv4 and IPv6 filter flags.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Google reCAPTCHA for WordPress sites that have restrictive settings for sockets etc.
  • (v.0) REMOVED: Plugin vulnerabilities scanner. It’s out-of-date and unsuitable.

5.1 Series

Released: 27th April, 2016

  • (v.0) FIXED: Improved compatibility with bbPress.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Optimizations around options and definitions (storing fewer options data).
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Improved styling and responsiveness of plugin badge.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Ability to programmatically export/import options – further preparation for iControlWP+Shield integration.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Issue where Core automatic updates would fail, but notification email was sent anyway.

5.0 Series

Released: 1st March, 2016

  • (v.3) FIXED: Issue with setting session cookies with PHP 7.
  • (v.2) FIXED: Rename WordPress Login URL bug.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Rename WordPress Login URL bug.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: Removed the whole wp-content directory from the Core File Scanner feature.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: A WordPress filter to change the plugin badge text content (see FAQ).
  • (v.1) CHANGED: Tweaked the plugin badge styling.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: All emails sent by the plugin contain the name of the site and the current plugin version in the email footer.
  • (v.1) ADDED: In-plugin links to blogs and info articles for Google ReCaptcha and Google Authenticator.
  • (v.0) NEW: Shield security plugin has been re-branded and is called Shield.
  • (v.0) ADDED: NEW feature – Google ReCaptcha for Comment SPAM and Login protection.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Support for this plugin is now Premium. Added Premium Support page that links to Helpdesk.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Refactor of comment spam code.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Core File Scanner now handles the odd Hungarian distribution.

4.17 Series

Released: 17th February, 2016

  • (v.0) ADDED: NEW feature – Google Authenticator Login option.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Core File Scanner now includes an automatic link to repair files (you must be logged in as admin for this link to work!).
  • (v.0) ADDED: NEW – if you already have a logged-in session and you open the login screen, you’ll be provided with a link to go straight to the admin area.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Email-based Two-Factor Authentication is now stateless/session-less – it will not check validity per-page load.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Changes to the email-based authentication system – now only 1 option and it no longer locks to IP or browser.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Various efficiency improvements including reduced SQL updates.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Email system is improved and now send emails from the default WordPress sender. This may be changed with filter.

4.16 Series

Released: 20th January, 2016

  • (v.2) CHANGED: Further changes and improvements to the Core File Scanner.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Improvements to the automatic black list system for failed login attempts.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Provided the option to manually force a Core File Scan.
  • (v.2) TRANSLATIONS: Turkish – 100%.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: Improved the contents of the Core File Scanner notification email with links to original source files.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: Now also excluding the /wp-content/languages/ directory since translations may update independently.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: Handles the special case of old index.php files.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Feature – Automatically scans WordPress Core files and detects alterations from the default WordPress Core File data.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Feature to automatically attempt to repair/replace WordPress Core files that are discovered which have been altered.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Option to toggle the Plugin Vulnerabilities cron.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Two-Factor Authentication links now honour the WordPress ‘redirect_to’ parameter.

4.15 Series

Released: 6th January, 2016

  • (v.0) ADDED: New and updated Firewall rules as well as a new ‘Aggressive’ option that looks for additional request data. Disabled by default, but may cause an increase in false positives.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Improved and optimized Firewall processing.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Issue where automatic update notification emails are sent out without any update notices (probably due to failed updates).
  • (v.0) FIXED: Small conflict with WP Login Rename and other security plugins.
  • (v.0) TRANSLATIONS: Czech (91%), Finnish (98%), Turkish (98%).

4.14 Series

Released: 20th November, 2015

  • (v.2) ADDED: User notice message displayed when the ‘Theme My Login’ plugin is active and you try to rename your login URL. It is not compatible.
  • (v.1) ADDED: Added WordPress filter option to specify URL instead of present a 404 when Rename WP Login is active.
  • (v.1) ADDED: Added ‘Unique Plugin Installation ID’ to be utilized in the future.
  • (v.1) FIXED: WordPress Comments bug where some comments didn’t pass through the SPAM filters in a certain scenario.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Custom Automatic Update Notifications Email that runs separately to the in-built WordPress core notification email.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Filter to remove the admin area IP address footer text.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Added native support for PayPal return links – whitelisting “verify_sign” parameter.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Tweak patterns for matching on ‘WordPress terms’.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Small bugs and readying for WordPress 4.4.
  • (v.0) TRANSLATIONS: Danish (100%), Czech (92%), Turkish (92%), Finnish (88%)

4.13 Series

Released: 22nd October, 2015

  • (v.0) NEW: Added option to block the modification, addition/promotion and deletion of WordPress administrators users within the ‘Security Admin’ module.
  • (v.0) NEW: Renamed ‘Admin Access’ module to ‘Security Admin’.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Simplified and consolidated the use of cookies for User Session – sets and removes cookies better to reduce their usage.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Simplified and consolidated the use of cookies for User Session – sets and removes cookies better to reduce their usage.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Cleaned up some Comment SPAM filtering code.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Comments Filter doesn’t use cookies unless a session cookie for the visitor already exists.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: IP Manager Automatic Black List – default black list duration is now 1 minute & default transgressions limit is 10.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Improvements to the database create queries: use MySQL Engine defaults (instead of MyISAM); use WordPress dbDelta() for updates.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Various code optimizations and cleaning.

4.12 Series

Released: 10th October, 2015

  • (v.0) NEW: Option to completely disable the XML-RPC system.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Logged-in users are automatically forwarded to the WordPress admin only if they are Administrators.

4.11 Series

Released: 5th October, 2015

  • (v.0) FIX: Various small bugs with the IP Manager UI ajax
  • (v.0) FIX: Uncaught PHP Exception when a site’s hosting isn’t properly configured to handle IPv6 addresses
  • (v.0) TRANSLATION: Danish – 57%, Czech – 100%, Finnish – 94%
  • (v.0) NEW: Ability to now completely block the update/changing of certain WordPress site options.

4.10 Series

Released: 23rd August, 2015

  • (v.4) REFACTOR: Notifications system is more reliable and most notices can be hidden/closed (at least for the current page load as some notices are persistent).
  • (v.4) REMOVED: The old manual black list option has been completely removed – in favour of the automatic black list system.
  • (v.4) CHANGED: Revised the order of certain hooks being created to avoid the possibility of pluggable.php not being loaded for PHP Shutdown.
  • (v.4) CHANGED: The presence of IP addresses in the IP Whitelist will force the IP Manager feature to be enabled.
  • (v.4) CHANGED: We now make an attempt to prevent the caching of WordPress wp_die() pages that we generate. (compatible with at least W3TC, Super Cache).
  • (v.3) FIX: Another PHP 5.2 incompatibility.
  • (v.2) ADDED: White Listing UI to the IP Manager – CIDR ranges are supported (also automatically migrates IPs, except ranges, from legacy to new).
  • (v.2) ADDED: Returned the black marking of failed WP login attempts to the automatic black list system.
  • (v.2) ADDED: Using a 3rd party API service: ipify.org – to find the server’s own IP address so we can ensure it’s not used in the black lists.
  • (v.2) FIX: A few black list processing bugs.
  • (v.2) CHANGED: AJAX calls are handled more robustly with actual error messages where possible.
  • (v.1) ADDED: UI to view and remove IP address from Automatic Black List Engine.
  • (v.1) FIX: Removed transgression counting on failed logins – WP data is inconsistent.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: Original legacy white list now takes priority over new auto black list.
  • (v.1) CHANGED: Default transgressions limit is now 7.
  • (v.1) ADDED: Ability to reset plugin options to default using ‘reset’ flag file. [more info]
  • (v.0) NEW: FABLE – Fully Automatic Black List Engine.

4.9 Series

Released: 7th June, 2015

  • (v.8) CHANGED: Firewall, User Sessions and Lockdown Feature Modules are now enabled by default for new installations.
  • (v.8) FIX: Some server email programs can’t handle colons (:) in the email subject (because supporting all characters would be waaay too radical man).
  • (v.8) ADDED: Function to better get the WordPress home URL to prevent interference from other plugins.
  • (v.8) CHANGED: Updated Text For Author Scan Block feature.
  • (v.7) CHANGED: How author query blocking works to be more reliable and stricter – only runs when users are not logged in, and it will DIE instead of redirect.
  • (v.6) ADDED: New Option: prevent detection of usernames using the ?author=N query. (location under section: Lockdown -> Obscurity).
  • (v.6) FIX: Infinite redirect loop logic prevents redirect for rejected comment SPAM that’s posted in bulk. This results in email notifications for spam comments.
  • (v.5) ADDED: The plugin will load itself first before all other plugins.
  • (v.5) FIX: No longer using parse_url() to determine the request URL as it’s too inconsistent and unreliable.
  • (v.4) FIX: Audit Trail Viewer display issue with non-escaped HTML (Thanks Chris!)
  • (v.4) ADDED: An admin warning for sites with PHP version less than 5.3.2 (future versions will require this as a minimum).
  • (v.4) TRANSLATIONS: Danish – 6%, Spanish – 76%
  • (v.3) ADDED: Further checking for availability of certain PHP/server data before enabling the rename WordPress login feature.
  • (v.3) ADDED: Option to add the Plugin Badge as a Widget to your side-bar or page footer, or any other widget area.
  • (v.3) TRANSLATIONS: Polish – 100%
  • (v.2) FEATURE: Daily Email notifications for plugins discovered with known vulnerabilities more info.
  • (v.2) FIX: Work around a WordPress inline plugin update Javascript bug
  • (v.1) FIX: Fix for PHP Syntax error for PHP versions less than 5.4
  • (v.0) FEATURE: Plugin Vulnerabilities Detection: If you’re running plugins with known vulnerabilities you will be warned – more info.

4.8 Series

Released: 21st June, 2015

  • (v.0) FEATURE: Admin Access Restriction Areas – Restrict access to certain WordPress areas and functionality to Administrators with the Admin Access key.
  • (v.0) FEATURE: Admin Access Restriction Area – Plugins. You can now restrict access to certain Plugin actions – activate, install, update, delete.
  • (v.0) FEATURE: Admin Access Restriction Area – Themes. You can now restrict access to certain Theme actions – activate, install, update, delete.
  • (v.0) FEATURE: Admin Access Restriction Area – Pages/Post. You can now restrict access to certain Page/Post actions – Create/Edit, Publish, Delete.

4.7 Series

First Released: 29th April, 2015

  • (v.7) FIX: The text used to explain why some comments were marked as spam was broken.
  • (v.7) FIX: Group sign-up form now honours your SSL setting.
  • (v.7) TRANSLATIONS: Spanish – 74%, Russian – 91%, Turkish – 94%, Polish- 95%, Finnish – 100%.
  • (v.6) FIX: Verifying ability to send/receive email doesn’t complete if Admin Access Protection is turned on.
  • (v.6) FIX: GASP Login Protection feature breaks because certain key options aren’t initialized when the feature is enabled.
  • (v.6) FIX: Some “more info” links were empty.
  • (v.4) ADDED: Email Sending Verification when enabling two-factor authentication – this ensures your site can send (and you can receive) emails.
  • (v.4) ADDED: Section Summaries – each option tab contains a small text summary outlining the purpose and recommendation for each.
  • (v.4) CHANGED: The Admin Access Key input is now a password field.
  • (v.4) CHANGED: Custom Login URL now works with or without trailing slash.
  • (v.4) CHANGED: Streamlining and improvement of PHP UI templates.
  • (v.4) ADDED: Implemented TWIG for templates (not yet activated).
  • (v.4) TRANSLATIONS: Romanian (100%), Spanish-Spain (63%).
  • (v.3) ADDED: Integrated protection against 2x RevSlider vulnerabilities (Local File Include and Arbitrary File Upload).
  • (v.3) CHANGED: Reverted the flushing of Permalinks/Rewrite rules, in case this is a problem for some.
  • (v.2) FIX: Major fixes and improvements to the rename wp-login.php feature.
  • (v.2) TRANSLATIONS: Turkish (93%), Mexican-Spanish (61%), Arabic (38%).
  • (v.1) TRANSLATIONS: Polish (100%), Finnish (100%), Czech (73%), Arabic (34%).
  • (v.1) FIX: Silence warnings from filesystem touch() command.
  • (v.0) UPDATED: Options page user interface re-design.
  • (v.0) FIX: Audit trail time now reflects the user’s time-zone correctly.
  • (v.0) FIX: Better compatibility with BBPress.
  • (v.0) UPDATED: Underlying plugin code improvements

4.6 Series

Released: 10th April, 2015

  • (v.3) SECURITY: Added protection against XSS vulnerability in WordPress comments. Learn More – Note: This is not a vulnerability with the Firewall plugin.
  • (v.3) SECURITY: Added extra precautions to WordPress URL redirects. Learn More.
  • (v.3) TRANSLATIONS: Russian (70%), Czech (67%)
  • (v.2) FIX: Small bug in the database table verification logic where it missed certain scenarios
  • (v.2) TRANSLATIONS: Russian (New- 54%), Romanian (100%), Turkish (89%), Czech (53%)
  • (v.1) FIX: XMLRPC compatibility logic was preventing other non-XMLRPC related code from running.
  • (v.1) UPDATED: Plugin Badge styling
  • (v.1) TRANSLATIONS: Updated Czech (41%) and Spanish (60%)
  • (v.0) ADDED: New feature that displays the last login time for all users on the users listing page (User Management feature must be enabled).
  • (v.0) ADDED: Completely optional promotional Plugin Badge option – help us promote the plugin and reassure your site visitors at the same time. [Learn More]
  • (v.0) UPDATED: Updated Czech (38%) translations

4.5 Series

Released: 6th March, 2015

  • (v.5) CHANGED: Updated Finnish (100%), Czech (16%) translations
  • (v.5) CHANGED: Change logs now more clearly display changes between versions
  • (v.5) FIX: Small translation coverage
  • (v.4) ADDED: New and updated language translations including Polish (100%), Finnish
  • (v.4) FIX: Better string translation coverage for menus etc.
  • (v.3) ADDED: New and updated language translations including Polish, Czech and German
  • (v.3) CHANGED: Only set the plugin cookie if necessary
  • (v.2) CHANGED: Attempt to resolve DB errors related to transient options reported on WP Engine
  • (v.1) ADDED: New feature- GASP Login Protection can now be applied to lost password form – enabled by default
  • (v.0) ADDED: New feature- GASP Login Protection can now be applied to user registrations – enabled by default

4.4 Series

Released: 21st February, 2015

  • (v.2) ADDED: Romanian Translation.
  • (v.2) ADDED: A plugin minimum-requirements processing system.
  • (v.2) IMPROVED: The WordPress admin-UI code is simpler and cleaner.
  • (v.1) ADDED: Significant performance enhancement in plugin loading times (up to 50% reduction).
  • (v.0) CHANGED: The ‘Prevent Remote Login’ option now tries to detect web hosting server compatibility before allowing it to be enabled.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: More lax in finding the ‘forceOff’ file when users are trying to turn off the firewall.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Parsing the URL no longer outputs warnings that might interfere with response headers.

4.3 Series

Released: 15th January, 2015

  • (v.6) FIX: More thorough validation of whitelisted IP addresses
  • (v.5) FIX: Some hosting environments need absolute file paths for PHP include()/require()
  • (v.5) CHANGED: Streamlined the detection of whitelisting and added in-plugin notification if you are whitelisted
  • (v.4) FIX: Work around for cases where PHP can’t successfully run parse_url()
  • (v.2) IMPROVED: Refactoring for better code organisation
  • ADDED: New Feature – Rename WP Login Page.
  • ADDED: UI indicators on whether plugins will be automatically updated in the plugins listing.
  • CHANGED: IP Address WhiteList is now global for the whole plugin, and can be accessed under the “Dashboard” area
  • IMPROVED: Firewall processing code is simplified and more efficient.

4.2 Series

Released: 12th December, 2014

  • (v.1) Changes to how feature specifications are read from disk to prevent .tmp file build up.
  • (v.0) ADDED: Audit Trail Auto Cleaning – default cleans out entries older than 30 days.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Various small bug fixes and code cleaning

4.1 Series

= 4.1.4 =
*Released: 24th November, 2014*

* FIXED: Fixed small logic bug which prevented deactivation of the plugin on the UI.

= 4.1.3 =
*Released: 19th November, 2014*

* IMPROVED: User Sessions are simplified.
* UPDATED: a few translation files based on the latest available contributions.

= 4.1.2 =

* ADDED: Self-correcting database table validation – if the structure of a database table isn’t what is expected, it’ll be re-created.

= 4.1.1 =

* WARNING: Due to new IPv6 support, all databases tables will be rebuilt – all active user sessions will be destroyed.
* ADDED: Preliminary support for IPv6 addresses throughout. We don’t support whitelist ranges but IPv6 addresses are handled much more reliably in general.
* ADDED: New audit trail concept added called “immutable” that represents entries that will never be deleted – such entries would usually involve actions taken on the audit trail itself.
* FIXED: Support for audit trail events with longer names.
* IMPROVED: Comments Filtering – It now honours the WordPress settings for previously approved comment authors and never filters such comments.
* REMOVED: Option to enable GASP Comments Filtering for logged-in users has been completely removed – this reduces plugin options complexity. All logged-in users by-pass all comments filtering.
* FIXED: Prevention against plugin redirect loops under certain conditions.
* FIXED: IP whitelisting wasn’t working under certain cases.

= 4.0.0 =

* ADDED: New Feature – Audit Trail
* ADDED: Audit Trail options include: Plugins, Themes, Email, WordPress Core, Posts/Pages, Shield plugin
* FIXED: Full and proper cleanup of plugin options, crons, and databases upon deactivation.
* REMOVED: Firewall Log. This is no longer an option and is instead integrated into the “Shield” Audit Trail.

3.0 Series

= 3.5.5 =

* ADDED: Better admin notifications for events such as options saving etc.
* CHANGE: Some plugin styling to highlight features and options better.
* FIXED: Small bug with options default values.

= 3.5.3 =

* ADDED: A warning message on the WordPress admin if the “forceOff” override is active.
* CHANGED: The ‘forceOff’ system is now temporary – i.e. it doesn’t save the configuration, and so once this file is removed, the plugin returns to the settings specified.
* CHANGED: The ‘forceOn’ option is now removed.
* FIXED: Problems with certain hosting environments reading in files with the “.yaml” extension – [support ref]
* FIXED: Small issue where when the file system paths change, some variables don’t update properly.

= 3.5.0 =

* CHANGED: Plugin features are now configured using YAML – no more in-PHP configuration.
* REMOVED: A few options from User Sessions Management as they were unnecessary.
* CHANGED: Database storing tables now have consistent naming.
* FIXED: Issue with User Sessions Management where ‘0’ was specified for session length, resulting in lock out.
* FIXED: Firewall log gathering.
* FIXED: Various PHP warning notices.

  • (v.0) ADDED: Option to limit number of simultaneous sessions per WordPress user login name (User Management section).
  • (v.0) ADDED: Option to send notification when an administrator user logs in successfully (under User Management menu).
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Refactoring for how GET and POST data is retrieved.
  • (v.1) FIXED: Custom Comment Filter message problem when using more than one substitution. [ref].
  • (v.0) ADDED: Options to allow by-pass XML-RPC so as to be compatible with WordPress iPhone/Android apps.
  • (v.0) UPDATED: Login screen message when you’re forced logged-out due to 2-factor auth failure on IP or cookie.
  • (v.0) CHANGED: Tweaked method for setting admin access protection on/off
  • (v.0) CHANGED: comment filtering code refactoring.
  • (v.0) FIXED: Options that were “multiple selects” weren’t saving correctly

= 3.1.5 =

* FIX: Where some comments would fail GASP comment token checking.

= 3.1.4 =

* FIX: Logout URL parameters are now generated correctly so that the correct messages are shown.
* CHANGED: small optimizations and code refactoring.
* UPDATED: a few translation files based on the latest available contributions.

= 3.1.3 =

* FIX: issue with login cooldown timeouts not being updated where admin access restriction is in place.

= 3.1.2 =

* FIX: auto-updates feature not loading
* FIX: simplified implementation of login protection feature to reduce possibility for bugs/lock-outs
* FIX: auto-forwarding for wp-login.php was preventing user logout

= 3.1.0 =

* ADDED: option to check the logged-in user session only on WordPress admin pages (now the default setting)
* ADDED: option to auto-forward to the WordPress dashboard when you go to wp-login.php and you’re already logged in.
* ADDED: message to login screen when no user session is found
* CHANGED: does not verify session when performing AJAX request. (need to build appropriate AJAX response)
* FIX: for wp_login action not passing second argument

= 3.0.0 =

* FEATURE: User Management. Phase 1 – create user sessions to track current and attempted logged in users.
* CHANGED: MASSIVE plugin refactoring for better performance and faster, more reliable future development of features
* ADDED: Obscurity Feature – ability to remove the WP Generator meta tag.
* ADDED: ability to change user login session length in days
* ADDED: ability to set session idle timeout in hours
* ADDED: ability to lock session to a particular IP address (2-factor auth by IP is separate)
* ADDED: ability to view active user sessions
* ADDED: ability to view last page visited for active sessions
* ADDED: ability to view last active time for active sessions
* ADDED: ability to view failed or attempted logins in the past 48hrs
* ADDED: Support for GASP login using WooCommerce
* CHANGED: Admin Access Restriction now has a separate options/feature page
* CHANGED: Admin styling to better see some selected options
* ADDED: Support for WP Wall shoutbox plugin (does no GASP comment checks)
* CHANGED: Removed support for upgrading from versions prior to 2.0
* CHANGED: Removed support for importing from Firewall 2 plugin – to import, manually install plugin v2.6.6, import settings, then upgrade.

Pre-3.0 Series

= 2.6.6 =

* FIX: Improved compatibility with bbPress.

= 2.6.5 =

* FIX: Could not enable Admin Access Protection feature on new installs due to too aggressive testing on security.

= 2.6.4 =

* ENHANCED: Dashboard now shows a more visual summary of settings and removes duplicate options settings with links to sections.
* ENHANCED: WordPress Lock Down options now also set the corresponding WordPress defines if they’re not already.

= 2.6.3 =

* ADDED: More in-line plugin links to help/blog resources
* ENHANCED: Admin Access Protection is further enhanced in 3 ways:

  1. More robust cookie values using MD5s
  2. Blocks plugin options updating right at the point of WordPress options update so nothing can rewrite the actual plugin options.
  3. Locks the current Admin Access session to your IP address – effectively only 1 Shield admin allowed at a time.

= 2.6.2 =

* ENHANCED: Added option to completely reject a SPAM comment and redirect to the home page (so it doesn’t fill up your database with rubbish)
* ADDED: Plugin now has an internal stats counter for spam and other significant plugin events.

= 2.6.1 =

* ADDED: Plugin now installs with default SPAM blacklist.
* ADDED: Now automatically checks and updates the SPAM blacklist when it’s older than 48hrs.
* ENHANCED: Comment messages indicate where the SPAM content was found when marking human-based spam messages.

= 2.6.0 =

Major Features Release: Please review SPAM comments filtering options to determine where SPAM goes

* FEATURE: Added Human SPAM comments filtering – replacement for Akismet that doesn’t use or send any data to 3rd party services. Uses Blacklist provided and maintained by Grant Hutchinson
* ENHANCED: Two-Factor Login now automatically logs in the user to the admin area without them having to re-login again.
* ENHANCED: Added ability to terminate all currently (two-factor) verified logins.
* ENHANCED: Spam filter/scanning adds an explanation to the SPAM content to show why a message was filtered.
* FIX: For PHP warnings while in php strict mode.
* CLEAN: Much cleaning up of code.

= 2.5.9 =

* FEATURE: Added option to try and exclude search engine bots from firewall checking option – OFF by default.

= 2.5.8 =

* FEATURE: Added ‘PHP Code’ Firewall checking option.

= 2.5.7 =

* IMPROVED: Handling and logic of two-factor authentication and user roles/levels

= 2.5.6 =

* FEATURE: Added ability to specify the particular WordPress user roles that are subject to 2-factor authentication. (Default: Contributors, Authors, Editors and Administrators)

= 2.5.5 =

* FEATURE: Added ‘Lockdown’ feature to force login to WordPress over SSL.
* FEATURE: Added ‘Lockdown’ feature to force WordPress Admin dashboard to be delivered over SSL.
* FIX: Admin restricted access feature wasn’t disabled with the “forceOff” option.

= 2.5.4 =

* FIX: How WordPress Automatic/Background Updates filters worked was changed with WordPress 3.8.2.

= 2.5.3 =

* UPDATED: Translations. And confirmed compatibility with WordPress 3.9

= 2.5.2 =

* FEATURE: Option to Prevent Remote Posting to the WordPress Login system. Will check that the login form was submitted from the same site.

= 2.5.1 =

* UPDATED: Translations and added some partials (Catalan, Persian)
* FIX: for cleanup cron running on non-existent tables.

= 2.5.0 =

* FEATURE: Two-Factor Authenticated Login using Yubikey One Time Passwords (OTP).

= 2.4.3 =

* ADDED: Translations: Spanish, Italian, Turkish. (~15% complete)
* UPDATED: Hebrew Translations (100%)

= 2.4.2 =

* ADDED: Contextual help links for many options. More to come…
* ADDED: More Portuguese (Brazil) translations (~80%)

= 2.4.1 =

* ADDED: More strings to the translation set for better multilingual support
* ADDED: Portuguese (Brazil) translations (~40%)
* UPDATED: Hebrew Translations
* FIXED: Automatic cleaning of database logs wasn’t actually working as expected. Should now be fixed.

= 2.4.0 =

* NEW: Option to enable Two-Factor Authentication based on Cookie. In this way you can tie a user session to a single browser.
* FIX: Better WordPress Multisite (WPMS) Support.

= 2.3.4 =

* FIX: Automatic updating of itself.

= 2.3.3 =

* ADDED: Hebrew Translations. Thanks [Ahrale](http://atar4u.com)!
* ADDED: Automatic trimming of the Firewall access log to 7 days – it just grows too large otherwise.
* FIX: The previously added automatic clean up of old comments and login protect database entries was wiping out the valid login protect
entries and was forcing users to re-login every 24hrs.
* FIX: Some small bugs, errors, and PHPDoc Comments.

= 2.3.2 =

* ADDED: Automatic cleaning of GASP Comments Filter and Login Protection database entries (older than 24hrs) using WordPress Cron (everyday @ 6am)
* CHANGED: Huge code refactoring to allow for more easily use with other WordPress plugins.

= 2.2.5 =

* ADDED: Email sending options for automatic update notifications – options to change the notification email address, or turn it off completely.

= 2.2.4 =

* FIX: Small bug fix.
* CHANGED: When running a force automatic updates process, tries to remove influence from other plugins and uses only this plugin’s automatic updates settings.
* CHANGED: A bit of automatic updates code refactoring.

= 2.2.2 =

* CHANGED: Changed all options to be disabled by default.
* CHANGED: The option for admin notices will turn off all main admin notices except after you update options.

= 2.2.1 =

* ADDED: Verified compatibility with WordPress 3.8

= 2.2.0 =

* CHANGED: Certain filesystem calls are more compatible with restrictive hosting environments.
* CHANGED: Plugin is now ready to integate with [iControlWP automatic background updates system](http://www.icontrolwp.com/2013/11/manage-wordpress-automatic-background-updates-icontrolwp/).
* FIX: Login Protection Cooldown feature may not operate properly in certain scenarios.

= 2.1.5 =

* IMPROVED: Improved logic for Firewall whitelisting for pages and parameters to ensure whitelisting rules are followed.
* CHANGED: The whitelisting rule for posting pages/posts is only for the “content” and the firewall checking will apply to all other page parameters.

= 2.1.4 =

* FIX: When you run the Force Automatic Background Updates, it disables the plugins. This problem is now fixed.

= 2.1.2 =

* FIX: A bug that prevented auto-updates of this plugin.
* FIX: Not being able to hide translations and upgrade notices.
* ADDED: Tweaks to auto-update feature to allow interfacing with the iControlWP service to customize the auto update system.

= 2.1.0 =

* ADDED: A button that lets you run the WordPress Automatic Updates process on-demand (so you don’t have to wait for WordPress cron).
* CHANGED: The plugin now sets more options to be turned on by default when the plugin is first activated.
* CHANGED: A lot of optimizations and code refactoring.

= 2.0.3 =

* FIX: Whoops, sorry, accidentally removed the option to toggle “disable file editing”. It’s back now.

= 2.0.2 =

* CHANGED: WordPress filters used to programmatically update whitelists now update the Login Protection IP whitelist

= 2.0.1 =

* ADDED: Localization capabilities. All we need now are translators! [Go here to get started](http://translate.icontrolwp.com/).
* ADDED: Option to mask the WordPress version so the real version is never publicly visible.

= 1.9.2 =

* CHANGED: Simplified the automatic WordPress Plugin updates into 1 filter for consistency

= 1.9.1 =

* ADDED: Increased admin access security features – blocks the deactivation of itself if you’re not authenticated fully with the plugin.
* ADDED: If you’re not authenticated with the plugin, the plugin listing view wont have ‘Deactivate’ or ‘Edit’ links.

= 1.9.0 =

* ADDED: New WordPress Automatic Updates Configuration settings

= 1.8.2 =

* ADDED: Notification of available plugin upgrade is now an option under the ‘Dashboard’
* CHANGED: Certain admin and upgrade notices now only appear when you’re authenticated with the plugin (if this is enabled)
* FIXED: PHP Notice with undefined index.

= 1.8.1 =

* ADDED: Feature- Access Key Restriction [more info](http://icwp.io/2s).
* ADDED: Feature- WordPress Lockdown. Currently only provides 1 option, but more to come.

= 1.7.3 =

* CHANGED: Reworked a lot of the plugin to optimize for further performance.
* FIX: Potential infinite loop in processing firewall.

= 1.7.1 =

* ADDED: Much more efficiency yet again in the loading/saving of the plugin options.

= 1.7.0 =

* ADDED: Preliminary WordPress Multisite (WPMS/WPMU) Support.
* CHANGED: The Firewall now kicks in on the ‘plugins_loaded’ hook instead of as the actual firewall plugin is initialized (as a result
of WP Multisite support).

= 1.6.2 =

* REMOVED: Automatic upgrade option until I can ascertain what caused the plugin to auto-disable.

= 1.6.1 =

* ADDED: Options to fully customize the text displayed by the GASP comments section.
* ADDED: Option to include logged-in users in the GASP Comments Filter.

= 1.6.0 =

* ADDED: A new section – ‘Comments Filtering’ that will form the basis for filtering comments with SPAM etc.
* ADDED: Option to add enhanced GASP based comments filtering to prevent SPAM bots posting comments to your site.

= 1.5.6 =

* IMPROVED: Whitelist/Blacklist IP range processing to better cater for ranges when saving, with more thorough checking.
* IMPROVED: Whitelist/Blacklist IP range processing for 32-bit systems.
* FIXED: A bug with Whitelist/Blacklist IP checking.

= 1.5.5 =

* FIXED: Quite a few bugs fixed.

= 1.5.4 =

* FIXED: Typo error.

= 1.5.3 =

* FIXED: Some of the firewall processors were saving unnecessary data.

= 1.5.2 =

* CHANGED: The method for finding the client IP address is more thorough, in a bid to work with Proxy servers etc.
* FIXED: PHP notice reported here: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/getting-errors-when-logged-in

= 1.5.1 =

* FIXED: Bug fix where IP address didn’t show in email.
* FIXED: Attempt to fix problem where update message never hides.

= 1.5.0 =

* ADDED: A new IP whitelist on the Login Protect that lets you by-pass login protect rules for given IP addresses.
* REMOVED: Firewall rule for wp-login.php and whitelisted IPs.

= 1.4.2 =

* ADDED: The plugin now has an option to automatically upgrade itself when an update is detected – enabled by default.

= 1.4.1 =

* ADDED: The plugin will now displays an admin notice when a plugin upgrade is available with a link to immediately update.
* ADDED: Plugin collision: removes the main hook by ‘All In One WordPress Security’. No need to have both plugins running.
* ADDED: Improved Login Cooldown Feature- works more like email throttling as it now uses an extra filesystem-based level of protection.
* FIXED: Login Cooldown Feature didn’t take effect in certain circumstances.

= 1.4.0 =

* ADDED: All-new plugin options handling making them more efficient, easier to manage/update, using far fewer WordPress database options.
* CHANGED: Huge improvements on database calls and efficiency in loading plugin options.
* FIXED: Nonce implementation.

= 1.3.2 =

* FIXED: Small compatibility issue with Quick Cache menu not showing.

= 1.3.0 =

* ADDED: Email Throttle Feature – this will prevent you getting bombarded by 1000s of emails in case you’re hit by a bot.
* ADDED: Another Firewall die() option. New option will print a message and uses the wp_die() function instead.
* ADDED: Refactored and improved the logging system (upgrading will delete your current logs!).
* ADDED: Option to separately log Login Protect features.
* ADDED: Option to by-pass 2-factor authentication in the case sending the verification email fails
(so you don’t get locked out if your hosting doesn’t support email!).
* CHANGED: Login Protect checking now better logs out users immediately with a redirect.
* CHANGED: We now escape the log data being printed – just in case there’s any HTML/JS etc in there we don’t want.
* CHANGED: Optimized and cleaned a lot of the option caching code to improve reliability and performance (more to come).

= 1.2.7 =

* FIX: Bug where the GASP Login protection was only working when you had 2-factor authentication enabled.

= 1.2.6 =

* ADDED: Ability to import settings from WordPress Firewall 2 plugin options – note, doesn’t import page and variables whitelisting.
* FIX: A reported bug – parameter values could also be arrays.

= 1.2.5 =

* ADDED: New Feature – Option to add a checkbox that blocks automated SPAM Bots trying to log into your site.
* ADDED: Added a clear user message when they verify their 2-factor authentication.
* FIX: A few bugfixes and logic corrections.

= 1.2.4 =

* CHANGED: Documentation on the dashboard, and the message after installing the firewall have been updated to be clearer and more informative.
* FIX: A few bugfixes and logic corrections.

= 1.2.3 =

* FIX: bugfix.

= 1.2.2 =

* FIX: Some warnings and display bugs.

= 1.2.1 =

* ADDED: New Feature – Login Wait Interval. To reduce the effectiveness of brute force login attacks, you can add an interval by
which WordPress will wait before processing any more login attempts on a site.
* CHANGED: Optimized some settings for performance.
* CHANGED: Cleaned up the UI when the Firewall / Login Protect features are disabled (more to come).
* CHANGED: Further code improvements (more to come).

= 1.2.0 =

* ADDED: New Feature – **Login Protect**. Added 2-Factor Login Authentication for all users and their associated IP addresses.
* CHANGED: The method for processing the IP address lists is improved.
* CHANGED: Improved .htaccess rules (thanks MickeyRoush)
* CHANGED: Mailing method now uses WP_MAIL
* CHANGED: Lot’s of code improvements.

= 1.1.6 =

* ADDED: Option to include Cookies in the firewall checking.

= 1.1.5 =

* ADDED: Ability to whitelist particular pages and their parameters (see FAQ)
* CHANGED: Quite a few improvements made to the reliability of the firewall processing.

= 1.1.4 =

* FIX: Left test path in plugin.

= 1.1.3 =

* ADDED: Option to completely ignore logged-in Administrators from the Firewall processing (they wont even trigger logging etc).
* ADDED: Ability to (un)blacklist and (un)whitelist IP addresses directly from within the log.
* ADDED: helpful link to IP WHOIS from within the log.

= 1.1.2 =

* CHANGED: Logging now has its own dedicated database table.

= 1.1.1 =

* FIX: Block notification emails weren’t showing the user-friendly IP Address format.

= 1.1.0 =

* You can now specify IP ranges in whitelists and blacklists. To do this separate the start and end address with a hypen (-) E.g. For everything between 1.2.3.4 and 1.2.3.10, you would do: 1.2.3.4-1.2.3.10
* You can now specify which email address to send the notification emails.
* You can now add a comment to IP addresses in the whitelist/blacklist. To do this, write your IP address then type a SPACE and write whatever you want (don’t take a new line).
* You can now set to delete ALL firewall settings when you deactivate the plugin.
* Improved formatting of the firewall log.

= 1.0.2 =
* First Release

== Upgrade Notice ==

= 1.1.2 =

* CHANGED: Logging now has its own dedicated database table.
* FIX: Block notification emails weren’t showing the user-friendly IP Address format.
* You can now specify IP ranges in whitelists and blacklists. To do this separate the start and end address with a hypen (-) E.g. For everything between 1.2.3.4 and 1.2.3.10, you would do: 1.2.3.4-1.2.3.10
* You can now specify which email address to send the notification emails.
* You can now add a comment to IP addresses in the whitelist/blacklist. To do this, write your IP address then type a SPACE and write whatever you want (don’t take a new line).
* You can now set to delete ALL firewall settings when you deactivate the plugin.
* Improved formatting of the firewall log.

What Just A Few Of Our Happy Clients Say

Anyone who manages more than one WP site needs this. It does what it says and at a price anyone should be able to afford.

kchayka Source 28th July 2015

I don't think there is a better product out there, particularly for the price.

mchpp.org Source 28th July 2015

I am SO happy I have iControlWP and WorpDrive backup!

GraphicSupreme Source 28th July 2015