Edge Cache Defensive Mode Now Available

Edge Cache Defensive mode is now available on all WP Cloud hosts and may be managed via WP-CLI and the WP Cloud Atomic API.

While the WP Cloud platform provides DDoS mitigations, WP Cloud’s Edge Cache Defensive mode offers an additional on-demand layer of protection.

Utilizing proof-of-work, Defensive mode issues a challenge to browsers visiting the site, mitigating spam bot and DDoS attack requests. Legitimate users will briefly see a challenge page while their browser completes the work before accessing the site.

This feature can be enabled for durations ranging from 30 minutes to 7 days.

For WP Cloud hosting partners, documentation for this feature is available in the WP Cloud Field Guide. A copy of the documentation, as it is today, is below.

---

Example Usage

To use Defensive mode, Edge Cache must be enabled on the selected site and a request to enable Defensive mode for a period of time must be passed.

Defensive mode’s WP-CLI option supports minutes, hours, and days with a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 7 days. Via the WP Cloud Atomic API, a timestamp that is at least 30 minutes into the future and does not exceed 7 days may be set.

Managing Edge Cache & Defensive Mode via WP-CLI

This update brings multiple edge cache WP-CLI commands.

wp edge-cache
usage: wp edge-cache defensive_mode [--time=<time>] [--end]
   or: wp edge-cache disable 
   or: wp edge-cache enable 
   or: wp edge-cache purge 
   or: wp edge-cache status 

Enable Defensive Mode

wp edge-cache defensive_mode –-time=<time>

• Enable for 35 minutes: wp edge-cache defensive_mode --time=35m
• Enable for 2 hours: wp edge-cache defensive_mode --time=2h
• Enable for 3 days: wp edge-cache defensive_mode --time=3d

Disable Defensive Mode

wp edge-cache defensive_mode --end

Checking Defensive Mode Status

wp edge-cache status

Managing Defensive Mode via the WP Cloud Atomic API

WP Cloud hosts may control, and provide user-facing options for, Defensive mode via the WP Cloud Atomic API.

Enable Defensive Mode

curl -H “Auth: $AT_AUTH_TOKEN” -d ‘timestamp=1718019551’ https://atomic-api.wordpress.com/api/v1.0/edge-cache/$SITE_ID/ddos_until

Disable Defensive Mode

curl -H “Auth: $AT_AUTH_TOKEN” -d ‘timestamp=0’ https://atomic-api.wordpress.com/api/v1.0/edge-cache/$SITE_ID/ddos_until

Checking Defensive Mode Status

A GET request to theedge-cache endpoint will return the status of edge cache and defensive mode. ddos_until provides when the defensive challenge mode will expire in the Unix timestamp format. 0 represents that the mode is disabled and any previous usage has expired.

curl -H ‘Auth: API_AUTH_TOKEN’ -X GET https://atomic-api.wordpress.com/api/v1.0/edge-cache/example.com

Example of Defensive Mode Active

{
    "message": "OK",
    "data": {
        "status": 1,
        "status_name": "Enabled",
        "ddos_until": 1719951098
    }
}

Example of Defensive Mode Inactive

{
    "message": "OK",
    "data": {
        "status": 1,
        "status_name": "Enabled",
        "ddos_until": 0
    }
}