Site Guard: Free Joomla Protection That Runs Automatically

Every day, bots and automated scanners comb through hundreds of thousands of Joomla sites looking for vulnerable versions, forgotten backups, and exposed configuration files. Most site owners only discover a hack after the site has already sent spam from someone else's server or is blacklisted by a search engine. The Site Guard component for Joomla 6 was created with one goal in mind—to prevent this from happening again: not as another scanner to be manually run once a week, but as a system integrated into the site administrator's daily routine.

What Site Guard Does

Site Guard operates through Joomla's native task scheduler (com_scheduler)—no need to set up a separate cron job on the server; the scanning task runs on a schedule as part of the site's normal operation. In a single pass, the component:

• checks website files against a pre-built hash standard and finds anything that has changed without your knowledge;
• automatically quarantines suspicious files—not just warning, but physically removing the threat from the line of fire;
• maintains a shared IP blacklist that can be shared across multiple websites through a single database;
• monitors the list of super administrators—if someone has unexpectedly gained access, you'll be notified in a report;
• makes a daily database backup and automatically cleans up archives older than a week;
• catches SQL injection attempts through a special "tar pit"—instead of the usual 403 page, the scanner hangs on an infinite response, dramatically slowing down and invalidating the attack. 

The decoy word is fully configurable in Options.
Site Guard records all of this in a detailed event log and sends an email only when something critical is actually found—quietly.

How is this different from RSFirewall!

RSFirewall! is a well-known and deservedly popular solution for Joomla, so the comparison is obvious. According to the developer's (RSJoomla!) open description, it offers full-fledged WAF-style protection: filtering SQL/XSS/LFI attacks at the incoming request level, database checking and repair, blocking by IP and country, captcha after unsuccessful login attempts, and an additional password for the admin panel. This powerful suite is designed specifically for repelling attacks in real time, and it starts at €49.99 per subscription.

Site Guard is designed differently—it's not a firewall for incoming requests, but an automated "watchman" that constantly checks the site's status and automatically cleans it up:

A good way to understand the difference: RSFirewall! is an entryway security system that checks everyone who knocks on your door. Site Guard is a nighttime patrol that checks every day to make sure no one has broken in through your window while you're sleeping, and then cleans up any traces if they have. For many sites, both approaches work optimally simultaneously—they don't conflict, but rather complement each other.

Why it's free

Site Guard is distributed under the GNU GPL v2 or later—the source code is open, and the installation package can be freely downloaded and used on any number of sites without subscriptions or renewals. Automatic updates are built in through Joomla's own update server, so after installation, the component is updated like any other official extension.

Download: jarosstar.com — Site Guard

Site Guard was developed by JariStrom for Joomla 6.

Sources:

RSFirewall! - Joomla!® Security Extension from RSJoomla!
RSFirewall!, by RSJoomla! - Joomla Extension Directory