Title: SpamFireWall process
Last modified: March 14, 2026

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# SpamFireWall process

 *  Resolved [crawford4](https://wordpress.org/support/users/crawford4/)
 * (@crawford4)
 * [2 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/)
 * Please can you explain how the SpamFireWall works? I am running the 7-day trial
   and I am considering signing up to a subscription.
 * I know that the SpamFireWall blocks certain IPs, but this cannot be happening
   at the server level because CleanTalk does not have access to my server and there
   is no change in my .htaccess file. This is WordPress, so for anything clever 
   to happen the plugin must load, which means WordPress will be bootstrapping every
   time. Is there really any significant saving of server resources?
 * If I use an efficient caching mechanism, the spambots will only be accessing 
   the cached version of my site, which will not be nearly as draining on server
   resources as bootstrapping WordPress every time they visit, just to see if they
   are bots and then block them!
 * Please explain,
   Thank you,Charles

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

 *  Plugin Support [amagsumov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/amagsumov/)
 * (@amagsumov)
 * [2 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18851736)
 * Hello [@crawford4](https://wordpress.org/support/users/crawford4/),
 * Thank you for your questions.
 * The SpamFireWall operates at the website level, intercepting HTTP requests the
   moment a user or bot attempts to visit your site. Each request is checked against
   the CleanTalk database. If the user is identified as a spambot, then its request
   is blocked immediately. In these cases, the request is stopped before it reaches
   WordPress, preventing unnecessary processing.
 * Speaking of caching, even when a bot visits a cached page, your server still 
   consumes resources to transfer that content. By using SpamFireWall, you block
   these bots entirely, which reduces the overall load on your server.
 * Thank you.
 *  Thread Starter [crawford4](https://wordpress.org/support/users/crawford4/)
 * (@crawford4)
 * [2 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18851742)
 * That doesn’t make sense! How does the SpamFireWall intercept an HTTP request?
   The SpamFireWall cannot run before WordPress loads because the SpamFireWall is
   part of the CleanTalk plugin, which depends on WordPress loading.
 *  Thread Starter [crawford4](https://wordpress.org/support/users/crawford4/)
 * (@crawford4)
 * [2 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18851754)
 * This is how I understand it:
    1. HTTP request from spambot to mysite.com/non-existent-page;
    2. WordPress bootstraps via index.php, loading all plugins;
    3. CleanTalk plugin inspects the request and identifies the remote IP;
    4. If identified as spam, CleanTalk prevents any pages being displayed.
 * Without CleanTalk:
    1. HTTP request from spambot to mysite.com/non-existent-page;
    2. WordPress bootstraps via index.php, loading all plugins;
    3. WordPress cannot find the requested page and presents a 404 page.
 *  Plugin Support [amagsumov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/amagsumov/)
 * (@amagsumov)
 * [2 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18851944)
 * You are correct. Although the plugin is loaded with WordPress, SpamFireWall executes
   very early in the WordPress boot process, well before themes and other plugins
   are loaded, which has virtually no impact on site performance.
 *  Thread Starter [crawford4](https://wordpress.org/support/users/crawford4/)
 * (@crawford4)
 * [2 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18852027)
 * Ah, I see. Thank you for this explanation.
 *  Plugin Support [amagsumov](https://wordpress.org/support/users/amagsumov/)
 * (@amagsumov)
 * [2 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18852033)
 * Happy to help!
 *  Plugin Support [dimitrycleantalk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dimitrycleantalk/)
 * (@dimitrycleantalk)
 * [2 months, 2 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18860704)
 * Hello.
   We haven’t heard back from you in a few days, so I’m going to mark this
   thread as “resolved”.If you have any further questions, you can start a new thread
   or contact us via our private Ticket System: [https://cleantalk.org/my/support/open](https://cleantalk.org/my/support/open).

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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 * ![](https://ps.w.org/cleantalk-spam-protect/assets/icon-256x256.gif?rev=3539767)
 * [Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Spam Firewall & protection](https://wordpress.org/plugins/cleantalk-spam-protect/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/cleantalk-spam-protect/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/cleantalk-spam-protect/)
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 * 7 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [dimitrycleantalk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dimitrycleantalk/)
 * Last activity: [2 months, 2 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/spamfirewall-process/#post-18860704)
 * Status: resolved