3.1.2 Friendly Captcha Setup
Last updated
Last updated
ShieldsGuard allows full integration with Friendly Captcha, a modern, privacy-friendly CAPTCHA solution. Once integrated, Friendly Captcha can be used as a challenge mechanism within the DDoS Protection module to block automated threats without disrupting legitimate users.
🔐 Unlike traditional CAPTCHA methods, Friendly Captcha offers a user-friendly experience with high resilience against bots and headless browsers.
Go to:
Register for an account (free or paid plan)
After login, navigate to the Dashboard
Click on “Create New Application”
Name your application and define the domain (e.g., yourdomain.com
)
After creation, you’ll receive:
🔐 Secret Key
🌐 Site Key
Open your ShieldsGuard admin panel
Navigate to: Protection > DDoS Protection
Scroll to the Friendly Captcha section.
Click on the 🔴 Set Key button:
This opens a modal titled Edit Friendly Captcha Key.
In the popup window:
Paste your Secret Key in the first field
Paste your Site Key in the second field
Choose your Endpoint Region from the dropdown (e.g., EU Endpoint
, US Endpoint
)
Click 🔐 Save
✅ Keys are now saved and the system is ready for use.
⚠️ Captcha setup is not complete until it’s activated under protection logic.
Go back to Protection > DDoS Protection
Under DDoS Automatic Protection, set:
Status = Automatic Protection or Friendly Captcha
Protection Type = Friendly Captcha
Configure your desired:
Trigger Threshold (requests/sec)
Protection Duration
IP Limit Rules
Save all changes
To test if Friendly Captcha is active:
Simulate rapid browsing or bot-like behavior (multiple refreshes)
You should be presented with a Friendly Captcha challenge instead of being blocked directly
This ensures human users are verified with minimal friction.
Privacy
Friendly Captcha is GDPR-compliant and doesn't use tracking cookies
Performance
Lightweight and ideal for mobile and low-bandwidth environments
Custom Domains
Add both domain.com
and www.domain.com
to your Friendly Captcha project
Abuse Detection
Combine with IP Reputation and Request Rate in ShieldsGuard
🎯 Friendly Captcha integration offers the perfect balance of strong bot defense and seamless user experience — especially valuable in public login portals, DDoS-prone environments, and signup forms.