Your website’s firewall recently blocked a suspicious request from a Google Cloud server identifying itself as a CMS Checker. Although the request seemed harmless at first glance, this activity is a known sign of automated vulnerability scanning, and whitelisting it would have put your entire website at risk.
This blog post explains what happened, why this bot is dangerous, and how you can protect your website against similar threats.
What Happened?
The request came from a Google Cloud server using a fake “Mozilla-Compatible” browser. The User-Agent string:
CMS-Checker/1.0
may look legitimate, but it’s not. This is the kind of signature used by tools and bots that scan websites to detect:
- CMS type (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.)
- Plugin versions
- Themes
- Known vulnerabilities
- Configuration leaks
This is intelligence gathering, the early stage of an attack.
The referer can also be fake. Bots often forge referers to look legitimate or to trick website owners into whitelisting them.
Why You Should Never Whitelist This IP
Many website owners make the mistake of whitelisting “harmless-looking” IPs from cloud providers like:
- Google Cloud
- AWS
- Microsoft Azure
But this is dangerous.
Here’s why:
1. Cloud servers are the #1 source of automated attacks
Anyone can rent a Google Cloud server for $5 and launch:
- SQL injection
- Brute-force attacks
- File inclusion attacks
- Credential stuffing
- Botnet scripts
2. Bad bots disguise themselves with harmless names
“CMS Checker” is NOT a trusted crawler.
It’s a scanning tool, nothing more.
3. Whitelisting bypasses your firewall
Once whitelisted, the bot can:
- Scan deeper
- Exploit vulnerabilities
- Attack admin endpoints
- Hammer your server with requests
4. These bots never stop at one request
This was likely the first of many.
What Bad Bots Are Really Trying to Do
Bad bots like this often attempt to:
- Identify your CMS
- Detect outdated versions
- Map your file structure
- Look for weak points
- Prepare future exploit attempts
They scout your website the same way thieves scout a house before breaking in.
How Cyber Defence – Website Protector Stops Bad Bots
Cyber Defence – Website Protector automatically detects and blocks:
✔ Bad bots
✔ Fake browsers
✔ Vulnerability scanners
✔ Cloud-based attack scripts
✔ Suspicious referers
✔ Headless crawlers
✔ Automated hacking tools
Your firewall flagged this request as Bad Bot because of:
- Fake user-agent
- Suspicious crawling pattern
- Direct access to
/index.php - No legitimate referer
- Cloud provider origin
This is exactly the type of threat your business needs to stay ahead of.
With Cyber Defence:
- You don’t need to understand every alert
- You don’t need to manually block IPs
- You don’t risk accidentally whitelisting an attacker
- You enjoy 24/7 automated protection
Protect Your Website Before Bots Find a Weak Spot
Bots like the one from IP 34.45.190.211 are scanning thousands of sites daily, searching for an entry point.
Don’t let your website be next.
Protect it with Cyber Defence – Website Protector:
https://cybersmartempire.com/cyberdefence/
With real-time bot filtering, advanced WAF rules, and automated threat mitigation, Cyber Defence keeps your site safe — even when you’re offline.
This incident is a reminder that not every “harmless” request is safe.
Cloud-based scanners are becoming smarter, faster, and harder to detect — but with the right tools, you can stay ahead of them.
Never whitelist unknown IPs.
Never trust cloud-based bots.
Always protect your website proactively.
Your business depends on it.
