Hosted.com has integrated two independent website security technologies, Monarx and Imunify360, across its Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting platforms. The combination is designed to provide both behavioral protection and signature- and reputation-based threat detection, helping reduce the exposure of websites to newly discovered vulnerabilities and automated attacks.
The two security engines operate within the hosting environment rather than requiring customers to install and configure separate security tools after launching their websites. Detection, quarantine, and response capabilities run continuously at the server level across customer accounts.
Addressing the Zero-Day Exposure Window
Zero-day vulnerabilities present a particular challenge because attackers can begin exploiting a software flaw before a vendor has released a security patch. Even after a patch becomes available, websites remain vulnerable until the update is actually installed.
This can be particularly challenging for small businesses running WordPress websites that rely on multiple plugins and themes. Updates may be released at different times, while website owners may delay installations because of compatibility concerns or limited technical resources.
According to Google Threat Intelligence Group's Look What You Made Us Patch: 2025 Zero-Days in Review, published in March 2026, 90 zero-day vulnerabilities were exploited in the wild during 2025, compared with 78 in 2024. The report also found that zero-day exploitation has remained at an elevated level in recent years.
Combining Behavioral and Signature-Based Detection
Hosted.com selected Monarx and Imunify360 because the technologies use different approaches to detecting and preventing threats.
Monarx uses runtime application self-protection (RASP) to monitor application behavior while scripts are executing. Instead of relying solely on known malware signatures, the technology analyzes activity and can block behavior associated with compromised applications. This approach is intended to help identify previously unknown or uncatalogued threats, including web shells, phishing kits, adware injections, and malicious file uploaders. Analysis is performed through the Monarx cloud service, reducing the processing requirements on hosting servers.
Imunify360 provides a broader, layered security system. Its Web Application Firewall monitors incoming traffic for threats such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting, while its intrusion detection and prevention capabilities identify suspicious activity such as repeated failed login attempts.
Its malware scanner operates in real time and on demand, examining server files, content management system databases, including WordPress installations, and scheduled cron jobs that can be used by attackers to maintain persistence.
Imunify360 also includes a Proactive Defense engine that analyzes PHP behavior and can provide protection against certain known vulnerabilities at the application layer. Its security infrastructure is supported by shared threat intelligence, allowing information about identified malicious activity to be used across protected servers.
By combining behavioral analysis with established signature- and reputation-based detection, Hosted.com aims to provide protection across different stages of an attack, including threats that may not yet have been formally identified.
Part of a Broader Hosting Security Infrastructure
Monarx and Imunify360 form part of a wider security architecture used across Hosted.com's hosting platforms.
Network protection includes FortiGate firewalls and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection. CageFS, a CloudLinux technology, isolates individual hosting accounts at the filesystem level, helping prevent one compromised account from accessing files belonging to other accounts on the same shared server.
Email protection is provided through SpamExperts, which filters inbound and outbound email traffic.
Hosted.com also maintains separate recovery measures. Daily backups are provided through Acronis, giving customers the ability to restore websites following incidents such as malware infections or data encryption.
For WordPress customers, staging environments allow plugin and theme updates to be tested before changes are applied to live websites. The platform also includes free SSL certificates and carries a 99.9 percent uptime commitment.
Responding to Increasingly Automated Attacks
Hosted.com said that artificial intelligence and automated tools have increased the speed and scale at which attackers can identify potential targets and test exploitation techniques.
Automated reconnaissance allows attackers to scan large numbers of websites more efficiently, while automated systems can adapt their approaches when initial attempts fail. For small businesses without dedicated security personnel, this can reduce the time available to identify and respond to an attack.
Hosted.com said this is one reason it has focused on automated detection and containment at the hosting infrastructure level rather than relying solely on individual website owners to identify threats and take action.
Security for Businesses Without Dedicated IT Teams
Many small businesses operate websites without dedicated security personnel. Website maintenance, software updates, customer information, and uptime monitoring are often handled alongside other responsibilities.
By integrating detection, isolation, and recovery capabilities into the hosting platform, Hosted.com aims to reduce the amount of security management required from individual customers.
"Most small businesses will never hire a security engineer. The job of a host is to make that unnecessary, so detection and recovery are already running before anyone notices a problem."
Wayne Diamond, Founder and CEO of Hosted.com
Hosted.com emphasizes that no security system can eliminate all website risks. The company's approach is focused on reducing the time between compromise and containment while maintaining a recovery option when preventive measures are unsuccessful.
Availability
Monarx and Imunify360 protection are available across Hosted.com's Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting plans at no additional cost. Further information about the security features included with each hosting plan is available from
Hosted.com.
