BitNinja Server Security Add-On

BitNinja Server Security Add-On

BitNinja is a security-as-a-service solution that helps protect servers against hackers, botnets, malware, abusive traffic, and other malicious activity. Protected servers contribute attack information to a shared Defense Network.
Firewall compatibility: BitNinja does not fully support the nftables backend used by default in AlmaLinux-based containers. After installation, change the BitNinja firewall backend to iptables.
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Install BitNinja

The add-on is available for certified platform nodes, except Elastic VPS instances.

1Open Marketplace

Open Marketplace, search for BitNinja Service, or find it in the Add-Ons section. Hover over the package and click Install.

The solution can also be installed from the Add-Ons panel of a specific environment layer.
BitNinja in the environment Add-Ons panel
Install BitNinja directly for the required environment layer.

2Select the target environment and layer

Choose the environment and node layer where the BitNinja agent should be installed, then click Install.

The platform installs an agent on the selected nodes and adds the servers to the associated BitNinja cloud account.

Default Modules by Layer

LayerModules Enabled by Default
Load Balancer IP Reputation, Web Application Firewall, DoS Detection, Port Honeypot
Application Server IP Reputation, Proxy Filter, FTP Captcha, SMTP Captcha, Malware Detection, Web Application Firewall, Defense Robot
Database IP Reputation
Shared Storage IP Reputation, Proxy Filter, FTP Captcha, SMTP Captcha, Malware Detection
Build Node IP Reputation, Malware Detection
All BitNinja modules can be enabled on all supported layers. The table shows only the modules activated by default for common use cases.

Activate the BitNinja Account

3Open the activation email

For the first installation, open the automatically generated BitNinja activation email and follow its activation link. Check the spam or junk folder when the message is not visible in the inbox.

Account limitation: Only one BitNinja account can be created for an email address. The same address cannot activate the add-on across several separate platform deployments.

4Create the account password

Set a password and click Next to complete account activation.

Set the BitNinja account password
Create a password for the automatically generated BitNinja account.

5Sign in to the BitNinja console

Use the platform account email and the password created during activation.

Welcome to the BitNinja console
Manage and monitor protected servers from the BitNinja console.

Change the Firewall Backend

On nftables-based systems, IP Reputation and blocking-rule enforcement may not operate correctly until the backend is changed.

1Open IP Reputation settings

In the BitNinja console, open Configuration, switch to All settings, and navigate to Advanced Modules > IP Reputation.

BitNinja IP Reputation settings
Open the IP Reputation module in the All settings view.

2Select iptables

Find Firewall Backend, select iptables, and click Save.

Select the iptables firewall backend
Change the firewall backend from nftables to iptables.

3Restart the BitNinja agent

Restart the agent on the protected servers so the new firewall configuration takes effect.

License Pricing

BitNinja is proprietary software and requires a paid license. The platform integrates the license into pay-as-you-go billing.

  • Licenses are billed hourly for active containers.
  • A license is issued for every container in the layer during installation.
  • New containers created through horizontal scaling receive their own license automatically.
  • Licenses are decommissioned for stopped or removed containers.
  • The documented 1-hosted-user plan is priced at approximately $10 per month, or about $0.014 per hour.
The exact amount may vary when the platform bills in another currency. Charges can be reviewed in the dashboard Billing History.

Billing is applied per protected server. For example, installing BitNinja on one load balancer and a two-node database layer results in three active licenses.

Add-On Management Options

After installation, the dedicated add-on panel provides the following actions:

  • Open the BitNinja Admin Panel.
  • Restart Agent.
  • Agent Update.
  • Uninstall the add-on.

Block IP Addresses

1Open the IP Block List

In the BitNinja console, go to Firewall > Block List > IP and click Block List IPs.

BitNinja IP block list
Open the IP block-list form from the Firewall section.
Countries can also be added to the block list from Firewall > Block List > Country.

2Complete the blocking details

Enter the IP addresses, select the target server, choose how long the entries should remain blocked, and add an optional comment.

BitNinja block-list IP form
Specify the IPs, target server, block duration, and comment.

3Confirm the block list

Click Block List IP. The selected addresses appear in the Blocklisted IPs table.

The following example shows the change in HTTP behaviour after an address is blocked:

# Before blocking
curl -I http://apache-bitninja.domain.com/
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Apache
...

# After blocking
curl -I http://apache-bitninja.domain.com/
curl: (56) Recv failure: Connection reset by peer

Vendor Support

For BitNinja-specific issues, use the chat option in the lower-right corner of the console or open a support ticket from the Get help menu.

BitNinja support options
Contact BitNinja support through chat or the Get help menu.

What’s next?