Understanding Website Monitoring Notifications with Website Security Plans
When it comes to protecting your online presence, website security plans play a critical role in keeping your site safe, reliable, and always accessible. One key feature of these plans is website monitoring, which sends notifications if something potentially important changes—like your DNS records, SSL certificate, server status, or security health.
Here’s a breakdown of what these notifications mean and how you should respond:
DNS Change Alerts
DNS (Domain Name System) monitoring helps you track updates to your DNS records, including nameservers (NS), website IP addresses (A or AAAA), and mail settings (MX). While changes don’t always signal a problem, understanding them is important.
Common reasons for DNS change alerts:
- You’ve enabled a website firewall service
- Your hosting provider has changed
- You switched email services
- Your domain expired or was updated
Keep in mind: the DNS monitor only detects changes, not whether those changes are correct or authorized. If a DNS alert seems unexpected, reach out to your hosting provider or DNS manager for more insight.
SSL Certificate Notifications
SSL certificates protect sensitive data shared between your visitors and your site. As part of most website security plans, the system monitors any changes to your SSL certificate.
What triggers an SSL alert?
- A certificate is issued, renewed, or replaced
- The certificate details (e.g., issuer or expiry date) are updated
If you didn’t initiate the change, it’s best to contact your web host or SSL provider to confirm the action.
Website Uptime Monitoring
Uptime monitoring checks if your website is reachable online. If your site goes offline, a notification is sent. You’ll also receive another alert once your site is back up.
A site is considered down if:
- It returns a 4xx or 5xx HTTP error
- It times out (30+ seconds response or 10+ seconds connection delay)
A site is considered up when:
- It returns 2xx or 3xx responses
- It shows 403 errors if protected by a security firewall like Sucuri
Note that a “down” alert doesn’t always mean your website is unreachable to everyone—it means our monitoring tool couldn’t connect. Check your hosting logs for specific errors or interruptions.
Security Scan Alerts
Check if your website is safe: Comprehensive website security plans include automatic scans for known threats and malicious changes. If any of the following are detected, you’ll be notified:
- Malware or viruses
- Site vulnerabilities
- Trust issues (blacklisting, phishing reports)
- Content defacements
- Spam injections
If your plan includes malware cleanup, simply submit a malware removal request through your security dashboard to start the process.
Need Help?
If you’re ever unsure about a notification you receive, your website security plan provider can help. Reach out to support for clarification or next steps to ensure your website remains secure and stable.