There seems to be a problem with either the plugin or Defensio's service

I’m getting the same error – “Could not validate your API key.” – and yet when I go to my account page on Defensio.com everything seems to be fine, the API key matches, and there is no indication that the account is not working.

Are these guys still active? Defensio? Websense Inc?

I’m getting the same error as well. Looks like we might have to turn to Akismet.. if I change spam plugins, do you think I will lose all the current comments in the Defensio queue? I don’t think my client would want to lose all of his comments!

I’m thinking we will lose those that Defensio is holding in their queue. For me, that isn’t a big problem since I seldom found one that they mis-identified, but for my one client, that is not the case. They would find a few each week that Defensio wrongly marked as spam. I used their contact form several days ago and have not gotten a reply.

Well, I should have checked before replying here. The warning is gone and the spam is now showing up on my site. I assume they’ve gotten things straightened out, at least for now. This seems to be happening more often over the past 6 months or so. I may have to think about switching all my clients to Akismet. Of course, Akismet isn’t known for their prompt replies to problems either. ??

Yeah, mine started working again too…

There’s another forum post on this here so obviously has been happening on and off for a while. Looks like Defensio may be no longer actively supported (it doesn’t appear at all on the website of its parent WebSense Inc).

@cwthorpe, I was wondering about that too. I think it is time to switch to Akismet. Sigh! 12 sites to set up accounts for and switch over.

I got a reply from Defensio:

We experienced technical difficulties on the API for the last week. We have resolved the issue, and are planning to overhaul the system to provide better stability in the near future. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience.

They were a little late. I’ve already converted about half my clients over to Akismet.

@sacredpath – yes, I am trying out antispam Bee… Defensio seemed like a good idea but it’s obviously not a priority for the company anymore.

You may try to use anti-spam plugin. It blocks spam automatically and without captcha.

It is very easy to use: just install and it works invisibly for admin and for users.

@cwthorpe and @webvitaly, thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out.

Still experiencing API connectivity issues with the plugin, as of this post. I’ve already talked to clients about a potential switch to Akismet, if this continues.

Yes, defensio seems to be broken. I decided to make my own plugin, and so far it is working very well. I’m finding there are better ways to manage spam than Defensio or Akismet. My plugin requires PHP5.3+, and not in the WordPress plugins area, but you can check it out on bitbucket if you are interested. WordPress Comment Redlist