Nature, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00416-5Bacteria have developed many strategies to defend themselves from phages the viruses that infect them. The Zorya defence system uses a previously undescribed antiviral strategy. An inner-membrane-anchored complex detects phage infection, resulting in recruitment of enzymes inside the cell that digest incoming phage DNA, thereby rapidly preventing infection.