IPDeny: Country Block List

[Hostboard]

There have always been a lot of requests on how to block certain countries from accessing sites due to SPAMMERS, and while there are various modifications here to help weed these wonderful individuals out, they are not fool proof and or cause too many false positives for some.

Another method is to utilize blocking of IP addresses. Unfortunately vBulletin does not support IP prefixes thus you have to either use wild cards or enter each and every IP address you want to block.

So we are left with utilizing .htaccess files as ultimately this might be the most secure way to block these individuals as they will never reach your site. You can even provide them with a custom message if you so desire as well. Of course this also can be circumvented with the use of open Proxy servers but at least we are making them jump through some hoops and possibly making them go find an easier target.

I have taken the zone files from regional IP space providers and listed them into a singular .htaccess file listing each country individually. By default nothing is blocked. All you need to do is to un-remark any country or singular IP address block. Typically what I do is when a spammer registers I look at the IP address then lock out that block trying not to limit the entire country.

This will work with ANY web site that is running an Apache web server or that can utilize a .htaccess file.

Zone files are typically 99.5% accurate and rarely change. I have made every attempt to be careful in compiling this into a single file. However I am human and do make mistakes so I take no responsibility if there is a bad entry or two in there.

7/12/2012
Initial release

2/5/2014
File updated with Gargamello's fixes to my typos.

[ForceHSS]

Something like this has already been made
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=291851

[Hostboard]

Something like this has already been made
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=291851

His was the reason i did this as I see a few issues...

False positives with modifications like this for some.
It talks back to his servers for the country block list.

Yes it does talk back to the server. Our IP lists on the server are alway up to date even with current changes.


If his servers go down, this part of the modification will not work.
If he decides to close shop this part of the modification will not work.
If he decides not to offer the service, this part of the modification will not work.
For those on limited bandwidth, it is using their quota up (even minimally)
Potential slowdowns with retrieving the information, whether it be many connections to his server or a few too many hops between you and them, or even 1 hop experiencing high latency.
Mine is a 100% in house solution, that is not relying on someone else to provide the information.

[tarzan22]

Hello

Which countries are possible block?

regards

[Max Taxable]

Typically what I do is when a spammer registers I look at the IP address then lock out that block trying not to limit the entire country.You can stop most all of the autospam registrations with this:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=289463

[Hostboard]

Hello

Which countries are possible block?

regards

Any or all of them.

[Hostboard]

You can stop most all of the autospam registrations with this:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=289463

Again, this only deals with auto spam bots (which is good) but not fool proof or can cause false posatives.

I know there are "other solutions" as I mentioned it in my description...


There have always been a lot of requests on how to block certain countries from accessing sites due to SPAMMERS, and while there are various modifications here to help weed these wonderful individuals out, they are not fool proof and or cause too many false positives for some.


Mine is a different solution for those that want it.

[Max Taxable]

Can't unzip the file, get the error message "No files to extract."

[Max Taxable]

Again, this only deals with auto spam bots (which is good) but not fool proof or can cause false posatives.Thus far after a year of real-world testing, it's done neither. It's never missed a spam bot nor interfered with any human.

Yes of course it addresses automated spam, but that's also the bulk of forum spam. We all should have many arrows in our anti-spam quivers.

[Hostboard]

Can't unzip the file, get the error message "No files to extract."

I have re-uploaded using WinZip (prior was WinRar) Please try again...

[djbaxter]

How often do you plan to update this list of IP addresses? Because you ARE going to need to do this - often.

Here's a better solution: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=205044

[Hostboard]

How often do you plan to update this list of IP addresses? Because you ARE going to need to do this - often.

Here's a better solution: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=205044

I checked unsupported for a reason... I may update it as my time permits...

Just another solution, whether it is better is up to each individual. Mine is usable across ANY website on ANY platform and is NOT dependent on anything other then the ability to use a .htaccess file.

[doctorsexy]

Smashin....:up:

[firstimecaller]

will try this out.

anybody else find the avatars in the first two posts kinda hilarious / ironic? :)

Jesus... looking right, green death looking left... lulz

edit:
Just a tip: If generating a .htaccess deny block is the goal, perhaps it might be easier to use this tool: http://ipinfodb.com/ip_country_block_htaccess.php

If, like me, you need to block just about everybody BUT Europe and the Americas, it's easier than editing and removing a bunch of ampersands, even if you use find/replace in selections in your favorite text editor, since you'll be doing quite a bit of selecting, paging down, etc.

Plus you'll end up with a much smaller file to parse. I don't know what the overhead is for a bunch of comments in a .htaccess file. Another tip would be to put this into your Apache config file if possible to avoid it being loaded/parsed with each and every server request. I know not everyone has access to this on shared server accounts.

[Hostboard]

will try this out.

anybody else find the avatars in the first two posts kinda hilarious / ironic? :)

Jesus... looking right, green death looking left... lulz

edit:
Just a tip: If generating a .htaccess deny block is the goal, perhaps it might be easier to use this tool: http://ipinfodb.com/ip_country_block_htaccess.php

If, like me, you need to block just about everybody BUT Europe and the Americas, it's easier than editing and removing a bunch of ampersands, even if you use find/replace in selections in your favorite text editor, since you'll be doing quite a bit of selecting, paging down, etc.

Plus you'll end up with a much smaller file to parse. I don't know what the overhead is for a bunch of comments in a .htaccess file. Another tip would be to put this into your Apache config file if possible to avoid it being loaded/parsed with each and every server request. I know not everyone has access to this on shared server accounts.

That is funny...
Again this is a stand alone .htaccess file. The site you point to utilizes access to their server(s)


If his servers go down, this part of the modification will not work.
If he decides to close shop this part of the modification will not work.
If he decides not to offer the service, this part of the modification will not work.
For those on limited bandwidth, it is using their quota up (even minimally)
Potential slowdowns with retrieving the information, whether it be many connections to his server or a few too many hops between you and them, or even 1 hop experiencing high latency.Yes you could put this into your Apache config file and it is wiser to do such but like you said no everyone has that level of access.



I use EditPad Pro as it easily adds or removes prefixes to lines.

[firstimecaller]

my link simply points to a script which generates the deny block for an .htaccess file. You generate your .htaccess and copy and paste it into your .htaccess appropriately.

there is no linking to another server, or reliance upon anyone else. it is in YOUR .htaccess. It's just a tool to generate the info that you are providing. I found it simpler in my case, so I was just sharing it in case it helped anyone else.

Thanks again for the idea for this, cheers!

[AdjusterGuru]

Hostboard, your htaccess file is massive. Will is work on vb 5.0.5?

Would that code be copy pasted in the .htaccess file in the root folder of VB5.0.5 below the following last default entry: </IfModule> ?

Will an htaccess that large slow down the website for users?

[K4GAP]

How often do you plan to update this list of IP addresses? Because you ARE going to need to do this - often.

Here's a better solution: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=205044

That "better solution" is for vb 3.8.

[Hostboard]

Hostboard, your htaccess file is massive. Will is work on vb 5.0.5?

Would that code be copy pasted in the .htaccess file in the root folder of VB5.0.5 below the following last default entry: </IfModule> ?

Will an htaccess that large slow down the website for users?

.htaccess is a Linux thing, so as long as you are running some flavor of Linux, it is usable. As for the size vs slow down, there are too many variables to answer this. Best is to try and see what happens

[AdjusterGuru]

Thanks Hostboard, I will experiment with that once I go live with the forum. I am on a linux server. How often would it be suggested to update that list?

Question, it looks like the list is a list of ip addresses within each country to block.

Is there a way to block the entire country? Or is there a way to only allow USA visitors in the htaccess file?

FYI, theWordPress plugin "IQ-Block-Country" uses a GeoIP.dat file. I am wondering if that is a list of IP addresses like in your file, but I was unable to open it with MS Office, Visual Studio, DreamWeaver and other programs. Do you know of any free programs to view a .dat file with? (I was unable to upload it with this post).

Thanks again so much!

[gargamello]

Hi.
In this file there are 3 errors.

Line 3660
CAMBODIA (KH)#
Replace with:
# CAMBODIA (KH)

Line 38315
119.252.112.0/20
Replace with:
# deny from 119.252.112.0/20

Line 116150
Add a close tag </Files>

[Hostboard]

Thanks Hostboard, I will experiment with that once I go live with the forum. I am on a linux server. How often would it be suggested to update that list?

Question, it looks like the list is a list of ip addresses within each country to block.

Is there a way to block the entire country? Or is there a way to only allow USA visitors in the htaccess file?

FYI, theWordPress plugin "IQ-Block-Country" uses a GeoIP.dat file. I am wondering if that is a list of IP addresses like in your file, but I was unable to open it with MS Office, Visual Studio, DreamWeaver and other programs. Do you know of any free programs to view a .dat file with? (I was unable to upload it with this post).

Thanks again so much!

If you remove the hash tag in front of the word deny under each countries entry you essentially will block that country. Remember this is not fool proof as open proxies are a dime a dozen and there are even other ways to circumvent this method of blocking. But at least it is something...

[AdjusterGuru]

If you remove the hash tag in front of the word deny under each countries entry you essentially will block that country. Remember this is not fool proof as open proxies are a dime a dozen and there are even other ways to circumvent this method of blocking. But at least it is something...

Thanks Hostboard.

Sorry to sound so stupid. Can you give me a sample of the complete html code for any one country please. Thanks much!