Administrative and Maintenance Tools - IPDeny: Country Block List

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]

Originally Posted by ForceHSS

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.

Originally Posted by koneil

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]

Originally Posted by tarzan22

Hello

Which countries are possible block?

regards

Any or all of them.

[Max Taxable]

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

[Hostboard]

Originally Posted by Max Taxable

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]

Originally Posted by Hostboard

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]

Originally Posted by Max Taxable

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...