SMF Support > SMF 1.1.x Support

How to block IPs?

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jrstark:
I have a bot farm hitting my forum.

This started as a spam reported post from a Russian IP.  After the second one, I deleted the post. However, that didn't stop it. My error log is now full of constant attempts to report this now-nonexistent post. The IP addresses all trace to IPTelligent LLC in Florida.

Tech support at my host told me to edit SMF's index file to block the session ID. Is that really the best way to handle this? Seems like it could cause issues upgrading not to mention I can see it filling up with more session IDs if this continues.

There are multiple IPs coming in from two different ranges, ie first 3 sets of numbers the same. These are not members, I use Stop Forum Spam and security questions on registration as well as admin approval required. But I need to leave "report to moderator" open to guests.

Any suggestions?

Colin:
I would suggest adding this to your .htaccess file which will block the IP's in the range.


--- Code: ---order allow,deny
deny from 123.123.123
allow from all
--- End code ---

Notice how I left the last octet blank. This will ensure the range of IP's from 123.123.123.0 - 123.123.123.255 is blocked. Make sure to change the first 3 octets.

MrPhil:
Yes, using an IP block in .htaccess would be best, as it prevents those addresses from even getting to SMF. If you don't feeling like editing .htaccess yourself, any decent host control panel should have some mechanism for "block access by IP address". If you're on a Windows (IIS) server, I would assume they have some similar mechanism for doing that.

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