Home » Proxy Articles » IP blocking with .htaccess
- Configuring a web proxy robots.txt file
- Hotlinking prevention with PHProxy
- How to automatically update GeoLite Country
- Installing Google Analytics on PHProxy
- IP blocking with GeoLite Country and PHProxy
- IP blocking with .htaccess
Blocking countries from accessing your web proxy is an important task because you can protect yourself from known spammers and those who use web proxies to commit illegal activities.
It is very easy to implement using the Block a Country service. Simply visit the web site and select the countries that you wish to block from the list provided. Click the button to generate your .htaccess file and follow the instructions for implementing the file on your web proxy.
Now before you go running off to implement this on your web proxy there are a couple of downsides to using htaccess to block traffic from your web proxy.
The first is that by placing a .htaccess file into your web proxy you are adding an additional level of processing. This basically means that you are increasing the load time of your web proxy by increasing the amount of work that the server has to perform.
The second downside is that .htaccess blocking gives you very little option other than to display a 403 Forbidden error page. So unless you customize that page to redirect to another web site or service then you are basically wasting traffic.
You should consider these downsides before deciding to implement .htaccess blocking on your web proxy and you should also consider reading through our IP Blocking with GeoLite Country and PHProxy as an alternative solution.
The main upside to using .htaccess is that it is a quick and effective solution for blocking particular IP addresses. If you have received a complaint from a government agency or via your hosting provider about some form of illegal activity, you can use .htaccess to quickly block the offender and resolve the complaint.
