Administrator Updated on March 22, 2023 If you are running a website, it may be that at some point you have the need to blacklist an IP Address. Maybe a spam comment was made with an identifiable IP Address and you would like to make sure that is not repeated again. Maybe an abusive user has been using your service via multiple IP Addresses to give them access that should be blocked. Maybe you are blocking your competitors as a way of putting them out of action for 24 hours. Whatever the reason, there is a way to do this and we will discuss how to blacklist an IP address quickly and easily.
IP blacklisting is the technique for preventing unauthorized or malicious IP addresses from connecting to your network. Blacklists are records that comprise IP address ranges or single addresses that you want to prohibit. Firewalls and other traffic-filtering programs can be used in combination with these lists.
Some intrusion efforts can be thwarted by the basic security provided by internet servers, but more often than not, cunning thieves manage to fly under the radar. Based on the intensity, it may significantly impact your traffic and bandwidth; therefore, you may want to consider blocking them. You can filter harmful traffic by creating and implementing blacklists based on policies or manually adding IP addresses. Today, I’ll explain briefly how you can blacklist an IP address.
Blacklisting or Blocking an IP Address
Blacklisting IP addresses varies from device to device. I’ll show how you can blacklist an IP address on Windows and Mac.
On Windows
- Type “firewall” in the windows search bar and go to “Windows Defender Firewall.”
- Click on the “Advanced settings” option.
- Select the “Inbound Rules” option.
- Click on “New Rule.”
- Select the “Custom” option in the rule type section.
- Select “All Program” and click on “Next” to continue.
- Click on “Next” again.
- Under the “Which remote IP addresses does this rule apply to?” section, select the “These IP addresses” option. Click on “Add.”
- Type the IP address you want to put on the blacklist. Click on “OK” and “Next” to proceed to the next step.
- Select the “Block the connection” option and click on “Next.”
- Choose the network type. You should select all the network types to block the IP address from them. Click on “Next.”
- Name the new inbound rule and click on the “Finish” button.
- Select the “Outbound Rules” option and create an outbound rule following the same procedures for the inbound rule. Finally, the IP will be blacklisted.
On Mac
- Go to “System Preferences” from the Apple menu.
- Navigate to the “Network” option and click on “Advanced.”
- Click on the “TCP/IP” tab.
- Login to your router. Password information should be displayed on the router’s body.
- A list of IP addresses will appear which are enabled/disabled. Most routers will offer you blocking access to specific IP addresses or websites. Look for the blocking option and put the unwanted IP address on the blacklist.
Should You Block IP Addresses?
There are multiple reasons why someone should block IP addresses, and I’m explaining some of the reasons below –
- When spammers and hackers try to break into your website, it can increase the burden on your bandwidth and slow down how quickly you and other people can access it.
- Many companies and educational institutions use IP filtering to limit the websites that staff and students can access. Typically, the idea is to boost productivity by reducing distractions.
- Hackers frequently try to break into websites to steal data or other sensitive information. This information could be used to coerce or damage a firm in various ways.
Summary: Blacklist an IP Address
- Log in to cPanel.
- In the Security section, click IP Blocker.
- In the Enter an IP address or a range of addresses that you want to block box, type the IP address or range of IP addresses that you want to blacklist. Note that each entry must be on a separate line.
- Click Add.
- The IP addresses you added to the list display onscreen.
