Knowing how to block IP addresses from accessing your website is an effective method to protect it against suspicious activities, spam, malicious traffic, and cyberattacks. With cPanel’s IP Blocker tool, it’s easy to limit access to your site from known malicious IP addresses or geographical locations. Domains.co.za makes securing your site and data simple via the user-friendly control panel included in your Web Hosting package.

How to Block IP Addresses in cPanel

Follow these simple steps to block access to your site from specific IP addresses using the cPanel IP Blocker:

1. Login to your Domains.co.za account.

2. Click on Manage Services on the left-hand side and select Web Hosting from the drop-down menu.

3. Click Manage next to your website’s domain name.

4. Next, click the Login button next to Control Panel to access your cPanel dashboard.

5. Scroll down to Security and click IP Blocker.

6. In the field labelled Add an IP or Range, enter the IP address or range you want to block.

7. You can block a single IP (e.g., 192.168.0.1) or block a range (e.g., 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.255).

8. Click Add to block the IP address.

9. You’ll see a confirmation message, and the IP address(s)will appear in the blocked list.

Note: If you change your mind later, click Delete next to the blocked IP address in the list.

Additional Information

Why Block IP Addresses in cPanel?

By blocking specific IPs from your cPanel dashboard, you can prevent unwanted traffic, hackers, malicious bots, or abusive crawlers from accessing your website. For example:

• Brute-Force Attacks: You can block IP addresses that repeatedly attempt failed logins, which is a common tactic used in brute-force attacks to gain unauthorised access to your site.
• Preventing Spam and Fraud: Blocking IPs can help you prevent comment spam, fake registrations, and other forms of abusive content that negatively impact your website’s reputation and user experience.
• Access Control: If you’re experiencing issues from particular geographic regions or if you want to restrict access for known competitors, blocking their IP ranges can help stop unwanted traffic from these sources.

Tips for Blocking IP Addresses

Blocking IP addresses in cPanel can be a great way to help keep your website secure, but it’s important to do it correctly. Here are some important tips to keep in mind:

• IP Ranges: Be very careful when blocking entire IP ranges. You could unintentionally block legitimate visitors who share that range, or even services like search engine crawlers, which could negatively impact your site’s SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).
• Lookup Tools: To find IP addresses that warrant blocking or identify the source of unwanted activity, use services like whatismyipaddress.com or check your server logs using tools such as Awstats or Raw Access (found in cPanel).
• Specific Entries Only: When blocking IPs in cPanel, remember that entries must be specific. You cannot use wildcards (like *) in the IP Blocker field.
• Understand the Scope: The cPanel IP Blocker only controls access at the website level. For broader, server-level protection, you’ll need to look at adding a firewall or using a more comprehensive security solution.
• Use Security Plugins: If you’re a WordPress user, you can significantly enhance your IP blocking capabilities by combining it with security plugins, as they often have additional automated and advanced protection features.
• Back Up Your .htaccess File: If you decide to use manual methods to block IP addresses, such as directly editing your .htaccess file, always back it up first. This way, you can easily revert any changes if something goes wrong.

Login to Domains.co.za Account

1. Go to the Domains.co.za Login website page.

2. Enter your Email and Password and click the “Sign In” button.

3. You will see the Domains.co.za Dashboard, displaying the Manage Account menu on the left and your Account Information, Account Overview and Open Support Tickets on the right.

Login to cPanel from your Domains.co.za Dashboard

4. Click on Manage Services to view the sub-dropdown menu and select the hosting package for the domain you want to work with – in our example we are using Web Hosting.

5. Click the Manage button to the right of the domain name you want to access.

6. The display will now show Product Information, Quick Manage, Resource Usage and Site Statistics for that domain name.

7. Under Product Information, scroll down to Control Panel, which will display cPanel to the right, and click on the Login button.

8. The cPanel Dashboard will now be displayed.