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        4. May know what's the meaning of these parameters in .htaccess?

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        • esiow2013
          esiow2013 last edited by

          Begin HackRepair.com Blacklist

          RewriteEngine on

          Abuse Agent Blocking

          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlackWidow [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bolt\ 0 [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bot\ mailto:[email protected] [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} CazoodleBot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ChinaClaw [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Custo [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Default\ Browser\ 0 [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DIIbot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DISCo [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} discobot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download\ Demon [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^eCatch [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ecxi [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EirGrabber [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailCollector [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailSiphon [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailWolf [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Express\ WebPictures [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ExtractorPro [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EyeNetIE [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FlashGet [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetRight [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetWeb! [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go!Zilla [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go-Ahead-Got-It [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GrabNet [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Grafula [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} GT::WWW [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} heritrix [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^HMView [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} HTTP::Lite [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} HTTrack [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ia_archiver [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} IDBot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} id-search [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} id-search.org [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Stripper [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Sucker [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Indy\ Library [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InterGET [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Internet\ Ninja [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InternetSeer.com [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} IRLbot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ISC\ Systems\ iRc\ Search\ 2.1 [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Java [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JetCar [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JOC\ Web\ Spider [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^larbin [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LeechFTP [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} libwww [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} libwww-perl [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Link [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} LinksManager.com_bot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} linkwalker [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} lwp-trivial [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mass\ Downloader [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Maxthon$ [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} MFC_Tear_Sample [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^microsoft.url [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Microsoft\ URL\ Control [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MIDown\ tool [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mister\ PiX [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Missigua\ Locator [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla.*Indy [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla.NEWT [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MSFrontPage [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Navroad [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NearSite [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetAnts [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetSpider [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Net\ Vampire [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetZIP [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Nutch [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Octopus [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Explorer [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Navigator [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PageGrabber [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} panscient.com [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Papa\ Foto [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pavuk [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} PECL::HTTP [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PeoplePal [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pcBrowser [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} PHPCrawl [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} PleaseCrawl [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^psbot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^RealDownload [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ReGet [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Rippers\ 0 [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} SBIder [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SeaMonkey$ [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^sitecheck.internetseer.com [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SiteSnagger [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SmartDownload [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Snoopy [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Steeler [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperBot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperHTTP [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Surfbot [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^tAkeOut [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport\ Pro [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Toata\ dragostea\ mea\ pentru\ diavola [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} URI::Fetch [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} urllib [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} User-Agent [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VoidEYE [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Image\ Collector [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Sucker [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Web\ Sucker [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} webalta [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebAuto [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^[Ww]eb[Bb]andit [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} WebCollage [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebCopier [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebFetch [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebGo\ IS [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebLeacher [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebReaper [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebSauger [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ eXtractor [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ Quester [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebStripper [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebWhacker [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebZIP [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Wells\ Search\ II [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} WEP\ Search [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Wget [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Widow [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWW-Mechanize [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWWOFFLE [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} zermelo [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^(.
          )Zeus.Webster [NC,OR]
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ZyBorg [NC]
          RewriteRule ^.
          - [F,L]

          Abuse bot blocking rule end

          End HackRepair.com Blacklist

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • esiow2013
            esiow2013 last edited by

            Now it's clear. Thanks a lot ThompsonPaul! 🙂

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • ThompsonPaul
              ThompsonPaul @esiow2013 last edited by

              Thanks! 🙂

              Typically these blacklists are created and maintained by security specialists who have done testing on the different bots to determine which are legit/beneficial and which are crapbots. They then provide these lists for others to use. Often the lists are amalgamations of bots detected and analysed on a number of different sites and by a number of different specialists to act as a double-check for each other.

              You do need to be careful that you are using a well-curated list, as carelessly blocking bots can cause problems for legitimate bots. You would check out the creator of such a list the same way you'd check out the creator of a plugin you're considering using - check reviews, look at comments and responses on the post that provides the blacklist etc.

              That answer your question?

              Paul

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • esiow2013
                esiow2013 last edited by

                Hi ThompsonPaul,

                Wow! Superb explanation. One thing I just want to clarify, how would I know if these bots are "bad bots".

                Thanks a lot! 🙂

                ThompsonPaul 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • ThompsonPaul
                  ThompsonPaul last edited by

                  As Lynn mentions, these entries form a blacklist for "bad bots". These are bots that are identified as being harmful (or at least non-helpful) to the real use of a website. Bots are essentially spiders that crawl and record the pages of your site the same way the GoogleBot does.There are 2 main reasons for blocking them

                  1. Too many unnecessary bots can put a real strain on server resources, causing the site to slow down for real users. This can be especially problematic with bad bots as they do not respect the entries in your robots.txt file and so will crawl even blocked pages. This can mean huge numbers of extra pages get crawled, leading to even more load.

                  2. Many (most?) of these bots are collecting data for nefarious purposes. Some are scrapers to collect your site content in order to re-use it illegally on another site, some are scanning for certain files/plugins on your site known to be insecure so they can target them for attack, etc.

                  Best case scenario, these bots waste your bandwidth and can cause site slowdowns on low-powered (e.g. shared) servers. Worst case, they can actually cause harm to your site.

                  There are literally many thousands of these types of bots out there, and their creators often change their identifying user agents just to get around these types of blacklists. But many have been around for some time and still use the same identifier. So having a blacklist to block the most common of them is actually very good security practice. To be totally proactive however, you'd need to update the list every couple of months.

                  Bottom line - those entries are providing some security and overload protection for your site, and there's essentially no downside to having them in place even if they're not catching everything.

                  Hope that helps - if any of my explanation isn't clear, just holler 🙂

                  Paul

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                  • esiow2013
                    esiow2013 last edited by

                    Thanks Lynn! I'll just remove these parameters and leave this one:

                    BEGIN WordPress

                    <ifmodule mod_rewrite.c="">RewriteEngine On
                    RewriteBase /
                    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
                    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
                    RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
                    Rewritecond %{http_host} ^domain.com [NC]
                    Rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [R=301,NC]</ifmodule>

                    END WordPress

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • LynnPatchett
                      LynnPatchett @esiow2013 last edited by

                      I dont use something like this myself. I suppose if you are having some problem with bots it might be useful, maybe someone else can chime in if they have some experience with this kind of blocking.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • esiow2013
                        esiow2013 last edited by

                        Thanks Lynn! Is this really necessary?

                        LynnPatchett 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • LynnPatchett
                          LynnPatchett last edited by

                          HI,

                          It is checking to see if the visiting user agent contains any of these strings (NC is telling it non case sensitive) and if it does to return a 403 forbidden message.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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