Automate Global IP Banning with Defender and The Hub (for Free!)

Our new Global IP Banning feature saves you loads of time securing sites. Simply create your IP block and allowlist once, then automatically sync to some or all of your WordPress sites with a few clicks.

A global IP allowlist and blocklist feature has been a top Defender security request for a while. So now…

“I logged into a client site this morning and saw a notification about the new global IP list-banning feature that allows us to sync our IP ban lists across Hub sites. I have raised this request in previous topics with Support and I am sooooooo happy that it has been made live. You guys rock!”

Andre – WPMU DEV Member

It’s here, free to use, and managed directly from your Hub! As you’ll see, it’s easy to quickly apply the same allowlist and blocklist IPs to all of your sites in bulk.

This article will cover:

• Why Block and Allow IPs?
• IP Banning and Allowing From The Hub
• Selecting Sites to Block or Allow IPs
• Syncing IPs with WordPress Sites
• Managing Multiple Website IPs with Global IP Blocker
• Viewing Top Blocked Countries

So, let’s show you how it’s done! First though…

Why Block and Allow IPs?

Just to touch on it quickly, there are many reasons for configuring a WordPress site to allow or block IPs.

For example, maybe you want to monitor online behavior (e.g. to restrict specific web platforms from accessing an educational site). Or, to protect your website from attacks. Also, you may not want a particular country or place to access your online information.

So, there are practical scenarios (like not allowing access to unwanted sites) and security protocols (preventing unwanted or harmful sites or servers from connecting with your network or computer).

Whatever the purpose, allowing and banning IPs should be in your control. With Defender, they are.

Let’s show you how our Defender security plugin makes it easy.

IP Banning and Allowing From The Hub

The Hub makes it easy and simple to create and manage IP Banning.

You can block and allow IP addresses from this area and automatically sync those lists with all or several of your WordPress sites.

The IP Banning section is located in the My Sites menu area.

In this section, you can see your Global Blocklist and Global Allowlist, where you’ll add your IPs.

Simply insert one IP address per line and keep in mind that IPv4 and IPv6 are supported. Plus, IP ranges are also accepted in CIDR or hyphenated format.

Ever want to edit? It’s no problem. You can add and remove IPs at any time!

Selecting Sites to Block and Allow IPs

It’s up to you to determine what sites of yours you want IPs blocked or allowed. So, before syncing IPs with sites, decide what sites you want to associate with IP block and allow lists.

Head to Activate on Site(s) to pick what site you want to include.

After clicking, you’ll see all the available sites to activate global IP banning.

You’ll also be able to see any website that doesn’t have Defender activated and any other issues that would affect syncing.

If you want, you can search with Filters & Labels when browsing through your websites. There are options for filtering by ‘Hosted with us,’ ‘Hosted elsewhere,’ favorites/non-favorites, and labels.

Plus, you can enter a site title and search relevant sites.

When your sites are selected, tap Activate – and that’s it! It takes just a few moments for the sites to be included.

With that being said, it’s time to…

Sync IPs with WordPress Sites

It takes one click to sync your IPs with your WordPress sites. Just tap on the bright blue Sync IPs with Sites, and all the selected sites will be synced.

A message informing you of what is about to take place will pop up to ensure you’d like to proceed.

Sounds good to still sync? Then click Continue.

After hitting Continue, you can sit back and relax as all of your chosen sites are synced with IPs on your blocklist and allowlist! It takes just a few moments.

Manage Multiple Website IPs with Global IP Blocker

Blocking and unblocking IP addresses globally using Defender’s Global IP Blocker feature makes it easier to manage access and security for multiple sites from a single platform and eliminates the hassle of managing multiple IP addresses for different sites.

To access the Global IP Blocker feature from any website with Defender installed, go to the plugin menu’s Firewall > Global IP Blocker section.

Here you can manage all Global IP addresses.

Use Global IP Blocker’s auto-sync feature across all connected websites to synchronize your Global Blocklist and Allowlist with your Hub, so you don’t have to manually update each site.

You can also configure the plugin to send permanently blocked IPs to the Hubs Global IP.

Note: New IPs detected by Defender will only be automatically added to The Hub’s Global IP Blocklist if Duration is set to Permanent for Login Protection and 404 Detection.

This feature is available for both Free and Pro versions of Defender. Just make sure that the site is connected to The Hub and that WPMU DEV’s Dashboard plugin is activated. If you are using the free version of the plugin, connect the site via a Free Hub account.

To learn more about using this feature, visit Defender’s Global IP Blocklist documentation section.

Top Blocked Countries

Now that you have global IP bans in place, do you want to know what countries are blocked the most? Thanks to Defender’s Top Block Countries widget, it’s all displayed directly from Defender’s dashboard.

It shows the country, followed by the number of blocked IPs in the last seven days.

If you click Update Blocked Countries, it will take you to Defender’s Firewall — where you can update your bans on specific countries at any time.

Allow and Block Global IPs with Ease

As you can see, allowing and blocking global IPs can be done in just a few clicks with Defender and The Hub. It’s never been simpler to control global IPs across any number of sites simultaneously!

If you aren’t using The Hub yet, sign up for free. The same goes for Defender, which also doesn’t cost a thing from wp.org.

And now, blocking and allowing IPs is a breeze!