The Firewall feature in the Pressidium Dashboard allows you to enhance the security of your WordPress website by controlling access based on IP addresses. These access control methods complement and work in unison with our built-in multi-layered security mechanisms and WAF (Web Application Firewall).
Blocking IP addresses
Some common cases when you might want to block an IP address from accessing your website include:
A "bad" bot is constantly crawling or accessing your website.
A user is creating spam comments or harmful content.
A user or service is sending a lot of requests, impacting your website's normal operations.
A malicious user is trying to gain access to your website.
To manually Block an IP address:
Navigate to the Firewall screen.
Locate the Blocked IP's section.
Click Block IPs to display the related modal dialog.
Enter one or more IP addresses in the input box.
Click Block IPs.
A background job will be created to update the firewall configuration. You will receive a Dashboard notification as soon as the operation is finished.
Blocked visitors will see a 403 Forbidden error (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status/403).
To remove an IP address Block:
Navigate to the Firewall screen.
Locate the Blocked IP's section.
Locate (or search) for the IP in the list panel.
Click on the IP address to display the actions menu.
Click Remove and confirm the removal.
A background job will be created to update the firewall configuration. You will receive a Dashboard notification as soon as the operation is finished.
The list might contain entries added by our platform team (indicated with a "lock" icon in the UI). These entries cannot be deleted via the Dashboard. You will need to contact our support team and request the entry to be removed.
Adding IP addresses to an Allow list
The IP Allow List allows you to specify a list of approved or trusted IP addresses that can override any IP blocks placed by the IP Block List or the Geo-Blocking feature of our platform. By adding an IP address to the IP Allow list your website will be accessible from this IP address even if the IP belongs (is Geo-located) to a blocked country.
To add an IP address in the Allow List:
Navigate to the Firewall screen.
Locate the Allowed IPs section.
Click Allow IPs to display the related modal dialog.
Enter one or more IP addresses in the input box.
Click Allow IPs.
A background job will be created to update the firewall configuration. You will receive a Dashboard notification as soon as the operation is finished.
To remove an IP address from the Allow List:
Navigate to the Firewall screen.
Locate the Allowed IPs section.
Locate (or search) for the IP in the list panel.
Click on the IP address to display the actions menu.
Click Remove and confirm the removal.
A background job will be created to update the firewall configuration. You will receive a Dashboard notification as soon as the operation is finished.
The list might contain entries added by our platform team (indicated with a "lock" icon in the UI). These entries cannot be deleted via the Dashboard. You will need to contact our support team and request the entry to be removed.
Important: Regularly review and update the IP Allow List to maintain effective security.
Frequently asked questions
If I add an IP to the IP Allow List will this IP be excluded from the built-in login protection in wp-admin (brute force protection/rate limit)?
No, adding an IP in the IP Allow List does not prevent it from being blocked if a brute force attempt is detected by our WAF engine.
Are IPs blocked by the built-in login protection visible in the Blocked IP list?
No, the Blocked IP list does not contain addresses blocked by our login protection mechanism. It might contain addresses added by our support team or our adaptive WAF (Web Application Firewall) engine. These entries will be indicated with a "lock" icon in the UI and cannot be modified.
Is it possible to block a network IP range?
No, this is not possible at the moment. If you would like to block a network range please reach out to our support team.
Can I block IPv6 addresses?
No, this is not possible at the moment, only IPv4 addresses are supported.
Is it possible to block access from one or more countries?
Yes, this is available via our Geo-Blocking feature.