Protecting your WordPress site from automated bots doesn’t always require complex measures. Sometimes, the most effective protection comes from simple yet powerful configurations. Let’s explore basic settings like blocking empty user-agents, missing headers, and various browser anomalies, providing robust security with minimal effort.
A “User-Agent” header tells your server what kind of browser or bot is accessing your site. Real users and legitimate bots always provide this header. Malicious bots often omit it.
Why enable this?
Blocking requests without a user-agent quickly eliminates many simple, low-effort bot scripts.
The “Accept-Language” header indicates the preferred language of the visitor. Legitimate browsers always set this header. Bots frequently skip or manipulate it incorrectly.
Why enable this?
Blocking empty Accept-Language requests reduces spam traffic and scraping attempts by unsophisticated bots.
Most real browsers fully support JavaScript. Bots, especially basic scrapers, often run with JavaScript disabled.
Why enable this?
Requiring JavaScript support blocks most simple bots and automated scraping scripts, drastically reducing unwanted server load.
Legitimate users typically have consistent language preferences matching their geolocation. Malicious traffic often shows discrepancies – for example, an IP from France using a language header indicating Chinese.
Why enable this?
GeoIP mismatches help catch stealthy bots or attackers using proxies, VPNs, or hijacked connections.
Bots frequently fake or manipulate user-agents, presenting inconsistent or outdated strings. Bot detection systems easily identify these anomalies.
Why enable this?
Detecting user-agent anomalies stops bots masquerading as legitimate browsers or crawlers.
Legitimate bots like Googlebot have matching forward and reverse DNS (PTR) records. Many malicious bots lack this consistency.
Why enable this?
Blocking PTR mismatches and anomalies significantly reduces fake crawler traffic, enhancing your site’s SEO reliability.
The “Referer” header tells your server where a visitor came from. Bots often leave this blank or insert fake values.
Why enable this?
Blocking fake or missing referer headers reduces spam and malicious traffic from scripted attacks and unwanted scraping.
BotBlocker simplifies the implementation of these basic yet powerful settings with a straightforward, user-friendly interface. You can configure each check individually or use recommended presets for immediate results.
Quick setup example:
Activate BotBlocker → Go to settings → Check the options for blocking Empty User-Agent, GeoIP mismatches, and JavaScript support. Click “Save.” Your site now has stronger protection.
These straightforward blocking configurations protect your site quickly and efficiently. No deep technical knowledge is required – just enable these settings, and your WordPress site gains instant, effective protection from common automated threats.
