Country IP Blocks

Validating IP Addresses Using PHP

Stewart White — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:29:24 +0000

PHP 5.2+ offer an excellent function for validating IP Addresses: filter_var().
The filter_var() function offers several flags: FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_IPV4, FILTER_FLAG_IPV6, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE and FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE, used to filter or validate IP addresses based on whether the address is IPv4, IPv6 or within a reserved or private network range.

For the purpose of illustration, let’s assume we want to validate [...]

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Additional Access Control Lists

Stewart White — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:20:34 +0000

Country IP Blocks has introduced Access Control Lists by Continent to allow additional options for network managers and webmasters.
Our Continent Access Control Lists are located on our continents page.
Listed continents include Africa, Antartica, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America.
A complete list of countries by continent is available here.

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Viet Nam Number Two in Spammers

Stewart White — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:10:32 +0000

The country of Viet Nam has moved from number six to number two on the Country IP Blocks list of global spammers. The rise in spam from Viet Nam has risen so dramatically during the past quarter that China could soon move from its top spot to second place.

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Top Ten Global Spammers

Stewart White — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:03:56 +0000

The list of the Top Ten Global Spammers has shifted during the third quarter of 2009. An increase in spam of 41% since June 1, 2009 has also brought with it a significant change in the geographical locations of the spammers.
Viet Nam has risen from Number 6, on May 13, 2009, to number two. Viet [...]

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©2010 Country IP Blocks. All Rights Reserved.Please visit us at Country IP Blocks. We apprciate your patronage.

Country IP Ranges by Continent

Stewart White — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:33:42 +0000

Breaking News: We are pleased to announce that you may now select your Country IP Blocks by continent as well as by country.
We have received many requests from Network Managers and Webmasters for additional features on our Access Control Lists. One of the most requested feature is the ability to consolidate our Country IP lists [...]

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Nine Paranoid Internet Security Tips

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:14:23 +0000

In its must read release of Websense Security Labs State of Internet Security, Q1 – Q2, 2009, whitepaper, Websense reveals several frightening internet trends. It seems no website is safe.
For example, Websense reveals a 233% growth in the number of malicious websites in the last 6 months. Seventy-seven percent of sites spewing malicious code “are [...]

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Be Paranoid About Password Policies

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:08:36 +0000

Tip #1
Be Paranoid About Password Policies
Every website, computer user and business must develop and enforce strong password policies. Proper password procedures may not alleviate your paranoia but it will help you sleep at nights.
Use totally random passwords.
Let’s face it, many people use low-tech, easy to remember and easy to guess passwords. Some of the most [...]

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©2010 Country IP Blocks. All Rights Reserved.Please visit us at Country IP Blocks. We apprciate your patronage.

Be Paranoid About User Input

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:04:35 +0000

Tip #2
Be Paranoid About User Input
One of the most security vulnerable areas of the web today is user forms. Websites use forms for all sorts of purposes. Whether you use forms to take orders, receive contact information or allow comments on your blogs or message boards, you need to start with one unbreakable rule:
Never Trust [...]

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Keep your security patches up to date

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:02:08 +0000

Tip #3
Keep your security patches up to date
Security patches exist because someone has discovered a flaw in your operating system, application, webform or configuration. Security patches are a must for open source and well known applications. Microsoft has the largest share of the OS market. Finding a flaw in Windows means a hacker could have [...]

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©2010 Country IP Blocks. All Rights Reserved.Please visit us at Country IP Blocks. We apprciate your patronage.

Be Paranoid About Your Identity

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:59:23 +0000

Tip#4
Be Paranoid About Your Identity
Bots crawl the internet 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, looking for useful information. These bots are hungry for information and with high speed processing, low security, and unconcerned websites, they get their fill.
Social communities like facebook, MySpace and even Craigslist can provide the opportunities and the information for disaster. Identity thieves [...]

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©2010 Country IP Blocks. All Rights Reserved.Please visit us at Country IP Blocks. We apprciate your patronage.

Be Paranoid About Your Website Traffic

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:55:27 +0000

Tip #5
Be Paranoid About Your Website Traffic
Website hacks happen on one of two ways, from external sources or internal sources.
You’ve established strong passwords, validated user input, kept your software updated and limited viewable personal and business data. You’re paranoid and off to a great start. But now you need to monitor your website traffic.
Whether you [...]

Limit Your Exposure

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:48:19 +0000

Tip #6
Limit Your Exposure to Areas Where You Do Business
If your website business sells widgets to a small area, limit the website traffic you will accept. If you own a restaurant in Milan and use your website to sell Cannelloni to the local neighborhood, limit acceptable traffic and input to your immediate area.
If you are [...]

Be Paranoid About Backups

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:45:10 +0000

Tip #7
Be Paranoid About Backups
Good backup policies are essential. Backups, just like server logs are your friends. Backups are excellent resources to have when your site is down, your server has crashed or you are moving your website to a new server. But there is another equally important reason to maintain original backups.
Properly maintained original [...]

Be Paranoid About Your Email Addresses

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:42:23 +0000

Tip #8
Be Paranoid About Your Email Addresses
Everybody hates spam except the spammers. Spam accounts for close to 90% of all email communication. It’s big business. It’s profitable. For the chance to make a millions to billions of dollars with very little effort, spammers have a great incentive to make your life miserable.
Spam brings unwanted advertisements [...]

Use Country IP Blocks

Stewart White — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:38:52 +0000

Tip #9
Use Country IP Blocks
Country IP Blocks provides real time country specific network location data on every active IP Address around the globe. This data allows you to know the origins of your server or website traffic and respond accordingly.
Using the data we provide you can allow, deny or redirect wanted and unwanted traffic.
Coming soon [...]