How to lock out Ukraine and Russia permanently?

Please post the content of your .htaccess file.

Here You are:

# BEGIN iThemes Security – Do not modify or remove this line
# iThemes Security Config Details: 2
# Enable HackRepair.com’s blacklist feature – Security > Settings > Banned Users > Default Blacklist
# Start HackRepair.com Blacklist
RewriteEngine on
# Start Abuse Agent Blocking
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Mozilla.*Indy” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Mozilla.*NEWT” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^$” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Maxthon$” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^SeaMonkey$” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Acunetix” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^binlar” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^BlackWidow” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Bolt 0” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^BOT for JCE” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Bot mailto\:craftbot@yahoo\.com” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^casper” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^checkprivacy” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^ChinaClaw” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^clshttp” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^cmsworldmap” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Custo” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Default Browser 0” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^diavol” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^DIIbot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^DISCo” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^dotbot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Download Demon” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^eCatch” [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} “^extract” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^ExtractorPro” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^EyeNetIE” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^feedfinder” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^FHscan” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^FlashGet” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^flicky” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^g00g1e” [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} “^grab” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^GrabNet” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Grafula” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^harvest” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^HMView” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Image Stripper” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Image Sucker” [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} “^jakarta” [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} “^kanagawa” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^kmccrew” [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} “^Mass Downloader” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^microsoft\.url” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^MIDown tool” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^miner” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Mister PiX” [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} “^Net Vampire” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^NetAnts” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^NetSpider” [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} “^Papa Foto” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^pavuk” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^pcBrowser” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^PeoplePal” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^planetwork” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^psbot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^purebot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^pycurl” [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} “^sitecheck\.internetseer\.com” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^SiteSnagger” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^skygrid” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^SmartDownload” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^sucker” [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} “^turnit” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^vikspider” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^VoidEYE” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^Web Image Collector” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^WebAuto” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^WebBandit” [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} “^Widow” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^WPScan” [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} “^Zeus” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “^zmeu” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “360Spider” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “CazoodleBot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “discobot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “EasouSpider” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “ecxi” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “GT\:\:WWW” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “heritrix” [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} “id\-search” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “IDBot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “Indy Library” [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} “LinksCrawler” [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} “MFC_Tear_Sample” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “Microsoft URL Control” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “Missigua Locator” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “MJ12bot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “panscient\.com” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “PECL\:\:HTTP” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “PHPCrawl” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “PleaseCrawl” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “SBIder” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “SearchmetricsBot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “SeznamBot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “Snoopy” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “Steeler” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “URI\:\:Fetch” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “urllib” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “Web Sucker” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “webalta” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “WebCollage” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “Wells Search II” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “WEP Search” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “XoviBot” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “YisouSpider” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “zermelo” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} “ZyBorg” [NC,OR]
# End Abuse Agent Blocking
# Start Abuse HTTP Referrer Blocking
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} “^https?://(?:[^/]+\.)?semalt\.com” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} “^https?://(?:[^/]+\.)?kambasoft\.com” [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} “^https?://(?:[^/]+\.)?savetubevideo\.com” [NC]
# End Abuse HTTP Referrer Blocking
RewriteRule ^.* – [F,L]
# End HackRepair.com Blacklist, https://pastebin.com/u/hackrepair

# Ban Hosts – Security > Settings > Banned Users
SetEnvIF REMOTE_ADDR “^77\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}$” DenyAccess
SetEnvIF X-FORWARDED-FOR “^77\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}$” DenyAccess
SetEnvIF X-CLUSTER-CLIENT-IP “^77\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}$” DenyAccess

SetEnvIF REMOTE_ADDR “^91\.210\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}$” DenyAccess
SetEnvIF X-FORWARDED-FOR “^91\.210\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}$” DenyAccess
SetEnvIF X-CLUSTER-CLIENT-IP “^91\.210\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}$” DenyAccess

<IfModule mod_litespeed.c>
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
Deny from env=DenyAccess
Deny from 77.0.0.0/8
Deny from 91.210.0.0/16
</IfModule>

# Disable XML-RPC – Security > Settings > WordPress Tweaks > XML-RPC
<files xmlrpc.php>
<IfModule mod_litespeed.c>
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
</IfModule>
</files>
# END iThemes Security – Do not modify or remove this line

# BEGIN LSCACHE
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN – Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
<IfModule LiteSpeed>
RewriteEngine on
CacheLookup on
RewriteRule .* – [E=Cache-Control:no-autoflush]
RewriteRule min/\w+\.(css|js) – [E=cache-control:no-vary]

### marker CACHE RESOURCE start ###
RewriteRule wp-content/.*/[^/]*(responsive|css|js|dynamic|loader|fonts)\.php – [E=cache-control:max-age=3600]
### marker CACHE RESOURCE end ###

### marker FAVICON start ###
RewriteRule favicon\.ico$ – [E=cache-control:max-age=86400]
### marker FAVICON end ###

</IfModule>
## LITESPEED WP CACHE PLUGIN – Do not edit the contents of this block! ##
# END LSCACHE

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Ah, ok that helped;-)

Did you enter the 2 IP ranges (77.0.0.0/8 and 91.210.0.0/16) manually into the Ban Hosts setting in the Banned Users module ?

And despite the 2 banned IP ranges there are still host IPs (which fall within one of the 2 IP ranges) being locked out ? (probably not).

Anyway, turns out you are running your site using LiteSpeed as the web server software. Well over 2 years ago, I discussed a similar issue with another forum visitor and we discovered that the quick ban function is not properly functioning for a LiteSpeed env …

The result is that after 3 host lockouts the IP is not getting banned permanently in the .htaccess file.

I just checked the code of the same function (quick_ban() in the core/files.php file) and I can confirm it is still not adding banned IPs to the .htaccess file for LiteSpeed …

So in short, due to a bug IPs are not getting banned permanently on a LiteSpeed env.

Since there is no country banning functionality included in the iTSec plugin I’m afraid the only way to deal with this issue is to add the IPs (ranges) manually in the Banned Users module.

Or alternatively install a country blocking plugin.

Thank you for a detailed answer.

We are back to my old philosophy regarding internet security: one security plugin is never enough.

I have now added the plugin: WP-Ban to my site as well. (A trusted old friend that I am using on my other web-sites)

I had hoped that Ithemes Security was enough because comments are eliminated on the actual website.