The act of limiting entry to a service based mostly on the Web Protocol (IP) handle from which a consumer is connecting is a typical safety and administration apply. This includes figuring out a specific IP handle or vary of addresses and stopping them from accessing particular on-line sources or functionalities. As an example, a discussion board administrator may block an IP handle after repeated situations of spam posting originating from that supply.
Implementing such restrictions can supply advantages to on-line platforms by mitigating malicious actions, equivalent to spamming, abuse, or automated bot visitors. Traditionally, IP-based blocking has been used as a rudimentary protection mechanism in opposition to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults, in addition to for implementing geographic restrictions on content material or companies. Whereas not foolproof, it supplies a comparatively easy preliminary barrier in opposition to undesirable entry.