WordPress and Security: IP Blocker

Updated June 1, 2022

Update on WordPress Security Plugin IP Blocker

WordPress and security has been in the news a lot lately. If you’ve got a WP website most likely there’s been a dramatic increase in brute force attack attempts against it. Last month we reviewed and shared a WordPress security plugin called IP Blocker. Due to performance issues, we wanted to update our community on how this awesome plugin has slowed load times.

Still A Fan… With a Caveat

Over the last couple of days, we’ve noticed that our site has been abnormally sluggish. So much so that it raised huge red flags. As you know website page speed is an important component to SEO rankings. I did some extensive digging. I confirmed that it wasn’t a server issue, caching problem, or other technical difficulty. The culprit? We reached critical mass on the number of IP blocked. 10,000+ in fact. For whatever reason, hackers like to challenge my WordPress security measures. I’m pleased to say that my best practices have kept them out.  However, I’m not happy with the impact of the IP Blocker plugin dragging down performance. Per a recent email exchange with the developer, he’s aware of the problem. He’s working on a long-term fix; there’s not ETA yet.

WordPress and security continues to be a hot button for me. I’m heartened to see that Automattic is trying to tackle the issue by organizing a MeetUp to discuss possible solutions. Will keep you posted on how things progress on this important issue.

What have you been seeing around WordPress and security?