Cyberthreats can originate from all over the globe, but there are a handful of countries that are the most prolific offenders. Geo-blocking is a feature on some firewalls that takes a preemptive step at blocking data from these countries which produce a lot of illegitimate and malicious web traffic.
By taking the proactive step of blocking traffic from these countries, Geo-blocking helps prevent many attacks from ever reaching your company’s network. It’s rare for small and midsize businesses in America to have any legitimate reason to receive data from countries like China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran, so these and a few other countries are easy to Geo-block without worrying about causing disruptions. Russia alone accounts for nearly 30% of all global phishing attacks, and China another 14% (SQ Magazine, 2025).
Of course, there are always exceptions, and Geo-blocking can always be reconfigured if business needs change. But as a general IT security rule-of-thumb, it’s best to block more and adjust if necessary, versus allowing more in than needed from the start.
We implement Geo-blocking on all of the firewalls we manage for our customers, which has helped reduce attacks across the board. This is just a single layer in the stack of systems that protect your company’s network and data, but it’s an important one in today’s global attack space. To learn more about how we can help protect your network with Geo-blocking and more, Contact Us today.
