Wget is a bot in the HTTP clients and libraries category, operated by GNU Project.
Wget is a command line tool for downloading files and mirroring websites. Its user agent comes from scripts, backups and site mirroring jobs.
HTTP clients are programming libraries and command line tools. Developers use them for scripts, integrations and scrapers. Real browsers never send these user agents, so treat them as automated traffic and block them on pages meant for people.
Anyone can copy a user agent string. Transfon Security also checks where each request comes from, so a request that claims to be a known crawler but comes from the wrong network is treated as a fake, not as the real crawler.
Wget does not read robots.txt. The rules below record your policy, but they will not stop it. To actually block Wget, use a WAF rule as shown in the next section.
User-agent: Wget Disallow: /
User-agent: Wget Disallow: /private/ Disallow: /search
User-agent: Wget Allow: /blog/ Disallow: /
User-agent: Wget Allow: / User-agent: * Disallow: /
User-agent: Wget group, Wget ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.Wget from Wget's user agent; check GNU Project's own documentation if it publishes a different robots.txt name.Treat robots.txt as a statement of your policy, and enforce it where requests arrive.
Wget is a common tool for scrapers. Real readers never use it, so block it on article pages and keep it out of ad requests.
Transfon Security for publishersTraffic from Wget on landing pages is automated. It inflates clicks and visits, so filter it from campaign data and raise it with the ad network.
Transfon Security for advertisersPrice scrapers, stock checkers and card testing scripts often run on Wget. Block it on product, cart and checkout pages.
Transfon Security for e-commerceWget is normal for API clients but not for your web app. Allow it only on API routes that need a key, and rate limit it there.
Transfon Security for SaaS and APIsWget ignores robots.txt, so it has to be stopped when the request arrives. Transfon Security shows Wget by name in the Top Bots report, so you can see how often it visits and which pages it reads. Block or allow it with a User Agent rule, or slow it down with a rate limit decision rule.
Transfon Security
Wget is a bot in the HTTP clients and libraries category, operated by GNU Project. Wget is a command line tool for downloading files and mirroring websites. Its user agent comes from scripts, backups and site mirroring jobs.
No. Wget does not follow robots.txt, so a Disallow rule will not stop it. Block it by user agent at your server, CDN or WAF instead.
Block requests whose user agent contains "Wget" at your server, CDN or WAF, because Wget does not read robots.txt. In Transfon Security that is one User Agent block rule.
No. robots.txt is voluntary, so Wget may not follow it, and anyone can send Wget's user agent, so a fake Wget ignores your rule. Enforce the rule where requests arrive, at your WAF, and check the source network.
HTTP clients are programming libraries and command line tools. Developers use them for scripts, integrations and scrapers. Real browsers never send these user agents, so treat them as automated traffic and block them on pages meant for people.
Transfon Security identifies every bot in this directory in your traffic reports, flags fake search crawlers, and lets you allow, block or rate limit each bot.
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