KStandBot

What is KStandBot?

KStandBot is an intelligence gathering web crawler operated by URL Classification, a service dedicated to scanning and categorizing web content. It functions as the primary data collection mechanism for URL Classification's web scanning operations. The crawler identifies itself in server logs with user agent strings like Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; +http://url-classification.io/wiki/index.php?title=URL_server_crawler) KStandBot/1.0 or alternatively Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1) KStandBot/1.0.

This crawler employs a distributed network approach and originates from five static IP addresses, allowing for predictable traffic patterns. KStandBot performs automated site evaluations approximately every 72 hours to maintain updated categorization records. Its design emphasizes compatibility with both modern and legacy systems, as evidenced by its user agent strings that reference different browser versions. You can find more information about this crawler in their documentation.

Why is KStandBot crawling my site?

KStandBot visits websites to collect data for URL Classification's content categorization system. It scans sites to track changes in website content, security configurations, and compliance with various web standards. The crawler typically visits websites every 72 hours as part of its regular scanning cycle.

The bot focuses on analyzing your site's content structure, extracting metadata (like header tags and schema markup), evaluating security profiles (such as SSL/TLS configurations), and checking compliance with standards like GDPR cookie consent requirements. This periodic review enables the service to maintain up-to-date classifications of web content. The crawling is generally considered authorized as part of the normal operation of web classification services, though site owners can control access if desired.

What is the purpose of KStandBot?

KStandBot supports URL Classification's web categorization service, which helps classify websites into specific categories. The data collected undergoes automated classification using natural language processing algorithms to determine the nature and content of websites. This classification information may be used by various third-party services that rely on URL Classification's database.

The service provides value primarily to organizations that use URL Classification's data for content filtering, security analysis, or market research. For website owners, the potential benefit is proper categorization of their site in classification systems that might be used by potential visitors or business partners. However, some site owners might be concerned about the resources consumed by regular crawling or the privacy implications of data collection.

How do I block KStandBot?

You can control KStandBot's access to your website using standard robots.txt directives. The crawler is designed to respect robots.txt rules, though compliance may be partial rather than complete. To block KStandBot from your entire site, add the following to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: KStandBot
Disallow: /

To restrict access to specific directories only, you can be more selective:

User-agent: KStandBot
Disallow: /private-directory/
Disallow: /members-only/

If you're concerned about server resources, you might also consider IP-based filtering by blocking the crawler's five static IP addresses or implementing rate limiting measures to throttle requests from identified crawler IPs. However, completely blocking KStandBot may impact your website's visibility in URL Classification's categorization system, potentially affecting third-party services that rely on their data.

If you benefit from accurate classification in URL Classification's system, consider allowing the crawler but monitoring its behavior through server logs. This approach lets you maintain visibility in their categorization while ensuring the crawler doesn't negatively impact your site's performance.