"Solve CloudFlare Captchas by hosting your infrastructure yourself"
CloudFlare and Captchas are there to prevent bots to crawl data or attack your website.
Self-Hosting Your Website? Well Done! Configuring your docker, nginx and DNS are gold-valued skills. In the beginning, you might select a free hosting service, but for a cost...
When a provider of your provider fails
You're probably using secure DNS (DoH/DoT) or an AdBlocker / PiHole.
The evil CloudFlare's Captcha (aka Turnstile) may deny you access to ANY website. Services like (CloudFlare themselves CANVA.COM and more) use those services. If you rely on any infrastructure provider and they are using the "evil CloudFlare Captcha" (or other evil services, like Google), you're locked out (until you enable all their trackers <irony> and disable your firewall </irony>).
The Lesson
Even your "partners" like CloudFlare, who SEEM to assist with your online purpose, e.g., their "privacy service" to hide/cloak your private IP, can turn into adversaries.
Thought for the Day
- What if your email gets hacked?
- What if your domain provider cancels you (e.g., you move to a different country and they suspect your contact data is "wrong/fake")?
- There are dozens of these Single Points of Privacy Failure (c).
WARNING
- Do you have backup plan(s)?
Takeaways
TIP
Reduce Dependencies: aka "Single Points of Freedom Failure". Start new good online-habits, now! Preferably with a plan.
Be Skeptical of CloudFlare: their shareholders aim for your money, not a safe online community. Avoid even their public DNS if possible. DNS Alternative: Swiss DigitaleGesellschaft. (More on this another time.)
Caution with Free Hostings: For instance, https://x10hosting.com/ removes accounts after 30 days of inactivity. Always expect that your provider might delete your account – or even delete "themselves". A case in point: "instafree" Dallas' hosting service (dal.if1.us) disappeared after 4 years without a trace online.
Developer Advices
Want to protect your web-site with a Captcha? Try checking those projects:
Want to host your site yourself?
- Get a Raspberry PI 4 (or any alternatives)
- Plan 2+ weeks to learn Docker, Nginx and DNS
- Experiment hands-on
Conclusion
- Avoid CloudFlare with their DNS.
- Learn RPi, Docker, Nginx, DNS, if not already.
- Always have a backup.
Stay productive, backed up, connected and free!
Photo by Christina