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epaddon

Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 711
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:38 pm Post subject: Spammer |
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The newest post alas is a spam item, and I think it's a warning as to how this site may have to adopt a stricter policy on admitting people if we're going to see more of this kind of junk in the future. |
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Dawg

Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 42 Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:10 am Post subject: |
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Eric, a lot of boards "powered" by the php software (which is shareware as opposed to paid-for packages like vBulletin) are seeing this kind of crap. We're constantly cleaning out similar "members" at CA and DBC. It's a weakness of the software, not the will of the folks who run the boards.
These people have software that will register, confirm the registration, and post their message (in this case, a drug-selling site, but there is a porn vendor who is making the rounds right now, too) - all automatically. There is almost nothing that can be done except to be vigilent and ban domain names as they show up. Some are going to slip through, regardless.
I am
Dawg
 _________________ "...I aim to misbehave." Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity
I'm at: Dawg's House
LauretteSpang.com |
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epaddon

Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 711
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:35 am Post subject: |
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I hope you're right, and I certainly don't mean to suggest our good moderators of this site, Mike and Marcel aren't doing a good job. I have seen too many good message boards go downhill when these things start to seep through, so there was a lot of knee-jerk concern right there when I suddenly saw one popping up here. |
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Senmut Persona Specialitas

Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 1330 Location: Soviet of Washington, ex-USA
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:42 am Post subject: |
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I miss something?
============
-edit-
Never mind. _________________ "The dull mind rises to Truth through that which is material." -Suger
Et verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis: et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigenti a Patre, plenam gratiae et veritas. |
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mikedx Site Admin
Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 88
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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Jeez I hate to see that. I had a guestbook on my website and it got so loaded down with spam (I guess it got on some spam master list) that I was getting 3 spams a day, so I had to just delete it.
We'll do what we can here, and I'm sorry for the problem.
Mike |
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MAD Site Admin

Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 393 Location: Rotterdam - The Netherlands
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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We already have the typing in of conformation code image (check when you click to register a new account) and they need to click on the conformation e-mail. Still there are people smart enough to break through. You can do nothing against those few who do except to ban them. It won't happen that often (I hope). _________________ GALACTICA.TV | My Battlestar Galactica | Terry Carter - official site | Anne Lockhart - official site |
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epaddon

Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 711
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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A second spammer just started something. This is evidently getting to be a more serious problem, or else we've got one sick person out there. |
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Senmut Persona Specialitas

Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 1330 Location: Soviet of Washington, ex-USA
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:09 am Post subject: |
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More like the second option, I fear. _________________ "The dull mind rises to Truth through that which is material." -Suger
Et verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis: et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigenti a Patre, plenam gratiae et veritas. |
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Senmut Persona Specialitas

Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 1330 Location: Soviet of Washington, ex-USA
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:11 am Post subject: |
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Perhaps a new rule that any future sign-ons will have to be vouchsafed by an existing member? Clumsy, I know, but we don't need that kind of sludge in here. _________________ "The dull mind rises to Truth through that which is material." -Suger
Et verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis: et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigenti a Patre, plenam gratiae et veritas. |
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Dawg

Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 42 Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:47 am Post subject: |
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It's tough with the php software - and I don't know enough about it myself (I really need to make the time to dig into it - I admin at 2 sites that use it).
This kind of spammer targets the php software.
Trust me - this is a problem everyone who uses the php software is having to deal with.
I am
Dawg
 _________________ "...I aim to misbehave." Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity
I'm at: Dawg's House
LauretteSpang.com |
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MAD Site Admin

Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 393 Location: Rotterdam - The Netherlands
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Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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Though this one spammer actually posted, I found another 10 new members in the past weeks with still 0 posts all coming from the same IP range and had the same domainname for their e-mail address with which they registered. I blocked all of that with some wildcards, so they won't be bothering us again!
If it continues to be a problem I'll upgrade the account activation from User to Admin. This means any user registering has to get approval from Mike or me to get aboard. I'm still trying to avoid all this since it also scares new members from joining (since the might think they're not big enough fans to join this elite club). We only have 30 members, so I want to keep it as easy as possible to join. Typing in codes and confirmation e-mails are already a pain. Though I do see people going through all that and actually become members only to never be heard from again. About one month ago I invited all the 0 posters to come check out the forum and post. If not, I'm going to delete all 0 posters with a membership older than 6 months (if you don't feel like posting by then, you're out, and you can register again when you do feel like posting). _________________ GALACTICA.TV | My Battlestar Galactica | Terry Carter - official site | Anne Lockhart - official site |
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MAD Site Admin

Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 393 Location: Rotterdam - The Netherlands
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:10 am Post subject: |
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Just blocked another spammer. I know someone who hacks for a living (he's invited by banks, etc. to see if he can hack their software and then upgrade their system). He says there's no way you can stop these spammers without rewriting a big part of the phpBB software. PhpBB is not doing this since the solution goes against the Privacy Law.
You can't stop the spammers with any of the normal login solutions (like typing in the coded image at registration or the confirmation e-mail) because they don't use this. They use a leak in the software and upload a post directly in your database. They do look for keywords of categories like "General Chat", so he suggested to rename those in sometimes less common. So I hope it helps... _________________ GALACTICA.TV | My Battlestar Galactica | Terry Carter - official site | Anne Lockhart - official site |
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Senmut Persona Specialitas

Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 1330 Location: Soviet of Washington, ex-USA
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:38 pm Post subject: |
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MAD, what about my suggestion a few posts back? _________________ "The dull mind rises to Truth through that which is material." -Suger
Et verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis: et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigenti a Patre, plenam gratiae et veritas. |
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MAD Site Admin

Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 393 Location: Rotterdam - The Netherlands
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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Senmut wrote: |
MAD, what about my suggestion a few posts back? |
No, that doesn't help either. You now have fill in a coded image to register and click on the confirmation e-mail. The only thing I can change is that an admin has to approve an account. We only get details on the name and e-mail address and the request that they want to join. I can click okay (and just as well improve on a spammer) or I can e-mail him/her why they want to join. If they don't reply should I not let them register? This could also be an extra barrier not to join since someone finds this too much trouble to go through.
I had decided not to do it, but was testing it to see if I made a new account what I had to go through to register. By accident I had not set it back to self registration by confirmation e-mail. This new spammer, registered without my approval and my friend said these spammers simply hack your database and add a message to it that appears on the forum. So whatever you do, it will never stop all of them, since they don't register or ask your approval for anything (they simply post).
So I set back to self registration by click on the e-mail link and leave the code. All spammers that come through that, I simply have to ban one by one. So let's hope we won't get a serious spammer that posts 1000s of messages at the same time. That's the best we can do. _________________ GALACTICA.TV | My Battlestar Galactica | Terry Carter - official site | Anne Lockhart - official site |
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MAD Site Admin

Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 393 Location: Rotterdam - The Netherlands
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:27 am Post subject: |
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There has been a couple of very active spammers lately. One even posted porn links in 21 topics. You'll get automatic replies when you're subscribed to those threads. Problem is that the link contains a code at the end which relates to the last post in those topics, so you will be directed to that point (and don't have to flip through the whle topic). When I remove the posts made by the spammer, these replies don't exist anymore and when clicked on the links you'll receive an error that the topic you're searching for, doesn't exist anymore (while in fact only the post from the spammer is removed not the entire topic). If you go through the normal forum index page you can find those topics in their normal position again and see that they're not removed.
These big spammers has brought it to a point where I now completely closed up the forum and all new members have to report to me first that they're really members that will post about Anne on the forum. I don't think it helps since most professional spammers just hack the database and don't go through the normal procedure of registering. They simply add their stuff to the database and don't actually post. I can only continue to remove all manually and ban the member every time a spammer posts...
Marcel _________________ GALACTICA.TV | My Battlestar Galactica | Terry Carter - official site | Anne Lockhart - official site |
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