The battle with the spam bots

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:19 pm

Since Micah granted me administrator access a couple of days ago. I have taken the following steps:

Banned a bunch of IP addresses used by spammers. This is a stopgap and imperfect measure, but seems to have temporarily slowed the tide to a trickle.
Turned on the stock phpBB CAPTCHA for registration. It is not used for posts (only for new user registration), and a sophisticated spambot can eat it up in seconds, but it's better than nothing and took me seconds to activate. There is a better CAPTCHA mod which I will get installed within a day or two.
Turned on authentication for new users. This means that when someone registers, they will have to click a link in an email before they can post even once.

Things I have researched and will have in place within the week:

Upgrade the phpBB to the latest version (we're only two minor version numbers behind; Micah already updated it a few months back)
Install better CAPTCHA
Install simple mod that will change some hidden variables in the registration forms to make life a tiny bit more difficult for spambots
Install mod that will break bunnies links (not just filter the naughty words, but actually change the links)
Install mod that will allow for more aggressive spambot detection and prevention. This mod will take a little more time to install; the above mods will be a couple minutes each, but this one will take like a half hour.
Install mod to allow admins to delete users who have not posted. The reason for this is that bunnies bots usually either don't post (and just want a link in their user profile) or only post once, and that post is deleted... so almost any user with 0 posts is going to be a spambot. This mod helps to clear that out.
Install mods to log the IP used when registering. This will allow us to be even more aggressive when banning IP addresses.

Finally,

Fix the things that need attention on JohnWSchlitt.com before Sue fires me.

I didn't have to tell you guys about this, but I wanted you to know that steps are being taken. I'll update this thread as I make changes to the board. Again, most of these tweaks will be very quick to do once I get my email working properly and get server-level access from Micah.

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:45 am

This morning there were only three spam posts on the boards... usually overnight we've been getting a dozen or more. Keep your fingers crossed. The spammers WILL get more crafty, but we can keep them down to only one or two easily-deleted posts per day.

Susannah · Post by **Susannah** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:28 pm

Thanks, Michael--you're awesome!

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:49 pm

Aw, I'm not that awesome... I've hardly even done anything yet. I'm glad that the baby steps I've had time to take so far have been as effective as they have!

sue d. · Post by **sue d.** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:54 pm

Fix the things that need attention on JohnWSchlitt.com before Sue fires me.

Aw.... I'm LAST on the list? lol!

Seriously - KUDOS for working on all this mess.... appreciate it!

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:48 am

You're only last because I wanted to get the worst of the spam eliminated. Now that it's much less frequent... I may be able to advance you some.

Pethead1 · Post by **Pethead1** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:26 am

Michael,
I have on clue what you are going to do. Nor how it works, I am just glad you are doing it.

Thank you so very much.

The Petheads take back the zone!!!!!!

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:29 pm

We're still getting a little bit, but it's MUCH easier to keep under control now. Plus with the word censoring, even some of the nasty ones that get through are more laughable than offensive. hehe

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:53 pm

I've updated the board to the latest version... don't know if this will help with the remaining spams immediately, but it's a step Micah and I wanted to take before starting to apply security customizations.

It's unlikely that we'll visually see any differences... search results may appear more quickly, but that's probably about the extent of it. This is all under-the-hood stuff.

executioner · Post by **executioner** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:28 pm

Thanks Mike for taking the time to get this under control. Hopefully it will get back to normal around here.

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:39 pm

It's kind of nice to stop by and find more real posts than spam posts!

A few are still getting through... I haven't had time yet to move on to some of the bb mods that might stop them, but those are coming soon.

yamasaaaki har har · Post by **yamasaaaki har har** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:04 pm

Hallelujah! Thank you so much MJ!

epdc · Post by **epdc** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:28 am

YOU ARE MY HEROE!!!! , When I grow up, I wanna be like you

*puppy eyes*

SamScales · Post by **SamScales** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 12:31 am

MJ,

I always knew you were a genius!!!

skayc1 · Post by **skayc1** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:56 pm

hopefully this will end all the spam post!!!!
Great Job so far.

The Petra Zone

The battle with the spam bots

The battle with the spam bots

Tuesday Dec 5

Merci beaucoup...

awesome

version update

thanks

mj

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