Better Anti-Spam prevention

[Xtreme2damax]

Lately I've seen a lot of bots registering and posting porn links, porn pictures and pharmaceutical related spam.

Isn't there anything else that can be done to cut down on this as it is quite disturbing?

I've been doing my part and reporting the threads/posts of the bots but I do have a few suggestions.

1. Use captcha, while it might not completely prevent spam it'll cut down on a good deal of it for bots that can not decipher the captcha.

If you don't want to go the captcha route would you at least be able to set some rules:

1. New members can not post links until they have xx amount of posts, links will either remain unparsed or have the url broken in some way. This will ensure that only legit members can post links and bot posts can be dealt with accordingly.

2. New members can not post pictures or attachments using either the code or the boards attachment feature untill xx amount of posts are reached.

This would ensure the board is not spammed with inappropriate material by bots and that only material is posted by genuine members.

I would suggest that the minimum posts until these restrictions are lifted would be 5 - 10 posts. This way the restriction won't be too hefty on genuine members while any bots that attempt to spam the will be unsuccessful in the sense that their links won't be parsed (clickable) or they will be broken in some way.

I don't know if vbulletin supports it, but use a list of pre-defined known spam words, phrases or algorithms that are restricted which genuine members are extremely unlikely to post.

That way if excessive spam words or phrases are used in a new members/bots first post it will auto ban the bot and unparse any links or images which may be contained in the bots post.

Additionally besides just banning a bot, also ban the bots ip address and email domain or only allow members to sign up with email addresses/domains that are pre-defined (No yahoo or other email services that allow extremely easy signup).

Thanks for reading my above suggestions and I would appreciate any feedback regarding the mentioned suggestions.:)

[Toasty]

This is a witch hunt! Incidentally, doesn't anyone here want to increase the size of that *certain* part of the male anatomy???

I mean... yes get rid of those bots... I am human - really. :whistling

[Allnatural]

I've been doing my part and reporting the threads/posts of the bots...
http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=43594#1

[Xtreme2damax]

http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=43594#1

Oh, I didn't see that. Perhaps having reported posts sent via PM or a notification that appears at the top of the board when a post is reported might be a better option if vbulletin allows it rather than having it sent via email?

I know Mybb allows you to set an option where reported posts are sent via PM to a staff member instead of email or appear as a notification at the top of the board only visible to staff saying there is xx amount of reported posts.

I'm not sure if vbulletin has this feature option though, if it does it would be much better than having it sen via email.

I know the porn/pharmaceutical spam wasn't taken care of for a few hours, it probably was more but I went to bed so I don't know how long it actually took before the posts were deleted and the bots banned.

I don't think this is the type of content you want viewers to see especially if theres younger children/teens browsing the board so which is why I suggested better anti-spam measures since some of the crap these bots post are considered offensive and/or disturbing by most people.

[Allnatural]

I don't think this is the type of content you want viewers to see especially if theres younger children/teens browsing the board so which is why I suggested better anti-spam measures since some of the crap these bots post are considered offensive and/or disturbing by most people.
Welcome to the internet.

My point was that there's no need for notification of any sort. Maybe if there were more traffic on the boards, but with so few *new* posts in any given period, one of the mods will notice a spambot before long.

Security does need to be tightened up though. *waves to Martin

[Xtreme2damax]

Any word yet?

Theres more bots spamming porn and drugs crap, it would be nice to make it so new users couldn't use html code or IMG code and not post links until a certain amount of posts are reached to verify they are in fact genuine members.

Is Martin the only one with root server access?

[smcd]

The only problem with some of your proposed methods is captchas can be hard to figure out even for humans, and many people here are "lurkers" who join and do not post for years (if ever) and then out of the blue might post a texture pack or have a problem and wanting to post screenshots. Restricting them from doing so prevents them from being able to get help. I do agree that spam is a problem but it is a problem of economics - if it wasn't working, they wouldn't spam because it would cost more than they make from it :P

[nmn]

Put CAPTCHA on every 10 posts per day including the first post made by a user (but not first every day)?

[MasterPhW]

Put CAPTCHA on every 10 posts per day including the first post made by a user (but not first every day)?
Please no! That would make me crazy and I wouldn't post that often. I love the quick reply option!

[Xtreme2damax]

The only problem with some of your proposed methods is captchas can be hard to figure out even for humans, and many people here are "lurkers" who join and do not post for years (if ever) and then out of the blue might post a texture pack or have a problem and wanting to post screenshots. Restricting them from doing so prevents them from being able to get help. I do agree that spam is a problem but it is a problem of economics - if it wasn't working, they wouldn't spam because it would cost more than they make from it :P

Well couldn't those users PM a staff member and be granted privileges if such a problem arises?

I very rarely see first post members or even dozen post members posting anything of that type, mostly it's just help requests with emulators, other software and hardware. I don't usually see members posting screenshots or texture pack after they have been a part of the community for a while.

Perhaps new members can be allowed to use the attach feature, and restrict html and img code until the user accumulates at least 5 posts.

I have never seen a bot that knows how to use the attachment feature, so hopefully this might be considered.

Also I don't think a 5 post rule before being allowed to use html or img code is outrageous since five posts can be accumulated rather quickly.

I've seen very successful forums have similar restrictions in place, and members don't have a problem with it.

This will at least keep the bots from being able to rampage the board with all sorts of links and pornography images, which I and most of us would rather not see.

If I wanted to see porn, I'd type it in to Google or my P2P application myself. If I wanted pharmaceutical drugs I would also search Google or go to my nearest pharmacy. ;)

[Xtreme2damax]

Hear anything on better spam prevention yet? There another bot spamming more porn crap.

We need something that either makes it harder for bots to get past the registration process, but not genuine humans or restrict html/img code for new members until they reach a certain amount of posts.

However even if html and img code is restricted for new members, they would still be able to use the attachment feature. I don't think the bots know how to use the boards attachment feature......yet.;)

[Clements]

I guess updating to the latest vBulletin 3.7.0 release candidate couldn't hurt.

[MasterPhW]

It's so incedible annoying all these spam bots.
But I keep on reporting to probably nerv some mods/admins etc. so they finally do something against it.

[Xtreme2damax]

It's so incedible annoying all these spam bots.
But I keep on reporting to probably nerv some mods/admins etc. so they finally do something against it.

I know these things are so annoying and pathetic/despicable. How are they able to bypass the registration system like that and how do bots know which fields to fill out to properly register? There's got to be some way to stop them dead in their tracks.

Thanks Clement's, I know mods usually take car of them when their spotted however it is still quite annoying to say the least.

I know we're not supposed to use the report feature according to one of the admins/mods here, but I feel the need to report because sometime it can take upwards of a couple to a few hours or more before the alleged bot is taken care of.;)

[Clements]

Thanks for reporting them when you see them. Thanks also to:

- NES_player4LIFE
- Dragon_Gamer
- arablizzard2
- MasterPhW
... and many others for reporting posts.

It makes moderation much quicker. I have a filter on my email to remove all reports in one go, so don't worry about filling my inbox.

[Xtreme2damax]

Thanks for reporting them when you see them. Thanks also to:

- NES_player4LIFE
- Dragon_Gamer
- arablizzard2
- MasterPhW
... and many others for reporting posts.

It makes moderation much quicker. I have a filter on my email to remove all reports in one go, so don't worry about filling my inbox.

You're welcome, I got sort of yelled at by Allnatural on the last page. I guess he doesn't want anyone reporting the posts it seems.

I love visiting emutalk, but I hate bots so I appreciate you looking in to the matter and trying to find a way to remedy the situation. :)

[Allnatural]

You're welcome, I got sort of yelled at by Allnatural on the last page. I guess he doesn't want anyone reporting the posts it seems.
I'd hardly call that "yelling." I said there was no point in reporting them on a messageboard as slow as this one. I visit the site more often than I check my email, so I'm usually seeing reports for threads I've already dealt with.

[Xtreme2damax]

I'd hardly call that "yelling." I said there was no point in reporting them on a messageboard as slow as this one. I visit the site more often than I check my email, so I'm usually seeing reports for threads I've already dealt with.

I was just exaggerating a bit, I couldn't find the word I was looking for so I just used anything that came to mind. :P

However if the spam in question has been there over an hour and/or is truly offensive I do feel the need to report it regardless.

:Edit: It looks like that bot that was banned earlier for posting that porn has re-registered under a new name and is spamming that same porn crap again.

How bout' an ip/range ban as it's unlikely any real member would be assigned these ip's?

[PsyMan]

Only thing that can actually help is a better spam prevention system... and that can't be done if Martin is not around.

An IP range ban is out of the question since the BOTs don't share a specific IP range.

Yes, the situation is THAT bad. :P

[smcd]

Only thing that can actually help is a better spam prevention system... and that can't be done if Martin is not around.

An IP range ban is out of the question since the BOTs don't share a specific IP range.

Yes, the situation is THAT bad. :P

Out of curiousity, can you put up some stats about where the spam originates? :)

[Cyberman]

Spam bots are likely from Zombie nets. Zombie nets are people who have been infected by a virus to access there computer to lease out to people who SELL zombie net time. It's all a nasty little bit of organized crime. Half of the virsus that leap around today are by organized crime (interesting fact huh?) Erstwhile finding out IP's for it is pointless. As the people don't have static IP's often even if they have a ADSL Fiber or other kind of link.

The end doesn't justify the amount of work needed to hit a moving target.

Cyb

[Agozer]

Most spammers are from botnets since those are the primary methods of distributing spam in the first place. Plus, the real spammer is harder to catch, since the spammer uses the IP addresses of the unsuspecting zombie machines.

[smcd]

I was just wanting to see a "map" of percent spam per country (botnet or not) it'd give some information to pass the time waiting for Martin to revisit us ;) I like data modeling!

[Toasty]

Spam bots are likely from Zombie nets.
Sounds like we are in the middle of Night of the Living Spambots. :(

[Xtreme2damax]

I don't get why spammers target message boards like this.

Most boards have very good spam prevention which makes the spammers attempts useless and the other boards without good spam prevention usually the bot is banned and it's posts are deleted within a matter of minutes or seconds after it is spotted.

Do they actually think they are going to make anything off of spamming message boards or do they simply do it to annoy people.

Are some people really that stupid to click unsolicited spam links and buy anything from these bots/spammers that are spamming message boards?

Well I heard of this nasty program called Xrumor or something of the sort that is used as a bot program to spam message boards. People should band together and get these types of programs/scripts taken down/eliminated, and it's author/creator in trouble as it's only used for illegal "Evil" purposes and is an annoyance. Also a mass dos attack on the servers/hosts where the spam originates from might do some good.

[Agozer]

There is power in numbers. Spammers send literally hundreds of thousands spam per day, and somewhere is that poor, ignorant and uninformed git that will click those links, no matter what you tell him/her + and equally poorly protected messageboard.

[Allnatural]

Well I heard of this nasty program called Xrumor or something of the sort that is used as a bot program to spam message boards. People should band together and get these types of programs/scripts taken down/eliminated, and it's author/creator in trouble as it's only used for illegal "Evil" purposes and is an annoyance. Also a mass dos attack on the servers/hosts where the spam originates from might do some good.
It doesn't originate from a single server. Most, if not all, comes from thousands of zombie machines (explained above, maybe you missed it), and trying to take down the programs used to spread spam is like saying you'll remove all porn from the internet (never going to happen). The best anyone can do is stem the flood, but you'll never eliminate it.

[Clements]

Official Announcement on Spambots:

http://www.emutalk.net/announcement.php?f=10

[Xtreme2damax]

The forum is under a huge spam attack, all of these spammers/bots are online and have hit nearly every forum. Each of the freaking spammers has accumulated over nearly 100 - 105 posts each and are still going:

http://www.emutalk.net/member.php?u=68317

http://www.emutalk.net/member.php?u=68315

http://www.emutalk.net/member.php?u=68316

http://www.emutalk.net/member.php?u=68313

http://www.emutalk.net/member.php?u=68314

http://www.emutalk.net/member.php?u=68312

Where is Martin when you need him? Is he really that busy that he can not pop in online at least once a day?

[Agozer]

Things are really out of hand. Someone needs to fix this broken mess ASAP.

[Cyberman]

Only 1 person reported this. At 8am EST ... That's what the report button is for under posts. If you find a bot posting report one of it's posts (not all). That's much more proactive (and productive) than posting about it on the forums in fact posting about it has a negative impact (namely the bot controllers will be more likely to spam again).

It's been taken care of .. thank Trotterwatch and Allnatural please.

Again use the report button (lower left of text in message) please that's what it's for.

Cyb

[Trotterwatch]

I only deleted a couple of pages, as I was in a rush. AllNatural however must have been there for ages fixing it!

[Allnatural]

I only deleted a couple of pages, as I was in a rush. AllNatural however must have been there for ages fixing it!
"show all posts for user"

page 1 *select all*

page 2 *select all*

page 3 etc...

delete posts... ... ...

repeat for five more accounts...


What took long was waiting for the site to update. Takes a while for the server to delete 200+ posts at once.

[Cyberman]

Oi... that's the part I hate. takes forever, or just feels like it at least.

Cyb

[Xtreme2damax]

I was in a hurry as I was leaving for vacation else I would of reported them, I just quickly scanned and posted links to the profiles of each account before finally heading out the door..

It however doesn't fix the issues with how the webmaster or root admin of this community is never online to fix the issues with the forum, especially the major spam issue..

This forum is in definite need of Recaptcha or human verification questions for new registrations, but how does such a system get implemented if the webmaster is never online to review and fix problems?

I haven't seen Martin around for the longest time, it's still unknown when the last time he was online was, we are unable to see these details in profiles..

Running a community requires both a joint effort of the webmaster and various staff, just members and normal staff alone can't be expected to do the bulk of the posting and moderation..

Is Martin really that busy he can not afford to login at least once a day to answer concerns or feedback regarding the forum, and fix various issues? How do we know that if the forum suddenly goes down, that he is even still around to fix it and get the forum back online?

I apologize if this sounded insulting or offensive in any way, it's just that it is a very large concern of the members..