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

 

[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

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.

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.

 

[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.

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