View Full Version : Spambots
Yes, yes, we've got spambots. At least ten phony registrations a day, and some of them are somehow defeating the email confirmation system and managing to post. The reason this is happening -- to such an extent, anyway -- is that ever since the move to vBulletin, the images used by our security test aren't working. I had to disable it entirely to let anyone but spambots get through. (I'm not just flattering myself, by the way -- we've had quite a few real registrations amid all these bots.)
Antony's been working on it, but this particular problem is new territory for him. It may take him a while longer. In the meantime, please don't answer the spam threads. I delete the threads as soon as I see them, but replying won't make me see them any faster.
PointyHairedJedi
10-07-2006, 08:54 AM
A forum admin or two would help, you know. You'd need someone completely trustworthy and who is unlikely to grossly abuse their powers though. Someone like me, for instance. :D
PHJ... with power.
Sorry, nothing about that is sounding safe.
mudshark
10-07-2006, 05:54 PM
PHJ, a spambot, a locked room... and a pair of pliers. Hmmm...
PointyHairedJedi
10-07-2006, 07:53 PM
PHJ... with power.
Sorry, nothing about that is sounding safe.
But wouldn't it be fun to watch though?
MaverickZer0
10-07-2006, 09:00 PM
Oh yes, I'm sure. Like a train wreck or something.
e of pi
10-08-2006, 06:31 PM
Would it be possible to create a moderation system? Some way so that if, say, three or four people mark an account as a bot within a day, it is deleted? Then, the privielige to "mark" would be given to some of the seniormost members, sush as site staff and major posters. without needing the full powers of the Great Zeke. Just a thought.
whoiam
10-08-2006, 11:59 PM
it might be possible to give some of us the authority to delete inappropriate posts/topics, without getting any of the other powers like editing member titles...
I'll think about it, but really, this forum is tiny. It's the big forums that need to appoint moderators.
Gatac
10-09-2006, 09:40 AM
We're big enough to get spammed, anyway...
Gatac
PointyHairedJedi
10-10-2006, 08:51 PM
On a deeply random tangent I have stumbled across what may just be the awesomest thing ever - if Zeke and I were to have offspring, this is what it would look like:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/18551122/
GreenFire1
10-10-2006, 11:28 PM
PHJ, you just killed a little of me inside. I hope you're happy.
Nate the Great
10-11-2006, 12:41 AM
Define "big forum." Define "we need X members to get moderators."
I hate the idea, but we may need to have a doubled e-mail confirmation system. Register at the site, mod e-mails to confirm address, person e-mails to confirm their desire to be in the forum, mod e-mails a keycode to enter in the forums itself. Would that help?
Under normal circumstances I'd say "Nah, Antony's working on it; it'll be fixed in a jiff," which is also the other reason I don't see a need for moderators (once the spambot thing is over, they'll have nothing to do).
Under normal circumstances, that is. But PHJ has made his point effectively: I hereby appoint him an unofficial moderator in charge of making sure the forum member "PointyHairedJedi" never, ever posts that link again.
whoiam
10-11-2006, 12:54 PM
Are you sure that will be deterrant enough? I mean, one PHJ against PHJ... he might need some backup. Say, a loaded artillery piece pointed straight at his modem...
PointyHairedJedi
10-11-2006, 02:09 PM
re you sure that will be deterrant enough? I mean, one PHJ against PHJ...
I outnumber myself by several hundred to one, which as you can imagine is a very confusing situation indeed.
mudshark
10-11-2006, 04:03 PM
Hardly a new development, though...
PointyHairedJedi
10-12-2006, 05:32 AM
Oh, that PointyHairedJedi. He is sneaky.
danieldoof
10-12-2006, 09:21 AM
oh no...he used it as avatar ;)
whoiam
10-17-2006, 02:28 AM
I think the correct response is actually...
"Save us! Somebody save us before I wet me keks!"
mudshark
10-17-2006, 02:52 AM
Hm. I suddenly seem to be running across a fair amount of Red Dwarf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Nq20J0kiE) today. Is it spambots... er, sunspots? I wonder.
PointyHairedJedi
10-19-2006, 09:03 PM
I have relented, and I want it to be known that the severed bloody moose head I woke up to this morning had absolutely nothing to do with it.
To reiterate what I said in the first post, only louder this time... DO NOT ANSWER THE SPAMBOTS. I delete their threads as soon as I see them. Adding legitimate posts is pointless and just makes it awkward for me.
Remember, this situation is temporary. Antony is working on the image thing. As soon as he gets it fixed, I can stop this spam flood.
Marill
10-22-2006, 09:27 PM
We're big enough to get spammed, anyway...
Gatac
Woohoo so that means Fifth Voyager's forums are big enough too.
No no, that's not right *shakes head* I'd imagine it's a forum/sites that's high up in the search engines, no no that's not right either but it's better I'll admit. Nah it's got to be how old the site/forums are, FV.net and er FM.net are a similar age. Ok I don't know
*slinks back into the lurker shadows*
Nate the Great
11-08-2006, 12:09 AM
Why in heaven's name hasn't anyone made a law that says that no one can post or cause to be posted anything that wasn't typed in specifically for that forum? We deserve a santuary from popups and spam every once in awhile, right?
Whoa, don't give them ideas. The farther away from the internet the government stays, the better.
Bowing to the suggestions of many, I'm going to appoint a couple of moderators for this forum to take care of spam threads. IJD is the first.
ijdgaf
11-08-2006, 07:35 AM
Just call me MOD GAF.
mudshark
11-08-2006, 08:03 AM
Congrats, but... now we've got to work out what that stands for?
Me Only Don't... ummm...
ijdgaf
11-08-2006, 08:07 AM
Hey, it was better than "IJD MOD". That one had implications.
mudshark
11-08-2006, 08:49 AM
Do tell...
ijdgaf
11-08-2006, 08:32 PM
Well mod is used as a verb nearly as often as it's used as a noun on internet forums.
Sa'ar Chasm
11-08-2006, 10:18 PM
Just call me MOD GAF.
Can we call you MAD GAFFE?
PointyHairedJedi
11-09-2006, 04:04 PM
Congrats, but... now we've got to work out what that stands for?
Me Only Don't... ummm...
I figure it's got something to do with Oregon.
EDIT: Or perhaps Organians, who probably are from Oregon.
I've now appointed the other moderator I had in mind: PHJ. I think that should be sufficient, as there are quite a few of him.
Also, Antony tells me he's finally got image verification working. Score! Now to delete the roughly 400 spambots who have already registered....
PointyHairedJedi
11-09-2006, 09:32 PM
Where's my Nuclear Launch button? Zeke, you lied to me! :mad:
mudshark
11-09-2006, 09:49 PM
*ahem* (http://img252.echo.cx/img252/8159/006wo.swf)
PointyHairedJedi
11-10-2006, 12:09 AM
I saw that on another site. I pressed and I pressed, but still no nuclear armageddon. :(
Good news! After much toil and sweat and, I dunno, peanut brittle, Antony found the problem with our image verification system and fixed it. Spambots should no longer be able to register.
I believe I've deleted all the ones we had. There were hundreds of them, so I'm sorry if I accidentally deleted any real members (but I doubt it). I also deleted some members who registered over a year ago and had never posted. A year seems like a reasonable pruning interval; I know forums that cut non-posters off at a month.
The only thing I'll miss is the hilariously inflated member count. It would be nice to really have 650 members. Especially when this site is six years old and some sites that are just one year old have thousands of members.
But I'm not bitter.
PointyHairedJedi
11-11-2006, 10:57 AM
I have a vague memory of Commodore Zuke being real (and a total dweeb), but logically speaking who'd come up with a daft name like that? He must be a spam bot for sure.
Chancellor Valium
11-11-2006, 07:02 PM
Just call me MOD GAF.
Mad Organians Don't Gift-Aid Ferengi?
Whu?
mudshark
11-12-2006, 12:14 AM
Whu?
No, Wii.
Oops... :o wrong thread...
Good news! After much toil and sweat and, I dunno, peanut brittle...
Do not underestimate the peanut brittle.
An update on the spambot issue: they've gone underground. They can't register anymore, so instead they've been deluging me with emails through the "Contact Us" feature. To block this avenue of attack, I've turned off the forum's email forms. PMs are still available, so this shouldn't be a problem, but let me know if it becomes one.
PointyHairedJedi
03-14-2007, 08:19 PM
I think this can probably be unstickied now - we don't seem to have had any spambot problems recently, so it's a bit redundant now.
Nate the Great
03-14-2007, 10:57 PM
Ditto. And not the Pokemon, either. :)
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