Any Mods online ?

[Shewie]

Spam attack imminent


:war:

[Martin]

Thanks Rich

User is now banned and spam removed. Thanks for the prompt notification. :)

Martin

[Fletching]

Looks like another one on:

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?471-Search-and-Rescue&goto=newpost

Steve

[Matt]

Thanks Steve, taken care of.

Matt.

[Fletching]

I see another one on:

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?424-who-are-your-favourite-comedians&p=4313#post4313

I found this preventer code but don't know if you're using the same forum shell (looks like it):

http://forum.ahosting.net/how-prevent-php-mail-injection-spam-attack-201.html

Steve

[Fletching]

...and this is the vBulletin spam control:

Spam Management
Settings > Options > Spam Management

Anti-Spam Service
Controls the service that is used for scanning supported data. The corresponding API key for the service has to be entered. The current options are Akismet and Typepad Anti-spam.

vBulletin Anti-Spam Key
Enter a vBulletin Anti-Spam service key to enable scanning of user data where supported. You obtain your key from the service selected in the option above. Entering a key, enables this functionality.

Spam Scanning Post Threshold
This setting controls how many of a user's posts will be scanned by the Anti-Spam Service. Once a user's post count exceeds this threshold, his or her posts will not be scanned for spam content. To always scan posts set this value to 0.

Anti-Spam Data Storage Length (Days)
Whenever a post is made, extra anti-spam data is stored. This allows details about false positives and false negatives to be submitted to the chosen anti-spam system to improve it.

This value controls the length of time (in days) for which this data is stored.

Hope this helps

Steve

[Martin]

Thanks Steve. From what I could see, the spammers were actual people. Not too sure how the anti-spam things work but I can't see how they can pick out real people who are out to attack us compared to other real people who have good intentions. I expect Ashley will know though.

Martin

[comanighttrain]

props to this spammer...made me chuckle http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?258-Big-Bad-Wolf-USA&p=4421#post4421

[Martin]

props to this spammer...made me chuckle http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?258-Big-Bad-Wolf-USA&p=4421#post4421

Cheers Coma, dealt with. :)

Martin

[resnikov]

You get 2 types of spam, automated scripts and people. Its very hard to stop poeple sapm as they can answer all the questions I.e. capatchs. As for the automated ones its just like all otehr parts of IT security, you implement an effective method to stop it, they get smarter and get round you method. You get a bet method. rinse and repeat. You can never really stop spam but you can try to manage it.

[comanighttrain]

they actually nearly got me fined by my host, they spambots got past capcha and churned out about 9.5 gig of spam posts on one of my forums.

[Fletching]

Another one:

http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?433-Any-Tips-for-Gaining-Permission

Steve

[Matt]

Thanks again Steve.

Matt.

[Fletching]

No probs. Matt.

...might be an idea to move this thread out of General Chit Chat and into Feedback. Just a suggestion. :)

Steve

[Fletching]

Houston, we have a problem!

[Matt]

Good suggestion on the move bud, super spam dealt with.

Regards, matt.

[Fletching]

We're certainly having a 'bad run' of them at the moment! I believe what they're doing is getting as many links onto separate pages as possible, thereby increasing the rankings of the sites in question. There's quite a lot of money involved in this particular type of 'link swapping'.

[Ashley Cawley]

Thanks for everyone's vigilance and help on this matter.

As far as spam-security is going we're still a relatively new forum, so it will take me time to tweak & hone the settings, but I will take another look soon. As far as the moderating team is going; I think all involved are doing a superb job, nearly all reports of spam are being dealt with and deleted in a few hours or less (with the problem being solved before I get a chance to get on the forum) :) So thank you one and all.

I will working on improving the system behind the scenes.

[Ashley Cawley]

...and this is the vBulletin spam control:

Spam Management
Settings > Options > Spam Management

Anti-Spam Service
Controls the service that is used for scanning supported data. The corresponding API key for the service has to be entered. The current options are Akismet and Typepad Anti-spam.

vBulletin Anti-Spam Key
Enter a vBulletin Anti-Spam service key to enable scanning of user data where supported. You obtain your key from the service selected in the option above. Entering a key, enables this functionality.

Spam Scanning Post Threshold
This setting controls how many of a user's posts will be scanned by the Anti-Spam Service. Once a user's post count exceeds this threshold, his or her posts will not be scanned for spam content. To always scan posts set this value to 0.

Anti-Spam Data Storage Length (Days)
Whenever a post is made, extra anti-spam data is stored. This allows details about false positives and false negatives to be submitted to the chosen anti-spam system to improve it.

This value controls the length of time (in days) for which this data is stored.

Hope this helps

SteveI've just looked into using these methods, unfortunately they charge on-going monthly fees to use their services. I will be looking at alternative methods. Thanks for the suggestion though! I'm working hard on combating it tonight :)