Stopping bots

[HamadaLFC8]

Umm just an idea on how to stop some bots,

why don't we add one of those boxes with the funky letters to the register page that would at least stop some bots :P

[jango]

Umm just an idea on how to stop some bots,

why don't we add one of those boxes with the funky letters to the register page that would at least stop some bots :P

Aye we have a couple of things like that to trip up some of the more standard bots (which was actually taken to a higher level of protection a few months back), which is why we don't get quite as many as we used to. However, there are some loop-holes that let the occasional bot in - and sometimes it isn't always true bots ofc. Nonetheless, despite the technology involved, some of it still comes down to good moderating too especially when it comes to blocking repeat offenders that slip through the net - something that most of the mods are well-versed at by now. A lot of this protection will go up another level once we upgrade ofc.

I can assure you that it is monitored though.

I'm sure Linux will elaborate on this more (if he isn't asleep in some celestial body) .. I'm only answering merely as a stop-gap.

[LiNuX]

As jango said, we have a few things in place. The funky letters are already up, and I change the format of that from captcha to re-captcha which are just two forms of those verification. I found switching them keeps bots confused because they usually don't like change.

And we also have email verification. Most bots won't be able to verify their account because of that. So even if they get through registration, they won't be allowed to post. So most of the spammers you see are actually humans with not a lot going on in their lives.

But there is always a chance of bots getting through, it's just a matter of keeping up and again as jango pointed out, sometimes it just comes down to good moderating.

[HamadaLFC8]

ohhh =o alright thats pretty cool then Keep it up!! ^^ and thanks for all the work =)

[W1CKEDTW1STED]

You could always deny IP's from other countries. I know we have some people here from all over, but just a thought. It's usually other countries I find that spam vbulletin's. That's what I had to do for awhile, they got around everything I put in place. Google actually used to spam my page (refresh wise), so I blocked their IP for awhile too.

[jango]

You could always deny IP's from other countries. I know we have some people here from all over, but just a thought. It's usually other countries I find that spam vbulletin's. That's what I had to do for awhile, they got around everything I put in place. Google actually used to spam my page (refresh wise), so I blocked their IP for awhile too.

That's overkill really given the size of the problem these days, and blocking countries is a very crude way to handle it given our international audience as you mentioned.

You can often reduce the number of bot registrations simply by taking some of the steps Linux mentioned are in place, but as with all things the latest version of software does carry with it upgraded protection too, and even then it's not full-proof .. nothing ever is.

We do a fair amount of IP blocking behind the scenes, but again this isn't necessarily a 100% fix. Bots and/or non bots are quite resourceful after all. Trust me, the problem is a lot smaller than it once was .. but still needs fire-fighting every now and then.

[LiNuX]

It's impossible to block out entire countries. Even if you could do it, spammers are motivated enough to use a proxy and register which doesn't really help.

And as jango said, the problem now is far less than what it was. I remember when jango first joined along with a few of our regulars, you had dozens of spammers register and post random threads every day. Think they called those spammers "chow mein" - so compared to then and now...we're at a peaceful time period.

[Diligence109]

Nonetheless, despite the technology involved, some of it still comes down to good moderating too especially when it comes to blocking repeat offenders that slip through the net - something that most of the mods are well-versed at by now.

When you say "mods well-versed in spam prevention" don't you mean the superhero mod who spots every repeated IP after like 2 or 3 attempts alone, by cold memory, and peruses the forum as his mild mannered alter ego, "jango"?


But yeah, spam is way down. I don't even mind the little bits we've been seeing... it's not 100% preventable and the way things are now is pretty darn good