Spammers

[Lance Dean]

Well, today we had our 2nd known spammer join the forum and make a post.  With each spammer that has joined, I have banned their IP address (probably doesn't do much good) as well as a couple of other little things, and I've stepped up the difficulty in the registration method.

These things just happen as time and popularity increases.  Thanks to MWALLEN for the help with the moderation of these a-holes.

[Rick]

Like vandelism on the boats. this too is another thing we open ourselves up to as we become part of the public.  All you can do is inact the bast security you can and beef is up when you get a breach.  I just cannot stand the few people that are intentionally balishous like that and ruins things for the rest of us..

[JohnG]

We had that happen to our OK airsoft site. But it wasn't sent or done by a person, but rather a bot. The bot searched our site until it found a security loop and trashed the site. I haven't seen it in a while, but Google showed how it has hit dozens of sites. Keep your security as tight as possible.

[Lance Dean]

Well, last night we had a porn-bot register and post here.  I've deleted their post and banned their IP range.

However, I've decided to go ahead and change our registration to something a little bit more difficult to discourage spammers.

Now when you register for an account here, you'll be sent an activation email to your email account.  You will have to check your email account, open the email, and click on the link it provides you in order to "activate" your forum account.  It's an extra step, but I think this will stop more of the spammers.

I don't think clicking on an activation link in an email is too difficult, do you guys?  Most forums do it that way anyway for new users.  That's the last ditch way to stop bots short of making each new account wait to be personally approved by me, which I don't think is a good idea for this forum. 

[chris]

LANCE,
           GOOD WORK GETTING RID OF THE SPAM.I NOTICED 15 GUESTS ONLINE AT THE SAME TIME AS THE SPAM.WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT.

[Lance Dean]

The 15 guests a minute ago all traced back to Yahoo.  These are search engine spiders.  They search websites and find keywords/images for adding to the search engine results.  They are ok. 

[Lance Dean]

http://www.stopforumspam.com/

 

[Darrin]

Lance,
you aren't the only one that has been hit by spammers and you have changed your policies to log on.. BZ...  IF you go to the USS Cavalla site they do the same thing because of spammers and have done so for a number of years and it hasn't driven any subvet away that I know of

Darrin

[Lance Dean]

Well, we used to have it set up for new accounts to auto-register so users could immediately begin posting.  This gave spammers instant access so we had to change.

Then we tried having new users click on an activation link in an email that was automatically sent to their specified email address.  This is the best solution to prevent spam because it makes you a) give a valid email address and b) take the time to activate your account which most spammers won't do.  HOWEVER, in at least 2 situations the activation email was sent to the new user's spam box and they didn't see the activation email.  That's not good at all.

So, now we are trying the moderator activation method.  When a new user registers, MALLEN and I are both sent notification emails (right Mark?) and we can review the new user's profile for any red flags, as well as their IP address/hostname for country of origin.  Not to discriminate, but thus far most hostnames outside of the USA have been spammers.  Anyway, either Mark or I can click on a button to activate the new user's account.

[MWALLEN]

When a new user registers, MALLEN and I are both sent notification emails (right Mark?)

I got your back

[Mark Sarsfield]

I have also seen on websites where you have to type in goofy looking letters and numbers in a box which filters out bots.

[Lance Dean]

I have also seen on websites where you have to type in goofy looking letters and numbers in a box which filters out bots.

Aye!  You have to do that to register here.  That keeps true bots out, but there have been actual spamming people who sit down and take the time to spam here.  I guess we should feel honored or something.

[Lance Dean]

Just wanted to resurrect this thread to let you guys know that we are the targets of numerous Asia/Africa based spammers as of the past week or so.  Every single night we have had multiple attempts by these guys to get in.  Their attempts have been blocked and IP addresses (wide ranges actually) have been blocked.  The only downside to this is legitimate users from Asia/Africa may also get blocked from this site.  My condolences.

[JohnG]

You might talk to other webmasters of larger sites and see how they deal with spammers. See what tips they might offer up from past experiences.

[Lance Dean]

Well, by making the new members wait for moderator approval is the best way to keep 'em from going willy nilly in here off the bat.

The BEST way is to make a new member submit a valid email address and then send an automatic verification email to click on an approval link.  I was doing that, but then learned that due to people marking emails from here as SPAM  people were no longer receiving emails from here in their inbox.  So, I had to give up that option.

If a new member does look legit, I'm going to let them through.  Just know that if he/she/it gets in here and begins posting spam and crap all over the place, he/she/it will get banned and all relevant posts removed.  It's just one of those things.  I'm sure you all understand this.  One former member here did not.  It's not the end of the world.