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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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 Posted: Sep 17, 2004 16:23 Post subject: Spambots |
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During the last two days, at least two spambots have registered with the board. Fortunately, I have not yet seen any of them posting, but that might just be a matter of time (or the administrators might have removed already posted spam).
I'm curious what about what the administrators are currently doing about this situation, and what they plan to do in the future?
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Matt K
Dark Trooper Phase 1
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 17, 2004 18:27 Post subject: |
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I quickly checked the last page of the member list and found two more with little effort. Just look at their website URLs.
I don't have the power to ban these guys, but the Phase 2s do.
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Jedi Cheddar
Gamorrean
Joined: 13 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Sep 17, 2004 21:14 Post subject: |
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Are spambots those people that just go around posting aimlessly for no appearent reason?
_________________
It's good to be a little cheesy... |
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 17, 2004 21:40 Post subject: |
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No, they are those programs that are preparing to take over our nice forum and fill it with advertisments for stupid products.
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Scape Goat
Dark Trooper Phase 2
Joined: 23 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 18, 2004 15:14 Post subject: |
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Never saw any advertisements, but someone else might have cleared them.
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 18, 2004 17:11 Post subject: |
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I suspect they're just preparing for that at the moment, by registering as many users as they can... once they think they have enough, they might start spamming the board itself. The idea then would be to register so many users that a manual removal of them will miss a few.
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Scape Goat
Dark Trooper Phase 2
Joined: 23 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 19, 2004 16:30 Post subject: |
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OK, I see what's going on now. I'll keep an eye on things and delete anything that needs to be.
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Nottheking
Kell Dragon
Joined: 29 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 20, 2004 14:09 Post subject: |
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I didn't notice any spambots yet... Then again, I rarely look at the whole list of registered memebers... Perhaps a method of security should be implemented to prevent them from registering? (such as a image-reading confirmation such as Yahoo uses, or perhaps a Flash section, which as far as I know, a bot cannot use)
_________________
Wake up, George Lucas... The Matrix has you.. |
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 20, 2004 15:19 Post subject: |
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I think something as simple as a custom email verification process would do the trick. It is highly doubtful the bot authors would write customized software just for spamming DF-21.
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Nottheking
Kell Dragon
Joined: 29 Sep 2003
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 24, 2004 11:06 Post subject: |
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The spambots are still flowing in unhindered, about one new every day. I would strongly urge the administrators to put up some kind of defence against them really soon now, before the situation gets out of hand.
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Nottheking
Kell Dragon
Joined: 29 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 24, 2004 14:19 Post subject: |
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Apparently, four new ones have just registered today...
_________________
Wake up, George Lucas... The Matrix has you.. |
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 24, 2004 14:45 Post subject: |
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Hm... that's even more than I had noticed... which I think is exactly what they hoped for.
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Nottheking
Kell Dragon
Joined: 29 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 24, 2004 16:09 Post subject: |
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Let's see the list of spam-bots:
Obvious Spambots:- and408
- and567
- riso12
- are546
Likely/potential spambots:- Aufroy80 (moderately likely)
- AXOX (somewhat potential)
The others on the list don't seem to be illegitimate at all, though.
_________________
Wake up, George Lucas... The Matrix has you.. |
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 24, 2004 16:27 Post subject: |
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I believe several I've noticed before have been removed. Also, a possible strategy they might be using is to register both obvious and non-obvious spambots, hoping the administrators will focus their attention on the obvious ones, thus leaving the non-obvious in the system so they're there the day they start to talk.
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Scape Goat
Dark Trooper Phase 2
Joined: 23 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 24, 2004 19:39 Post subject: |
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Yeah, I've deleted a few over the past few days or so. E-mail confirmation is now turned on. We'll see how that works out.
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 25, 2004 18:11 Post subject: |
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I fear we must conclude by now that the current implementation of email confirmation does not succeed in stopping the spambots. Unfortunately, without knowing how it is implemented, I don't know where the weak point is.
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Scape Goat
Dark Trooper Phase 2
Joined: 23 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 26, 2004 14:19 Post subject: |
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They can still register, but they shouldn't be able to post unless they activate their account via e-mail.
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japh
Gamorrean
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sep 27, 2004 22:59 Post subject: |
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Nice.
I have heard that phpbb is full of holes, though. Beware.
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Mattias Welander
Trandoshan
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Nov 16, 2004 16:39 Post subject: |
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One of the spambots on another phpBB message board I frequent just activated, and started posting. As I suspect there aren't that many different spambot owners out there, chances are our spybots will activate soon, too. Keep your eyes open!
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Nottheking
Kell Dragon
Joined: 29 Sep 2003
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Jackson
Dark Trooper Phase 2
Joined: 24 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Nov 16, 2004 21:08 Post subject: |
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Don't worry, I'm personally keeping my eyes peeled.
If any spambots activate, I'll either defenestrate them or delete their accounts to control the damage.
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japh
Gamorrean
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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Fenwar
Admiral Ackbar
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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Guest
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| Posted: Nov 03, 2006 00:59 Post subject: |
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Hi! I'm a spambot. Please force me to die in a fire.
(Matt K approves this fiery death)
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Darth Oosha
Trandoshan
Joined: 24 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Nov 03, 2006 01:03 Post subject: |
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...Did it think we were calling for it?
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The MAZZTer
Death Star
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Nov 03, 2006 14:13 Post subject: |
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I recommend someone go into the phpBB registration system code and tweak it just enough so that automatic registration is no longer possible (IE changing the username input tag name value would be enough).
_________________
http://www.mzzt.net/ | I am a respectable admin with a respectable sig. |
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NathanWilson
Dark Trooper Phase 1
Joined: 22 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Nov 07, 2006 06:16 Post subject: |
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Well, somebody has been bringing threads to my attention, and although I no longer remember any of the back-end addresses for admin stuff, I've deleted threads when I have seen them. Not remembering the stuff to ban users doesn't really matter as I'm no longer a Phase 2; likely a good choice given my rather long absence.
(Yes, I'm still around, vaguely).
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Darth Oosha
Trandoshan
Joined: 24 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Nov 29, 2006 18:05 Post subject: |
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Obvious Spambots:Likely/potential spambots:
I'm ignoring accounts with no profile info, based on the assumption that there's no way to tell with them. Also, I should probably stop clicking their "www" links to confirm their botness, since that just tells them that registering on DF-21 will increase their site hits.
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Jackson
Dark Trooper Phase 2
Joined: 24 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Nov 29, 2006 23:22 Post subject: |
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The ones you listed I've taken care of now.
I've been leaving Cal72521 alone because, although he hasn't before, his website seems legitimate enough.
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