We are being spammed...

[victor]

Ok,

we are being spammed by porn bots. Interestingly enough, SMF is known for being more resistant to them than phpBB. Unfortunately, it was a matter of time before they would get smarter and be able to post here as well.

I have looked at different modules out there, but could not find something that would allow posting even without registration, while filtering out all the porn-related posts. The closest I got was no-spam-by-guest module, but it is not supported for this version of SMF.
Does anyone know of anything else out there?

Thanks,
Vic

[victor]

Ok, this black boobs spam annoyed me enough to actually warrant me going in and tinkering with the code.

I hope I was able to partially deal with the problem by disabling Guests to post url links, because it seems like we are being targetted by the same bot that is intent on posting some porn links.

Hopefully, this will take care of it.

I still think that it is essential that we continue to allow people to post here without registering, because the whole idea is to provide everyone an easy an unfettered access. Also, being a programmer myself, I think it would be just a matter of time before someone will write a script which would enable a bot to register, even with those annoying "type in the letters you see in this picture" entry box.

I am very surprised that there is no option which would enable you to automatically reject a post should it contain profanity or originate from IPs known to be of the spam bots. I guess it is a matter of time before we will have it.

I also think that increasing number of moderators is an excellent way to tackle this problem as well. Pavel - you got your wish! 

[victor]

Eight hours and no spam. Not bad, really! 

[mark]

good work victor, I agree that guests should still be allowed to post :]

[RoboGene]

Hey, I know this guy!!! Holy crap! He is in our company too!!! I did not know that he was running a Genesys site!

[tony]

Robogene - you know ...who? The spammer??? 

[sy278]

[quote author=victor link=topic=2117.msg7321#msg7321 date=1173610507] Also, being a programmer myself, I think it would be just a matter of time before someone will write a script which would enable a bot to register, even with those annoying "type in the letters you see in this picture" entry box.
[/quote]

They are already able to bypass the capthca mods, if you need any additional mods, i'll help out.

[victor]

Sy278,

we will need your expertise pretty soon I fear, because even though No-URL-by-Guest is still holding, I fear that they are growing smarter by the day and there is nothing we can do other build thicker defenses. It reminds me of the medieval times, when the walls of the castle would be growing stronger and thicker, only to be defeated by the next great equalizer - gunpowder.

I am reading some interesting things about tar pits this days. Some sites instead of blocking the spamming bots, actually accept them and just make them send information at a speed of snail. A very interesting concept if you ask me.

I wonder if we can use the collective power of computing to actually take spamming powers of the net. DoS is a start, but I think there is something better out there: instead of going for IP addresses, go for the site, because this is how they make money. (do they REALLY make money or do we just have every idiot on the planet try to become a millionaire once?)

[tony]

Too weird; I visited the Tower of London with my son a few weeks back and it had a perfect defence; one entrance, which was completely enclosed, narrow, had gaps in the ceiling and a portcullis gate at either end.  When caught in the middle, tar and all manner of nasty stuff could be dropped on an enemy that had no choice but to use that entrance.

In English, that means "Registered Users" access only ... not sure how to get the tar and flaming oil into the equation though...

[victor]

Flaming Oil?
Tar? 

Sound like a pig BBQ!!! 

Never been to London yet, but planning to go soon and visit a friend of mine. Tower London sounds like an interesting place to visit. It is my understanding that Crown Jewels are there, but only the royals can go in and see them.

Everyone who went to London tells me it is extremely expensive and everybody, and I do mean everybody, complains about the food. Is it really THAT bad?

[tony]

I live on the outskirts of London, so I wouldn't know too much about the bad food but yes, the costs (entrance prices etc.) are totally extortionate.

Anyway - that's beside the point - I was suggesting, by the analogy, that we have registered users only.  I mean, it wouldn't be that difficult for people to sign up and it is a free resource for them.  Taking it a stage further, we would have a nice little community and perhaps even have the odd sub-communities (Solution Matter Experts, etc.).  My Y! Group has a Data Table which includes sections to describe which Solutions/Versions a person is more conversant with - gotta be useful, right? 

...Just my thoughts busting out all over - please excuse the mess... 

Tony

[Adam G.]

Vic,

I also live away from London - town called Stratford-upon-Avon so if you feel the need to have some Shakepearian culture just let me know.

On the spam side of things I did delete 5 spams from the same thread on saturday evening....

Pavel

[victor]

Pavel,

thank you for deleting the spam and inviting me to the Shakespearean villa in the same sentence! 
So, we are continuing to get a bit spammed, only now without links?
I guess it is inevitable to have some little spam, and it will be up to us to delete those.

Overall, I am really amazed at the speed of which the forum took off!!! We have 243 registered members and closts to 7500 posts. Not bad!!! Has anyone really looked at stats?  Twenty posts per day with an average of 7 people online?! And this is without any heavy advertising by Genesys.

I am also seeing a very strong pattern in who posts and who answers the posts: how do we improve the participation of other users?

[Fra]

[quote author=victor link=topic=2117.msg7487#msg7487 date=1174975907]

Overall, I am really amazed at the speed of which the forum took off!!! We have 243 registered members and closts to 7500 posts. Not bad!!! Has anyone really looked at stats?  Twenty posts per day with an average of 7 people online?! And this is without any heavy advertising by Genesys.
[/quote]
Vic,
I just looked at stats last week and I got really surprised! I'm definetly amazed of how many members this forum has attracted so far!
Thanks of you guys!

Fra

[tony]

[quote author=victor link=topic=2117.msg7487#msg7487 date=1174975907]

I am also seeing a very strong pattern in who posts and who answers the posts: how do we improve the participation of other users?

[/quote]

I can say that you wouldn't want the Forum to turn into "them" and "us" scenarios but you could ask people to identify themselves as SME's (not just for Genesys, but PBX/ACD/dB/CRM/CTI etc.) and have posts forwarded to them via email from Sub-Forums that they are subscribed to, to "prompt" them to respond.

I mean, I think we all have a particular "skill" within Genesys (although I am unsure of mine!  ) and if we  all subscribe to that, we could all assist.

Tony