David A Foulkes Posted January 9, 2011 at 11:13 PM Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 at 11:13 PM Pleased as I am to see membership here break the 1225 mark (actually 1226 as of today, so far), it seems questionable that 700 have never posted. Furthermore, a review of recent memberships over the last two days or so (noting the user names specifically) suggests some sort of spambot at work. I'm just wondering if there is any effect on the database worth considering, as regards purging some of the "deadwood." My two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted January 9, 2011 at 11:22 PM Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 at 11:22 PM Furthermore, a review of recent memberships over the last two days or so (noting the user names specifically) suggests some sort of spambot at work.Surely you're not suggesting that "Buy Cheap WOW Gold" doesn't have a sincere interest in learning the intricacies of parliamentary procedure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted January 9, 2011 at 11:27 PM Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 at 11:27 PM Goodness no. However, paczka-trmadolaa does cause me some doubt. And a quick Google on mikegalaxioner indicates he is a "joiner", much as paczka-trmadolaa, whose profile (or lack thereof) can be found (or not) at HomeBrewChatter.com and Investor's Iraq Forum as well as Hamster Central, among many others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted January 11, 2011 at 02:20 AM Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 02:20 AM And thanks to our fearless Administrator for dealing with this issue. You go, grrrrl ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Lady Posted January 11, 2011 at 02:24 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 02:24 AM Thanks everyone for letting me know about the odd users that were showing up on the board. Based on their IP address these users were from Russia, Ukraine, Netherlands, etc etc etc. It looks like this started on January 4. I banned the offending members and implemented a control whereby all new members have to validate their email address before they can become members. Hopefully we have ended that little problem. Let me know if they creep back in or if anything else strange starts happening.thanks!Olivia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 15, 2011 at 08:09 AM Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 at 08:09 AM Thanks everyone for letting me know about the odd users that were showing up on the board. Based on their IP address these users were from Russia, Ukraine, Netherlands, etc etc etc. It looks like this started on January 4. I banned the offending members and implemented a control whereby all new members have to validate their email address before they can become members. Hopefully we have ended that little problem. Let me know if they creep back in or if anything else strange starts happening.I just saw the first actual spam bot post I've seen on the new forum - from a guest, actually, which is interesting. Perhaps a brute force attack can manage to guess the correct captcha code on occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted January 15, 2011 at 12:17 PM Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 at 12:17 PM I just saw the first actual spam bot post I've seen on the new forum - from a guest, actually, which is interesting. Perhaps a brute force attack can manage to guess the correct captcha code on occasion.I'd be surprised at that, judging from some of the captchas I've seen, neither "word" being in fact a real word. But anything is possible. Member "alinidrads" did get validated and posted, but I (and maybe someone else) reported it and now it's gone, although he/she/it hasn't been dis-membered yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Lady Posted January 15, 2011 at 02:04 PM Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 at 02:04 PM Spammers/Hackers are now able to break CAPTCHA. I know a lot of them are using very good OCR capabilities, but I gather there are other ways as well. Unfortunately, this forum and many others use CAPTCHA as their number one method of spam protection.I am looking into our options.I'd be surprised at that, judging from some of the captchas I've seen, neither "word" being in fact a real word. But anything is possible. Member "alinidrads" did get validated and posted, but I (and maybe someone else) reported it and now it's gone, although he/she/it hasn't been dis-membered yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted January 15, 2011 at 02:41 PM Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 at 02:41 PM Spammers/Hackers are now able to break CAPTCHA. I know a lot of them are using very good OCR capabilities, but I gather there are other ways as well. Unfortunately, this forum and many others use CAPTCHA as their number one method of spam protection.I am looking into our options.Well, we do have a good Neighborhood Watch program here, so that will be of some assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Lady Posted January 15, 2011 at 03:42 PM Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 at 03:42 PM Well, we do have a good Neighborhood Watch program here, so that will be of some assistance. Thanks Neighbor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary c Tesser Posted January 16, 2011 at 07:40 AM Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 at 07:40 AM Am I the only one with a wistful nostalgia for the three posts, every few months, offering discount Carborundum and a couple other minerals from China?Ah, the lost days of international comradeship among parliamentarians, and our building-materials suppliers worldwide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 16, 2011 at 10:32 PM Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 at 10:32 PM Am I the only one with a wistful nostalgia for the three posts, every few months, offering discount Carborundum and a couple other minerals from China?ApparentlyAh, the lost days of international comradeship among parliamentarians, and our building-materials suppliers worldwide.They probably heard a rumor that we were planning on painting the clubhouse. Again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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