Link to Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1599)
Prevent spambots from registering on your forum. The SMF BotBuster uses the http://BotScout.com (http://botscout.com) API to check each attempted registration against the BotScout.com database of known bots. Both the email and IP address are tested against over 100,000 bot signatures (with more being added every day).
Failed registration attempts are halted with a false "Registration Disabled" error message. Additional "failure" actions are easy to add (such as forwarding the bot to Disney.com, displaying mysterious, random error messages, or returning a frustrating "CAPTCHA Failed" error).
- Works with SMF versions 1.1.x and 2.x
- Minimal code changes, no extensive modifications required
- Checks both email and IP to ensure a high detection rate
- Provides results in simple string format or XML format
For more information please visit
http://BotScout.com (http://botscout.com)Special thanks to
Blue Dream (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?action=profile;u=118168) for the mod packaging!
(https://www.simplemachines.org/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbotscout.com%2Fimage%2Fbslogo.gif&hash=9f24d1767b52f0c4b448331089c85af03dde7fc8)
Very nice!! Must try! :)
I installed the mod and I see no difference.
I didn't activate anything nor did I see any changes when registering as a new user.
How do I know this thing actually works?
Thanks
P.S.
Don't get me wrong - if this works I'm thankful it will be there scouting for scum....
Quote from: PerryM on March 03, 2009, 12:49:30 PM
I installed the mod and I see no difference.
I didn't activate anything nor did I see any changes when registering as a new user.
How do I know this thing actually works?
It doesn't produce any changes to the interface, it just silently blocks attempted registrations (unless you have the email notifications turned on). You could turn the email notifications on for a few days and see if you're getting any alerts.
I would add config options in the SMF admin panel, but I'm afraid I don't know how I'd go about doing that. If some one wants to give me a hand with that, please PM me or let me know here (a PM is better because I'll get a notification of it).
Hi...
I installed this mod and I have (in BotScout.php):
// Send e-mail notices?
$send_alerts = true;
It worked by not permitting a Bot email address to register in our forums, but it failed to send the email notice.
Is there something I need to check?
Thanks
I got it figured out.
It was only sending emails to the webmaster address and not to the admins.
Thanks
3. Execute Modification ./Themes/default/languages/Modifications.english-utf8.php Skipping file
sinc ei use a custom theme do i need to edit the mod file or reg file in the defualt thing?
also is there a section in the amdin panel i can play with this?
It bugged my whole site somehow (registration), now I'll need to reinstall it again ..
What error message did you get, and when did you get it?
-JB
Not a message, but each time when I installed it/or uninstall my registration gets messed up.
For example the verification image is broken and my fonts are changed.
Now, I'm not 100% if your mod caused it, but I'll notice it. I removed it for now, if this problem doesn't occur anymore I'll notify you.
Hmmm, I'm not sure what to say- the mod was designed to be very non-intrusive and it shouldn't mess with the registration or verification code. It should add one line that performs an intercept of the submitted registration info and queries the BotScout database...other than that, it should not make any changes to any code.
Quote from: improv on July 10, 2009, 11:48:59 PM
Not a message, but each time when I installed it/or uninstall my registration gets messed up.
For example the verification image is broken and my fonts are changed.
Now, I'm not 100% if your mod caused it, but I'll notice it. I removed it for now, if this problem doesn't occur anymore I'll notify you.
Hi, I noticed someone who was trying to sign up was getting this message:
Quote8: Undefined index: ! <html><body BGCOLOR='#FFFFaa'>Anonymous hit limit reached for IP Address 209.62.39.20.<br>Why not get an <a href='/getkey.htm'>API key</a>? It's free, and it'll allow you to perform a larger number of bot-screening lookups each day.<br>If you aren't the webmaster for this domain, please tell them about this error message.</body></html> <pre><br/>
Does this just mean they were trying to sign up from an anonymous ip?
It seems as if theres some kinda limit set for how many times someone can visit that page,well is what it looks like to me anyways, though I'm not the best at this, so He got this error after completing registration?
Hey MrMike,
It might sound weird but it really appears that your mod didn't work properly on my forums.
It messed up the text size on my forum & users where unable to register duo the fact that image verification is gone when installed.
What this means is that the forum hit the anonymous IP limit, which is set at 20 per day right now. We figured that would be enough for low volume users who didn't want to get an API Key.
An API Key raises the limit to 300/day, and if necessary we can raise it higher should your forum need it. There's no cost for an API Key, it's just a way to prevent people from hitting our server a billion times a day and keeping other users from the service.
Quote from: imno007 on July 14, 2009, 02:50:50 PM
Hi, I noticed someone who was trying to sign up was getting this message:
Quote8: Undefined index: ! <html><body BGCOLOR='#FFFFaa'>Anonymous hit limit reached for IP Address 209.62.39.20.<br>Why not get an <a href='/getkey.htm'>API key</a>? It's free, and it'll allow you to perform a larger number of bot-screening lookups each day.<br>If you aren't the webmaster for this domain, please tell them about this error message.</body></html> <pre><br/>
Does this just mean they were trying to sign up from an anonymous ip?
I'm not sure what to say; the mod is designed to be very non-intrusive and to make minimal changes to the code (basically a single line). I can't say how it will play or coexist with other mods. You can always get the generic version and use it- it just needs one line added to a single file (register.php) to function.
Quote from: improv on July 15, 2009, 08:10:53 AM
Hey MrMike,
It might sound weird but it really appears that your mod didn't work properly on my forums.
It messed up the text size on my forum & users where unable to register duo the fact that image verification is gone when installed.
Awsome mod ... :)
Turkish >
$txt['botscout_mail_subject'] = 'Bot Girişimi Durduruldu';
$txt['botscout_mail_body'] = 'Bot kayıt yapmaya çalıştı, fakat girişim durduruldu.' . "\n\n" . 'Bot İsmi: %s' . "\n" . 'Bot E-mail: %s' . "\n" . 'IP Adresi: %s';
might be you add a "sent this user to BotBuster" but this can be abused ...
Quote from: Antes on July 18, 2009, 04:45:17 PM
Awsome mod ... :)
Thank you, I'm glad you like it.
Quote from: Antes on July 18, 2009, 04:45:17 PMmight be you add a "sent this user to BotBuster" but this can be abused ...
Send them to http://www.theybannedme.com/ :)
I'll do a manual install these days and check what could possibly be wrong.
I tried an email address I found in botscout.com and was able to register in my forum with now problem.
This was the only way to see if it was working, but it doesn't seem to do anything.
Hey again, it appears your mod is not the source of evil which I noticed shortly when my website begun to act strange again.
Sorry for reporting this as a bug.
Regards,
-improv
Quote from: vendejp on August 02, 2009, 09:05:32 PM
I tried an email address I found in botscout.com and was able to register in my forum with now problem.
I think you're doing something wrong, but it's hard to determine what from here.
Quote from: vendejp on August 02, 2009, 09:05:32 PM
This was the only way to see if it was working, but it doesn't seem to do anything.
If you want to PM me your forum URL, I'll try and register with a known-bad address and see what happens. We have over 1,000 users that have installed plugins for phpBB, SMF, etc, and as far as I can tell, it's working for them.
This mod is excellent but now the bots that couldnt register are posting in the guest area.
I tried looking at post.template to see the code where it checks guests in the hope of trying to get it to run botscout.php on their IP, but it doesnt have the guest's IP there. There must be a way of stopping bots from posting, I just cant see it now :(
I tried a "ban button in post" mod to manually ban their IP's after they have posted but that mod doesnt work on guests, Botscout would be the best method to stop bots from posting.
Quote from: Guiness on September 25, 2009, 08:14:07 AMThere must be a way of stopping bots from posting, I just cant see it now :(
I use some code that prevents a user from posting any outside link until they have certain number of posts to their credit. If they're under that limit and they try to post a link then it just recycles them back to the preview screen.
Does this mod support SMF2 RC2?
This looks like a great mod, but for some reason I am not getting any results. I got an API key from BotScout and plugged it into my BotScout.php file as indicated and hooked up the other code as noted in the docs and did a couple of test registrations with good emails etc., then I went to the BotScout website and logged into my account. The "API Key Stats" shows 0 tests and 0 bots -- Shouldn't it show a couple of tests from my registrations? I suspect that code isn't being executed.
I'm using SMF 1.1.11
My code in Register.php looks like this starting on line 156:
foreach ($_POST as $key => $value)
{
if (!is_array($_POST[$key]))
$_POST[$key] = htmltrim__recursive(str_replace(array("\n", "\r"), '', $_POST[$key]));
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// BotScout.com "BotBuster" check
include('BotScout.php');
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Does this look correct? I double-checked the path to BotScout.php, and it is getting to that script. Beats me why I'm not seeing any hits on the API key over at the BotScout site.
Any ideas would be appreciated!
Just FYI,
on my first install 1.30 from admin... Of course I had everything all mucked up ???
So I downloaded the .zip only to find later I was editing the 1.20 version. I visited the BotScout website and forum. I downloaded BotScout.php from there and it was 1.40. I edited it adding The API key and setting Email Notification to 1 and sent it up. I got a email notice fairly quickly. So I logged into my BotScout account and viewed the stats. I let it run 24hrs and verified each email notice to the API stats.
Now, :o I wonder if it is blocking all registrations, but I dont think it can do that? ;D
Now the admin Browse mods shows a red dot by BotBuster ??? And apparently I am suffering seperation anxiety as I no longer have swarms of registrations besieging my forum and nothing to live for. :D
Having issues .. is Botscout down now?
Yes, BotScout is down today due to an apparent hard drive failure. It should be back later today or tomorrow.
If for some reason it takes longer than that we'll run it from a temp server until the original server is back up.
Quote from: Angie KidneyKorner on February 02, 2011, 03:48:47 PM
Having issues .. is Botscout down now?
Quote from: MrMike on February 02, 2011, 04:04:29 PM
Yes, BotScout is down today due to an apparent hard drive failure. It should be back later today or tomorrow.
If for some reason it takes longer than that we'll run it from a temp server until the original server is back up.
Quote from: Angie KidneyKorner on February 02, 2011, 03:48:47 PM
Having issues .. is Botscout down now?
Thanks! :)
is this compatable to 2rc4 because on the mod download page it says not
Quote from: glennk on February 03, 2011, 06:19:56 PM
is this compatable to 2rc4 because on the mod download page it says not
Do you suspect the download page is lying to you? :)
I've no idea if it will work with 2.x versions. The code was originally written for the 1.x branch, beyond that I can't say whether or not it will work with 2.x.
It would be fairly trivial (I think) for someone who knows what they're doing to repackage it for the 2.x branch. The underlying code hasn't changed at all and the API is the same. I don't have any familiarity with 2.x so I don't know if the form field names are the same or not.
If someone would like to repackage it for the 2.x branch I'd be grateful. I'm sorry to say that doing that is not something I know how to do.
Failing that, the generic code (http://botscout.com/code.htm) should be easy to use with the 2.x branch.
this is an excellent mod.
my forum was getting 3-5 bot registrations a week despite recaptcha and a logic question, I installed this about 4 months ago and have had practically nothing get through since.
in the last 2 weeks I've been getting new bots getting in again, when I test the email addys on botscout they're not in the database.
has the project changed the way it updates the database/ should I start looking for another, similar system?
can I help by adding my newfound bots to botscout.com? it asks for an API key, what do I give it?
Quote from: damouse on March 27, 2011, 12:36:16 PM
in the last 2 weeks I've been getting new bots getting in again, when I test the email addys on botscout they're not in the database.
has the project changed the way it updates the database/ should I start looking for another, similar system?
No, the system hasn't changed the way it updates the database. In fact, we've expanded our bot trapping network in order to catch more than we were previously able to catch.
Here's the thing: new bots are created all the time. It's impossible to catch them all, and it's impossible to catch them
before they start to go about their business. If more bots are created then (statistically speaking) more will be roaming around in the wild before they're detected and caught, and more will get through. No system can stop bots before they've been caught at least once. Until they're caught, they won't be in any database.
There
has been been a steep increase in the level of bot activity over the last few months, and we expect it to keep increasing. Bots are cheap and easy to run, just like spam. It's likely that you're going to see a lot more of them as time goes by. I'd use a layered approach, like using BotScout in addition to one of the better CAPTCHA systems for SMF (I particularly like the Avatar Verification mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2182)coupled with BotScout- it's pretty effective).
But be aware- no anti-bot, CAPTCHA, or anti-spam system will stop
human spammers. There's a good chance that some of the ones getting through are humans and not bots.
Quote from: damouse on March 27, 2011, 12:36:16 PMcan I help by adding my newfound bots to botscout.com? it asks for an API key, what do I give it?
It's asking for an API Key, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that's what you need to give it. :) You can get a free API from the BotScout site here:
http://botscout.com/getkey.htm (http://botscout.com/getkey.htm)
I have installed the mod a couple of day of days ago and it works just great. Thank you a lot.
My problem is, that after 20 tries of registrations nobody can register any more, what causes trouble to "good" new users.
I got the API code but cannot find how to integrate it. Can somebody tell me?
Quote from: serge M on June 24, 2011, 07:01:41 AM
I have installed the mod a couple of day of days ago and it works just great. Thank you a lot.
My problem is, that after 20 tries of registrations nobody can register any more, what causes trouble to "good" new users.
I got the API code but cannot find how to integrate it. Can somebody tell me?
In your forum source folder you will find Botscout.php
inside the file you will see the lines 10-12:
// Your optional API key (if you don't have one
// you can get one here: http://botscout.com/)
$APIKEY = 'INSERT YOUR API CODE HERE';You need to insert your api code where it says insert your api code here, save the file then re-upload to the sources folder
Hi riou,
and thank you a lot for your help. I did what you told me, the effect was that it stopped working. The forum refused any
new registrations saying "Registration de-activated" I switched through all modes, still doesnt work. My Botscout.php
looks like this now (instead of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX i did put the 15-digit API code I received by mail:
<?php
if (!defined('SMF'))
die('Hacking attempt...');
function checkBotScout($username, $email)
{
global $sourcedir, $txt, $webmaster_email;
// Your optional API key (if you don't have one
// you can get one here: http://botscout.com/)
$APIKEY = 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX';
// Send e-mail notices?
$send_alerts = false;
$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$email = urlencode($email);
$query = 'http://botscout.com/test/?multi&mail=' . $email . '&ip=' . $ip . (!empty($APIKEY) ? '&key=' . $APIKEY : '');
if (function_exists('curl_init'))
{
$ch = curl_init($query);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
$returned_data = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
}
else
{
require_once($sourcedir . '/Subs-Package.php');
$returned_data = fetch_web_data($query);
}
if(substr($returned_data, 0,1) == '!'){
// if the first character is an exclamation mark, an error has occurred
$err_msg = fatal_lang_error($returned_data, true);
exit;
}
if (empty($returned_data))
return false;
else
$returned_data = explode('|', $returned_data);
// sample 'MULTI' return string
// Y|MULTI|IP|4|MAIL|26|NAME|30
// $botdata[0] - 'Y' if found in database, 'N' if not found, '!' if an error occurred
// $botdata[1] - type of test (will be 'MAIL', 'IP', 'NAME', or 'MULTI')
// $botdata[2] - descriptor field for item (IP)
// $botdata[3] - how many times the IP was found in the database
// $botdata[4] - descriptor field for item (MAIL)
// $botdata[5] - how many times the EMAIL was found in the database
// $botdata[6] - descriptor field for item (NAME)
// $botdata[7] - how many times the NAME was found in the database
if ($returned_data[0] == 'Y' && $send_alerts)
{
require_once($sourcedir . '/Subs-Post.php');
sendmail($webmaster_email, $txt['botscout_mail_subject'], sprintf($txt['botscout_mail_body'], $username, $email, $ip));
fatal_lang_error('registration_disabled', false);
}
elseif ($returned_data[0] == 'Y')
fatal_lang_error('registration_disabled', false);
else
return;
}
?>
all worked fine before I did include the API code. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot in advance,
Serge
You put in the API key and it stopped allowing any registrations? What happens if you take it back out?
Quote from: serge M on June 25, 2011, 01:18:47 PM
Hi riou,
and thank you a lot for your help. I did what you told me, the effect was that it stopped working. The forum refused any
new registrations saying "Registration de-activated" I switched through all modes, still doesnt work. My Botscout.php
looks like this now (instead of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX i did put the 15-digit API code I received by mail:
Is this mod compatible with StopSpammer (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1547) and httpBL (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2155)?
Yes, as far as I know there should be no conflict with either of them (or any other mod).
Quote from: SugarD-x on June 25, 2011, 10:17:00 PM
Is this mod compatible with StopSpammer (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1547) and httpBL (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2155)?
Quote from: MrMike on June 26, 2011, 02:02:06 AM
Yes, as far as I know there should be no conflict with either of them (or any other mod).
Quote from: SugarD-x on June 25, 2011, 10:17:00 PM
Is this mod compatible with StopSpammer (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1547) and httpBL (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2155)?
Alright, awesome! I might give this a try in addition to those two. Is this SMF 2.0 Gold compatible? Didn't see any information on it either way.
It installed fine on 2.0 for me
Quote from: serge M on June 25, 2011, 01:18:47 PM
Hi riou,
and thank you a lot for your help. I did what you told me, the effect was that it stopped working. The forum refused any new registrations saying "Registration de-activated" I switched through all modes, still doesnt work. My Botscout.php looks like this now (instead of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX i did put the 15-digit API code I received by mail:
<?php
if (!defined('SMF'))
die('Hacking attempt...');
function checkBotScout($username, $email)
{
global $sourcedir, $txt, $webmaster_email;
// Your optional API key (if you don't have one
// you can get one here: http://botscout.com/)
$APIKEY = 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX';
all worked fine before I did include the API code. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot in advance,
Serge
Dunno, it is working fine on mine. Make sure that you aren't accidentally taking out either of the ' ' parts as that will mess up the code, so if your API Code is (some random stuff :P) a1B2c3D4e5F6g7H it goes in like this:
// Your optional API key (if you don't have one
// you can get one here: http://botscout.com/)
$APIKEY = 'a1B2c3D4e5F6g7H';
While I appreciate the effort that's gone into this mod, it totally hosed my forum until I could figure out what was going on. The so-called "optional" API key is NOT optional, apparently; whatever limit BotScout applies to queries applies to the ENTIRE WEBSERVER, so if you're on shared hosting, you're in big trouble. And I've got, no lie, at LEAST forty different mods on the board - and the error message being passed to the log did not in any way reference the originating mod or file or the BotScout site... so, yeah. This past hour or so has not been fun. ;)
There needs to be a place in the admin area where the user MUST enter an API key to make the thing work (which is not helpful atm as the API signup at BotScout is down) or, at the very least, send a string to the error logs to indicate where the error's coming from....
Quote from: AD/vh on August 03, 2011, 12:14:48 AMThe so-called "optional" API key is NOT optional, apparently;
This is absolutely
NOT true. The API Key is optional, period.
Quote from: AD/vh on August 03, 2011, 12:14:48 AMwhatever limit BotScout applies to queries applies to the ENTIRE WEBSERVER,
This is also
NOT true. The BotScout code applies
ONLY to a particular for that you use it on. If you use it on the forum it will be effective
ONLY on the forum. It does not affect anything else.
Quote from: AD/vh on August 03, 2011, 12:14:48 AMAnd I've got, no lie, at LEAST forty different mods on the board - and the error message being passed to the log did not in any way reference the originating mod or file or the BotScout site...
Right, so maybe the error
isn't due to Botscout, eh?
Quote from: AD/vh on August 03, 2011, 12:14:48 AMThe so-called ...which is not helpful atm as the API signup at BotScout is down
We had disabled new registrations while we moved to the BotScout site to a fully-dedicated server. Registration is available again.
Just a heads up, the latest download version is 1.30, but in SMF 2 it reports itself as 1.1 still, and SMF 2 believes it's up-to-date, which is correct despite the wrong version number being displayed.
can u help me tweak this mod to prevent bots from posting replies in public boards?
public boards = boards wich guests can reply entering a username and an email.
You could always turn off public posting.
i dont wanna turn off public posting...
and i NEED to allow public posting.
my forum works like a portal more than a forum itself.
isnt possible to make that botscout works with quick reply ?
BotScout prevents bots from getting on the forum in the first place. If they are still getting through, consider adding more anti-spambot mods to block them from accessing the forum to begin with. I would recommend httpBL for this.
Sorry for the bump. This works fine in SMF 2.0 Gold, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2 without any issues at all.
Where i have to add the API key. I am already having the API key.How to check it works or not.
Quote from: shubha on March 31, 2012, 02:14:57 AM
Where i have to add the API key. I am already having the API key.How to check it works or not.
I would suggest you read the instructions.
BEWARE of this one! It was preventing users from registering because of the scum site it was connecting to rejecting connections without registration. I have no ideal how many users were prevented from registering because of this
Am installing SMF 2.0.2 and botscout 1.4, and have put the coding in were it should be in the register.php to point to the botscout.php, in the source/botscout.php location. It has been blocking the bots nicely, but also people from registering. Is there an issue with 1.4, and SMF 2.0.2? Using the default SMF registration.php with no other mods but this one, and people can fill in the user name, email, password, and the verification box, hit register, and it comes up with an HTTP 500 error, and the error log come up saying it doesn't like something in xuser and xmail.
If I manually add them through the admin/members/add member, it works fine.
If needed, can get you screen captures of the error log.
"Edit" Well I brought up the default register.php which fixed the HTTP 500 issue, and then just put in the basic command like without all the ///////////// stuff, and the registration worked, so will let it run overnight and see what is in the error log in the morning, as well as if there is any spambots that got in.
It ran for about 24 hours, and then the HTTP 500 error came back, so not sure if this is due to so many bot hits that it is exceeding what the API allows or something in the registry.php file is corrupting.
If this is the case (and I doubt it), why wouldn't you contact us about this?
We have thousands and thousands of people using the site daily (many of them running this mod) and we've heard nothing about registrations being rejected for no reason.
It's possible that your server is connecting us in a way that prevented it from working, but if that's so, this is the first we've heard about it. (??)
Quote from: winterband on April 07, 2012, 11:26:35 AM
BEWARE of this one! It was preventing users from registering because of the scum site it was connecting to rejecting connections without registration. I have no ideal how many users were prevented from registering because of this
Quote from: rconiv on April 17, 2012, 02:58:17 AMIs there an issue with 1.4, and SMF 2.0.2? Using the default SMF registration.php with no other mods but this one, and people can fill in the user name, email, password, and the verification box, hit register, and it comes up with an HTTP 500 error, and the error log come up saying it doesn't like something in xuser and xmail.
It's impossible for me to be 100% certain, but I can't think of anything in the BotScout code that would trigger a 500 error. The code simply makes an API call (via HTTP) to our server and returns the results.
Please let me know if you're still having any trouble at all.
Quote from: MrMike on April 21, 2012, 06:19:32 PM
Quote from: rconiv on April 17, 2012, 02:58:17 AMIs there an issue with 1.4, and SMF 2.0.2? Using the default SMF registration.php with no other mods but this one, and people can fill in the user name, email, password, and the verification box, hit register, and it comes up with an HTTP 500 error, and the error log come up saying it doesn't like something in xuser and xmail.
It's impossible for me to be 100% certain, but I can't think of anything in the BotScout code that would trigger a 500 error. The code simply makes an API call (via HTTP) to our server and returns the results.
Please let me know if you're still having any trouble at all.
Actually it turned out to be my fault, was trying to figure out why the forum keeps saying there is an issue with the data command, so thought it was missing a } so put one in. After I removed it, the 500 error went away, but the data error came back. Hadn't changed anything in the botscout.php, except to add my email to be notified when it stops a bot, and the API info.
http://****.net/index.php?action=register2
Undefined variable: data
File: /var/www/html/Sources/BotScout.php
Line: 248
I think all you may need to do is declare this var at the top of the botscout.php file, something like:
// declare $data var
$data = '';
Quote from: rconiv on April 22, 2012, 12:35:11 AM
Actually it turned out to be my fault, was trying to figure out why the forum keeps saying there is an issue with the data command, so thought it was missing a } so put one in. After I removed it, the 500 error went away, but the data error came back. Hadn't changed anything in the botscout.php, except to add my email to be notified when it stops a bot, and the API info.
http://****.net/index.php?action=register2
Undefined variable: data
File: /var/www/html/Sources/BotScout.php
Line: 248
Quote from: MrMike on April 22, 2012, 08:42:32 AM
I think all you may need to do is declare this var at the top of the botscout.php file, something like:
// declare $data var
$data = '';
Quote from: rconiv on April 22, 2012, 12:35:11 AM
Actually it turned out to be my fault, was trying to figure out why the forum keeps saying there is an issue with the data command, so thought it was missing a } so put one in. After I removed it, the 500 error went away, but the data error came back. Hadn't changed anything in the botscout.php, except to add my email to be notified when it stops a bot, and the API info.
http://****.net/index.php?action=register2
Undefined variable: data
File: /var/www/html/Sources/BotScout.php
Line: 248
The print $data on this is what the error log is saying is failing (part in red). At least that is the error line.
// this example tests the email address and IP to see if either of them appear
// in the database at all. Either one is a fairly good indicator of bot identity.
if($botdata[3] > 0 || $botdata[5] > 0){
print $data;
if($diag=='1'){
print "Bot signature found.";
print "Type of test was: $botdata[1]";
print "The {$botdata[2]} was found {$botdata[3]} times, the {$botdata[4]} was found {$botdata[5]} times";
}
if($send_alerts=='1'){
// send an email about the bot?
$fromText = "BotBuster System";
$subjectText = "Bot Attempt Stopped";
$msgText = "A bot tried to register, but was stopped from doing so.\n\nBot Name: $XUSER\nBot Email: $XMAIL\nIP Address: $XIP";
mail($toText, $subjectText, $msgText, "To: $toText <$toText>\n" . "From: $fromText <$fromText>\n X-Mailer: PHP 4.x");
}
// your 'rejection' code would go here....
// for example, print a fake error message and exit the process.
$errnum = round(rand(1100, 25000));
print "Confabulation Error #$errnum, Halting.";
exit;
}
////////////////////////
I had to uninstall in order for real registrations to work. This blocked even me signing up on my own forum.
Hi I've got a problem with botscout it appears to be working a little too well as now nobody can register on my forum and is interpreting everyone as a hacking attempt, please help :)
Could you give me a URL to your forum so I can see this?
Quote from: colinw83 on May 31, 2012, 11:10:30 AM
Hi I've got a problem with botscout it appears to be working a little too well as now nobody can register on my forum and is interpreting everyone as a hacking attempt, please help :)
Anyone still watching this topic?
Having issues with the path to the source/botscout.php
I've changed it several times and still get a weird error. I get admin notification as ours is setup that way for now and then look at the IP and see the botscout error
I think my other admin deleted the last one but I 'll get screenshot or snip of the error.
I just wasn't sure if this topic would get a reply
TIA
A screenshot would help, or the text of the error message.
The path to the botscout.php file should be the absolute path, i.e. something like
/var/www/virtual/somedomain.com/htdocs/forum/Sources/(just an example)
Quote from: Bryan47 on October 30, 2012, 04:28:04 PM
Anyone still watching this topic?
Having issues with the path to the source/botscout.php
I've changed it several times and still get a weird error. I get admin notification as ours is setup that way for now and then look at the IP and see the botscout error
I think my other admin deleted the last one but I 'll get screenshot or snip of the error.
I just wasn't sure if this topic would get a reply
TIA
Quote from: MrMike on October 30, 2012, 05:24:22 PM
A screenshot would help, or the text of the error message.
The path to the botscout.php file should be the absolute path, i.e. something like
/var/www/virtual/somedomain.com/htdocs/forum/Sources/
(just an example)
Quote from: Bryan47 on October 30, 2012, 04:28:04 PM
Anyone still watching this topic?
Having issues with the path to the source/botscout.php
I've changed it several times and still get a weird error. I get admin notification as ours is setup that way for now and then look at the IP and see the botscout error
I think my other admin deleted the last one but I 'll get screenshot or snip of the error.
I just wasn't sure if this topic would get a reply
TIA
Thanks I'm surprised I don't have any at the moment to test or get the error message which I guess is a good thing. There is 2 ways to get to my forum in FTP program so I changed it to reflect the /www/website/forum/source/botscout.php was public_html/website...
Anyway I can test?
Quote from: Bryan47 on October 30, 2012, 05:35:03 PM
Thanks I'm surprised I don't have any at the moment to test or get the error message which I guess is a good thing. There is 2 ways to get to my forum in FTP program so I changed it to reflect the /www/website/forum/source/botscout.php was public_html/website...
Anyway I can test?
You can try calling the botscout.php file directly in your browser and see what happens. You should get the text "Error: No return data from API query" on the screen if it's working correctly.
Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator,
[email protected] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Quote from: Bryan47 on October 30, 2012, 07:33:52 PM
Internal Server Error
That's probablyy not an error in the file or code, it almost sounds as though you may have something odd with your PHP config or setup, but I've no idea what.
PHP code errors don't normally cause an "Internal Server Error" to be thrown, but it's possible that this is something new that I've not seen before.
I know that in some configs using any of the php flags in an htaccess file can cause this error, but if that's not a possibility then I'm unsure what may be the issue.
Does this look correct?
$_POST[$key]));
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// BotScout.com "BotBuster" check
include('/home/domain/www/subdomain.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php');
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Collect all extra registration fields someone might have filled in.
It's hard for me to tell without knowing the actual path on your server.
Quote from: Bryan47 on October 31, 2012, 10:54:58 AM
Does this look correct?
$_POST[$key]));
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// BotScout.com "BotBuster" check
include('/home/domain/www/subdomain.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php');
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Collect all extra registration fields someone might have filled in.
59.58.104.178 Guest 2: include() [<a href='function.include'>function.include</a>]: Failed opening '/www/mydomain.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php')
?action=register2 October 31, 2012, 05:58:21 AM
59.58.104.178 Guest 2: include(/www/mydomain.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php) [<a href='function.include'>function.include</a>]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
?action=register2 October 31, 2012, 05:58:21 AM
Not sure if this help but we had a bot register last night
This error:
Failed opening '/www/mydomain.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php' for inclusion
means the path '/www/mydomain.com/forum/Sources/' to the file is incorrect. You aren't really using "mydomain.com" as the actual path, are you?
That's almost certainly not right, unless you own the domain "mydomain.com".
Got this on Nov 1.
"8: Undefined index: ! <html><body BGCOLOR='#FFFFaa'>Anonymous hit limit reached for IP Address 216.120.237.68.<br>Why not get an <a href='/getkey.htm'>API key</a>? It's free, and it'll allow you to perform a larger number of bot-screening lookups each day.<br>If you aren't the webmaster for this domain, please tell them about this error message.<br></body></html>
?action=register2"
Sounds like botscout is working if I am getting something about a limit reached. I also put in a API key I signed up for
Now my admin sends me a message stating a user got this trying to sign up today
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_EXIT in /home/MainDomain/public_html/MYDOMAIN/forum/Sources/BotScout.php on line 1
Thanks
Bryan
Quote from: Bryan47 on November 06, 2012, 07:52:29 PMNow my admin sends me a message stating a user got this trying to sign up today
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_EXIT in /home/MainDomain/public_html/MYDOMAIN/forum/Sources/BotScout.php on line 1
It sounds like you may have modified the file, or possibly it's been damaged. Try a clean copy of the file and if you're still seeing a problem, let me know.
Downloaded it again from the site and added my API Key
is this correct?
$APIKEY = '0000MYKEY00000';
Wasnt sure if the ' ' was suppose to stay
Thanks
That should be correct.
Quote from: Bryan47 on November 07, 2012, 11:22:12 AM
Wasnt sure if the ' ' was suppose to stay
Yes, the quotes are required.
Well I was thinking since it was getting the error about line 1 I was making progress. I upload a new php with my key.
I just got 3 registrations this morning and I am seeing this error again
2: include() [<a href='function.include'>function.include</a>]: Failed opening '/BLAHBLAH.com/www/DOMAINTHATNEEDSBOTSCOUT.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php')
?action=register2
2: include(/BLAHBLAH.com/www/DOMAINTHATNEEDSBOTSCOUT.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php) [<a href='function.include'>function.include</a>]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
?action=register2
I think those two errors are pretty self-explanatory: either the BotScout.php file isn't in the right location or the name of the file is incorrect.
In short, it can't find the file it's being told to open.
Quote from: Bryan47 on November 12, 2012, 09:12:27 AM
2: include() [<a href='function.include'>function.include</a>]: Failed opening '/BLAHBLAH.com/www/DOMAINTHATNEEDSBOTSCOUT.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php')
?action=register2
2: include(/BLAHBLAH.com/www/DOMAINTHATNEEDSBOTSCOUT.com/forum/Sources/BotScout.php) [<a href='function.include'>function.include</a>]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
?action=register2
Quote from: SugarD-x on September 19, 2011, 04:28:45 PM
Just a heads up, the latest download version is 1.30, but in SMF 2 it reports itself as 1.1 still, and SMF 2 believes it's up-to-date, which is correct despite the wrong version number being displayed.
Aside from this still not being fixed, does anyone know if BotBuster 1.3 is working fine in SMF 2.0.3? It works great in SMF 2.0.2, so I'm assuming it should, but I haven't seen what has changed in SMF 2.0.3 yet.
Quote from: SugarD-x on December 17, 2012, 01:40:28 PM
Quote from: SugarD-x on September 19, 2011, 04:28:45 PM
Just a heads up, the latest download version is 1.30, but in SMF 2 it reports itself as 1.1 still, and SMF 2 believes it's up-to-date, which is correct despite the wrong version number being displayed.
Aside from this still not being fixed, does anyone know if BotBuster 1.3 is working fine in SMF 2.0.3? It works great in SMF 2.0.2, so I'm assuming it should, but I haven't seen what has changed in SMF 2.0.3 yet.
Most if not all mods from 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 should work fine on 2.0.3 :)
If it says that the package is corrupt you may want to look into Version Emulation (http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/How_can_I_install_a_mod_that_doesn%27t_work_in_my_SMF_version).
As far as I'm aware it works correctly in all 2.x versions.
Quote from: MrMike on December 17, 2012, 04:54:21 PM
As far as I'm aware it works correctly in all 2.x versions.
Awesome!
Quote from: Yoshi2889 on December 17, 2012, 03:26:54 PM
Quote from: SugarD-x on December 17, 2012, 01:40:28 PM
Quote from: SugarD-x on September 19, 2011, 04:28:45 PM
Just a heads up, the latest download version is 1.30, but in SMF 2 it reports itself as 1.1 still, and SMF 2 believes it's up-to-date, which is correct despite the wrong version number being displayed.
Aside from this still not being fixed, does anyone know if BotBuster 1.3 is working fine in SMF 2.0.3? It works great in SMF 2.0.2, so I'm assuming it should, but I haven't seen what has changed in SMF 2.0.3 yet.
Most if not all mods from 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 should work fine on 2.0.3 :)
If it says that the package is corrupt you may want to look into Version Emulation (http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/How_can_I_install_a_mod_that_doesn%27t_work_in_my_SMF_version).
I thought of that too. I just wanted to be certain before I tried installing it directly in case someone had any issues. I'm trying my best to avoid emulation for a variety of reasons. :P
I just installed this on a new SMF 2.0.7 forum and while it certainly seems to block bots it also prevents all legitimate users from signing up. I did a test myself and tried to register a new user. After I entered the captcha information and hit 'submit' I got a page showing 'error'. Once I removed BotBuster I was able to register as a new user as normal.
Any ideas?
No idea, unfortunately.
As far as we're aware it is reported to work properly with SMF 2.0x, all versions. It's possible that one or more of the other mod packages you have installed might be clashing, but that's just a guess.
The only other thing I can think of is to make sure you don't have "check username" option turned on. That's only useful in a few select instances and isn't recommended for 99.9% of users.
Quote from: eattheword on June 07, 2014, 06:15:24 PM
I just installed this on a new SMF 2.0.7 forum and while it certainly seems to block bots it also prevents all legitimate users from signing up. I did a test myself and tried to register a new user. After I entered the captcha information and hit 'submit' I got a page showing 'error'. Once I removed BotBuster I was able to register as a new user as normal.
Any ideas?
Breaks registration, verified on 2.0.7 and 2.0.8.
When one tries to submit the registration form, it displays a "an error occured" page, yet no error description.
Is there any entry in the error log?
Quote from: Kissaki on June 28, 2014, 06:28:24 PM
Breaks registration, verified on 2.0.7 and 2.0.8.
When one tries to submit the registration form, it displays a "an error occured" page, yet no error description.
Quote from: MrMike on June 28, 2014, 08:38:56 PM
Is there any entry in the error log?
Quote from: Kissaki on June 28, 2014, 06:28:24 PM
Breaks registration, verified on 2.0.7 and 2.0.8.
When one tries to submit the registration form, it displays a "an error occured" page, yet no error description.
No, there was no error in the webservers/php error log.
/e:
Actually, installed the mod again from the still-existant files, to make sure I rememberred correctly and no errors are logged.
Just, this time, registration seems to work. I will keep an eye on it.
So apparently there is some kind of limit to the used API, which results in ALL registrations fail without a specific error.
In the backend, a general error is logged without ANY information, and an undefined error with a note "Anonymous hit limit reached for IP Address 108.162.254.208.<br>Why not get an <a href='/getkey.htm'>API key</a>? It's free, and it'll allow you to perform a larger number of bot-screening lookups each day.<br><strong>If you aren't the webmaster for this domain, please tell them about this error message."
which is not even clear where it comes from.
That's really bad.
Unusable like it is. If it can't reach or use the third party API it uses, it should fail silently and simply allow registrations. This way, you are dependant on a third party site entirely. They can stop your forum from functioning correctly.
The same argument is kind of true for Stop Forum Spam or any of the others though, for the same reason...
What? I don't get what you're saying.
So, is there any way to actually set a botscout API key? I could not find an option.
Otherwise, registration tries is limited to 20 queries a day - which is way too low if you're in production, with bots trying to register.
I have no idea off hand.
I'm pointing out that other mods that use third party services have the exact same problem: you are at their mercy.
This is why I don't use third party services at all, and simply use my own CAPTCHA (on the mod site), my misc anti spam mod (on the mod site) and well written Q&A (built in, more powerful version on the mod site)
Quote from: Kissaki on September 14, 2014, 09:14:47 AMSo apparently there is some kind of limit to the used API, which results in ALL registrations fail without a specific error.
BotScout returns an error and it's up to the plugin author what to do at that point, whether to display the default error or a custom one that contains more information. You can edit the message yourself if you like in the language file (or in the code itself if the plugin author has not provided a separate set of text strings for the mod).
Quote from: Kissaki on September 14, 2014, 09:14:47 AMUnusable like it is. If it can't reach or use the third party API it uses, it should fail silently and simply allow registrations.
Well, think about that for a moment. If it were to simply allow registrations after running out of queries, any spammer or bot could simply hammer your registration form until you ran out of queries and then proceed to create an unlimited number of accounts. The denial of registration when the site runs out of queries is by design, not by accident. Nearly all web services that use an API key work in a similar manner- when the limit is reached, things stop working.
Quote from: Kissaki on September 14, 2014, 09:14:47 AMThis way, you are dependant on a third party site entirely. They can stop your forum from functioning correctly.
As Arantor pointed out, the same is true for virtually all similar services. So, yes, if you use a third-party service you're dependent on a that service to some degree.
I personally am not a huge fan of third-party services but sometimes it's the only practical way to implement a feature. The basic BotScout database is 45+ megs, and is updated every few minutes. Downloading a dataset like that and keeping it current just isn't practical in most situations. (Daily updates would be almost useless as most spammers mint new email addresses and switch IPs every few minutes these days.)
As for the API key, it's free and it allows 300 free queries per day. There is a place to use the key, and depending on the plugin it's either a form field or in the plugin code itself.
In any case even if it were a once-a-day download, SMF's package manager and some of the URL-fetching routines in SMF would choke on 45MB.
No activity on thios thread for years - does it work properly these days ? SMF 2.0.15 ?
Quote from: landyvlad on December 17, 2018, 05:08:24 AM
No activity on thios thread for years - does it work properly these days ? SMF 2.0.15 ?
it would have to work ... botscout.com still standing and apparently active. I will try to take time to give you a more secure answer, excuse me.
Regards!
Thanks
As far as I know it works properly on SMF 2.x.
If you find it doesn't, please let me know and we'll look into it.
The BotScout file doesn't rely on any special functions in SMF, it simply intercepts the request to register a new user, checks the BotScout database, and returns the result.
Quote from: landyvlad on December 17, 2018, 05:08:24 AMNo activity on thios thread for years - does it work properly these days ? SMF 2.0.15 ?
Thanks :)
Does anyone know if this will work with 2.1.x?
Or if it's even required with that?