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Bad Behavior for SMF mod

Started by butchs, April 12, 2010, 05:23:56 PM

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butchs

Link to Mod

Bad Behavior Mod
PHP-based solution for blocking link spam and robots
The Web's premier link spam killer





Written by:                   butchs
Current BB version:      2.2.20
Compatibility:               SMF 1.1.21 & SMF 2.0.15
Supported languages: english, spanish_es, spanish_es-utf8, spanish_latin, italian, italian_utf8
Translations:                Translations are accepted

Donations accepted to help support this mod (please specify the name of the mod when donating).




SMF integration for Bad Behavior / Bad Behaviour.  Which is a PHP-based solution for blocking link spam and the robots which deliver it.

The mod includes plenty information in the help icons.  Just click on the icons.

Standard option information is located at the core bad-behavior site.

This is the first implementation of Bad Behavior / Bad Behaviour for one of the major forum platforms.  This port has more features than the Core and most Ports on the internet.  It has taken many hours of hard work to create this mod.  I sure hope that the fruits of my labor reduces spammery on your SMF forum!

Sincerely,
butchs



To test:
To insure that Bad Behavior is functioning correctly you can add the sting "Bad Behavior Test" to the User Agent (UA) of a HTTP request from someone who is not in the whitelist and is not the administrator.

If you look at the page source (just below the title) you will see the speed of this mod at work:  <!-- Bad Behavior 2.2.17 run time: 3.025 ms -->



Bad Behavior / Bad Behaviour icons for your front page:
Show everyone that you have taken the care to protect your forum from spammery:


<p><a href="http://www.bad-behavior.ioerror.us/">
<img src="http://www.yoursite.com/bad-behavior-80x15.png"
alt="Bad Behavior" height="15" width="80" /></a></p>>


Please copy the above master image to your site and adjust only the image link.  Let the bad bots come to Bad Behavior.



How Bad Behavior Works:
Bad Behavior complements other link spam solutions by acting as a gatekeeper, preventing spammers from ever delivering their junk, and in many cases, from ever reading your site in the first place. This keeps your sites load down, makes your site logs cleaner, and can help prevent denial of service conditions caused by spammers.

Bad Behavior manages to block nearly all link spam without ever looking at the spam. While it might be useful to do so, for performance reasons, Bad Behavior does not analyze received spam. Ive found that this way lies madness; spammers are constantly buying new domain names, so its possible to miss a lot of spam by looking at it.

Instead, Bad Behavior pioneered an HTTP fingerprinting approach. Instead of looking at the spam, we look at the spammer. Bad Behavior analyzes the HTTP headers, IP address, and other metadata regarding the request to determine if it is spammy or malicious. This approach has proved, as one user said, shockingly effective. After all, spammers write their bots on the cheap, and have little incentive to code very well. If they could code very well, they probably wouldnt be spammers.

When Bad Behavior looks at a request, it determines if the request matches a profile of known malicious or spammy activity, and falls outside the bounds of a normal human browsing the web. If so, the request is blocked. But a way out is provided for any human beings with unusual configurations or viruses/Trojans on their computer who may be blocked.

From the start, Bad Behavior has had two overriding design requirements. The first is that it must be fast. Users will get annoyed by waiting around for their traffic to be screened for spammery.  Bad Behaviors run time, which is typically measured in milliseconds, and can be cut to hundreds of microseconds for very high traffic sites.

The second requirement is that it must block as few legitimate users as possible, and when one is blocked, they must be able to unblock themselves through an action simple and fast enough that they can simply hit the browsers reload button once theyve completed the action.


INSTALLATION:

Please look at all the preview images on the mod page.

Adjust settings before you enable the mod.
(Mod will disable it's self when uninstalled)

Check all the options that are "Recommended" in "Bad Behavior Admin/ SETTINGS".

Whitelist all your regular members.  Read "WHITELIST MEMBERS HELP" for details.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OPTIONAL httpBL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The core of the mod protects your site even if httpBL is not enabled.  It is recommended to increase protection by adding httpBL.

httpBL procedure:
Register your site at ProjectHoneyPot.
Get the access key at ProjectHoneyPot.
Add an OPTIONAL honey pot script for your site.
Copy the OPTIONAL honey pot script to your site (the same location as the SMF folder).
Activate the OPTIONAL honey pot script and confirm it is active.

Copy over the HoneyPot information in the "Bad Behavior Admin/ SETTINGS/ Project Honey Pot HTTP Blacklist" area:
•   http:BL Access Key - Access Keys are 12-alpha characters (no numbers). They are lower-case. You should copy the Access Key exactly as it appears at the Project Honey Pot network.
•   Minimum Threat Level - 25
•   Maximum Age of Data - 30
•   Honeypot Link - The link to the OPTIONAL honey pot Script Location or a QuickLink.
•   Honeypot Link word - A word you make up.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OPTIONAL CloudFlare - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you are successfully using CloudFlare:  Enter "Cf-Connecting-Ip" in "IP call to Reverse Proxy" and check "Enable Reverse Proxy".

THIS MOD ASSUMES THAT YOU MADE MODIFICATIONS TO SMF SUCH THAT CLOUDFLARE IS OPERATIONAL ON YOUR SITE.  See the Cloudflare mod here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OPTIONAL Admin Choice - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Administrators are automatically whitelisted by the mod.  If you are paranoid, you can make the these changes.

Enter your personal admin IP address or CIDR range "Bad Behavior Admin/ SETTINGS/ Whitelist/ IP Address".  For more information read "ADVANCED WHITELIST HELP".
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Check "Enable Bad Behavior".



FAQs:
•   WHITELIST MEMBERS HELP
•   ADVANCED WHITELIST HELP
•   USING OpenID HELP
•   USING PAYPAL HELP
•   SUSPICIOUS BBC TAG HELP and a follow-up - Only for SMF 2.0 Gold.
•   UPGRADING FROM AN OLDER VERSION HELP.
•   MANY BOT HITS A WEEK
•   RANDOM CHARACTERS ABOVE FORUM HEADER



Version History:
1.0.0 --  March 23, 2010
o   -  Initial release for SMF 2.0 RC2 & RC3 default theme only. Compatible with BB 2.1.2.
1.1.0 --  August 4, 2010
o   -  New compatibility with BB 2.1.4:  Added CloudFlare compatibility and one nasty anti-Forum program to the ban list.  This version requires updates of both part 1 and part 2.
1.1.1 --  August 7, 2010
o   -  An error was discovered in the "whitelist.ini" file.  Anyone who downloaded "bad_behavior_install_pt1of2.zip" between August 4, 2010 and August 7, 2010, who used the "whitelist.ini" file from "bad_behavior_install_pt1of2.zip" please download this new "bad_behavior_install_pt1of2.zip" version.
1.2.0 -- August 8, 2010
o   -  "whitelist.ini" file has been re-written.  It is suggested that all users review and modify this file.  New compatibility with BB 2.1.5:  Fixed CloudFlare compatibility. MSN bot and ereg errors fixed in core.  All users should upgrade your "whitelist.ini" file.  This version requires updates of both part 1 and part 2.  Backup your "whitelist.ini" before upgrading.
1.3.0 --  November 6, 2010
o   -   Now compatible with SMF 2.0 RC4.  Improved roundtripdns and cache.  Added yahoo check (will temporarily reports error as msnbot - waiting for BB to catch up), auto purge of BB cache.  Removed cloudflare check due to DNS issues at cloudflare.  Fixed RC4 bugs in admin area that prevented saving and displaying of detailed reports.  Mod now has its own cache, it no longer requires SMF caching to be enabled.
1.4.0 -- February 20, 2011
o  - Mod Rewrite. Big thanks to BigGuy at SMFHelper for testing.  Mod is compatible with SMF 1.1.x, SMF 1.1.x Bugs fixed, detected by ac19189 & packman.  No changes for 2.0 RCx, Spanish Translation(s) - thanks xaquin, Added Project Honeypot to admin panel, blank UA can  be blocked.  Spanish language files now auto load, Changes for mod_security compatibility - thanks Darkness*, Update Bad Behavior core to 2.1.12, Fix for Undefined index: id_group & description of error link (thanks Dmytro) in 1.1.x.  - Bad Behavior core to 2.1.13
1.5.0 - June 05, 2011
o 1.5.0  - Added random Google safe honeypot, httpBL suspicious visitors are now logged.
o 1.5.1 - June 18, 2011 - badbehavior_httpblnote error in 1.1.x(djkimmel), 'http_headers' can't have a default value 2.0 & 1.1x(evanoliver), updated core.inc.php & blackhole.inc.php.
o 1.5.2 - July 10, 2011 - Can't have a default valueFile (evanoliver), added httpBL on/off line & API key check, improved whitelist.
o 1.5.3 - July 25, 2011 - Fixed rare error with Cloudflare Server, added suspicious BBC for SMF 2.0 ONLY, limited front page honeypots
o 1.5.4 - August 4, 2011 - Fixed integration bug thanks mediaworksmt, Completed http:BL & BB installation validation, Bad Behavior 2.1.14 update
o 1.5.5 - September 19, 2011 - Upgrade to 2.0.1, File-access disabled fixed for some servers (jbw-creA2s), improved map trap
o 1.5.6 - October 21, 2011 - 1.1.x db errors fix, updated core to 2.1.15
o 1.5.7 - December 16, 2011 - Anti-bot security fixes, all users should upgrade to this version.
o 1.5.8 - February 4, 2012 - Updated core to 2.2.1.
o 1.5.9 - March 11, 2012 - Revamped reverse proxy, Upgrade to 2.2.2.
o 1.5.10 - May 27, 2012 - Added Lazybones badbehavior_bbc.gif, Upgrade to 2.2.6, improved reverse proxy address, moved whitelist to admin, updated Spanish by xaquin
o 1.5.11 - June 24, 2012 - Upgrade to 2.2.7, text corrections a bug fix
o 1.5.12 - September 3, 2012 - Upgrade to 2.2.9
o 1.5.13- September 3, 2012 - Added IP sort & username for SMF 2.x only, Upgrade to 2.2.11
o 1.5.14 - December 9, 2012 - Improved TESTING, Removed badbehavior_log_table modsetting, Upgrade to 2.2.12
o 1.5.15 - December 13, 2012 - Upgrade to 2.2.13
o 1.5.16 - May 5, 2013 - revised mysql, honeypot link height thanks RustyBarnacle, Upgrade to 2.2.14, updated httpbl search engines
o 1.5.17 - June 30, 2013 - SMF 1.1.X ONLY -  fixed undefined variable- thanks chrishicks
o 1.5.18 - January 25, 2014 - Upgrade to 2.2.15, Search Engine DNS updated, minor changes installDB
o 1.5.19 - December 27, 2015 - Upgrade to 2.2.17, changed SPAM traps, improved cache
o 1.5.20 - December 31, 2017 - Upgrade to 2.2.20, fixed $bballotted error, added italian, updated readme files
o 1.5.21 - February 5, 2018 - Removed carriage return in BadBehavior-SMF


Terms of use



By downloading and/or using this MOD you agree to adhere to the following conditions for all versions of the Bad Behavior mod:

       
  • The license for the mod is not the same as the license for the core.
  • The Mod Author/Creator retains all rights to the code for the mod portion.
  • The Mod Author/Creator is not responsible for any incompatibilities of this mod with your forum.
  • You are FREE to use and customize this MOD on your Forum(s) in any way you see fit, however, in no way can the Author/Creator of this MOD be held responsible under any circumstances.
  • Commercial resale of this mod is prohibited without express written permission from the Mod Author/Creator.
  • You are FREE to redistribute this MOD in its original, released state ONLY!
  • Conversion, transfer or porting any portion of the mod Authors Creative Work, ideas, procedures and process to any SMF fork without the Authors explicit written permission is strictly prohibited.
  • These terms can be changed or appended at any time by the Mod Author/Creator without any prior notice.






mod bad-behavior

Antes de instalar este mod, establezca su zona horaria local en el archivo .htaccess o php.ini.

Como hacerlo en .htaccess:
#Establecer zona horaria
SetEnv TZ Europe/Madrid


Una lista de ubicaciones para que pueda elegir:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php




En la instalaci√≥n en SMF 2.0x o posterior, SMF puede preguntarle si desea "Restaurar permisos de archivo" para  "banned.inc.php"..  No realice ning√∫n cambio!



Para probar:
Para asegurarse que Bad Behavior funciona correctamente puede agregar la cadena "Bad Behavior Test" al agente de usuario (User Agent) de una petición HTTP realizada por alguien que no conste en la lista de autorizados y no sea el administrador.


En el código fuente de la página (justo después del título) se puede ver la velocidad de trabajo de este mod:
<!-- Bad Behavior 2.2.17 run time: 3.025 ms -->






bad-behavior mod

Prima di installare la Mod assicurati che la tua Timezone locale sia impostata nel file .htaccess o php.ini.

Come configurarla nel file .htaccess:
#Set the timezone
SetEnv TZ America/New_York


Qui una lista di valori tra cui poter scegliere:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php




Durante l'installazione di SMF 2.0x e/o successivamente, SMF potrebbe chiedere di During installation of SMF 2.0x and or at a later date, SMF may ask to "Restore File Permissions" for "banned.inc.php".  Do not make any changes!



Per verificare il funzionamento:
Per assicurarsi che Bad Behavior funzioni correttamente puoi aggiungere la stringa "Bad Behavior test" allo User Agent (UA) di una richiesta HTTP proveniente da un utente che non è nella Whitelist e non è l'Amministratore.

Se guardi il sorgente della pagina (subito sotto al titolo) potrai vedere la velocità di questa Mod:  <!-- Bad Behavior 2.2.17 run time: 3.025 ms -->
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.


butchs

#2
Thank you.   It was the easiest mod approval I had to date.  I must be improving.   :D
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

butchs

I noticed that many people are downloading just the mod.  Please note that this mod is a 2 part mod.  Yea it is unusual but that is what we need to do.  You first need to run the install then the mod.  Otherwise it will not work.  See the first post for more details.
:o
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

flapjack

aaargh, yes I forgot to ping you about this. any particular reason why you didn't pack all stuff into one file, just out of curiosity? I have a feeling that most feedback you will be getting will be because somebody didn't read mod's info... ;)

butchs

I prefer to keep them apart for the following reasons:

  • The BB core author "Michael Hampton" has approved that I can write the mod as long as he is only responsible for the core (not the mod).  So I broke them apart.
  • I do not want to update the mod every time the core changes unless I have to.   If I packaged them together you will not be able to update until I had a chance to make a new package and will not be able to do it quick enough for most people here.
  • You can quickly update the BB portion simply by uninstalling the mod, updating the key files in FTP and reinstalling the mod.

For more details please read the installation and update portions of the readme and the SMF readme.
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

flapjack

I'm just saying... ;)

did you think about automatic download of the core files from within your mod? this way you don't have to distribute two files, people won't scream at you, and it's an easy way to keep the core files up to date

butchs

I know but, Dude, I spent 7 months on this mod.  My insanity goes so far.   I have no idea how to do that, if it was possible I probably could find a way but, right now I plan to take a break form coding.  O:)

I tried to install the core then update it as one package.  It worked fine for the install but failed when I tried to uninstall it.  It was a nasty crash that caused reinstallation of SMF on the test server.  Two files were better.  People should be able to install two mods.   :P


edit:  The more I think about it a download will most likley have the same fate as a single mod that edits files (same as above).    ???
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

butchs

Ok today we have over 6:1 download ratio of the mod vs install package.  Since it is an international site, I can only assume that many people downloading do not read the text or do not read English that well.  So I renamed the zip files to:

  • bad_behavior_install_pt1of2.zip
  • Bad_Behavior_mod_pt2of2.zip.

This should help improve things.

No changes made to the actual code.
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

clevelife

Thank you for this Mod, I will be trying it out today.  I will make sure to install only the 1st part  O:)

butchs

Please let me know what you think?

By the way, though not recommended by all, I prefer to use strict mode.  It gets rid of those spammers hiding behind proxies.
8)
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

clevelife

Quote from: butchs on April 16, 2010, 09:50:09 AM
Please let me know what you think?

By the way, though not recommended by all, I prefer to use strict mode.  It gets rid of those spammers hiding behind proxies.
8)

I will do that.  I don't know how much it will work right away.  I've only got one person signed up this week.  :-\

butchs

I doubt you will see much until you get more members.  My board has a medium-low visitor rate.  I was getting over 150 visitors a day when I started using the mod.  the first week Bad Behavior rejected 180 bad bots, the next week it was 80, then it slowed down to around 40 per week.

One heavily used web pages I have seen numbers from 1,000 - 3,000 rejected bad bots per week.
8)
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

Wizzlefits

Been testing this puppy for a few days on a 2.0 RC3 test site.  Now, after checking all the blocked IPs there is just one thing to say.. It works GREAT!

The install, although very simple, was at first a bit confusing. But reading ALL of the instructions helped.

One question,
How does this work for an admin or user with a dynamic IP?  Just curious. :)

butchs

Logged in admin users are skipped and are not checked.

I recommend that you put your IP in the whitelist just to be safe.  You can enter the IP range too.  I do not think that dynamic IP's will have a issue but if they do then they will need to enter the IP range of the host.

It is more important to review the whitelist and make sure that IP and URL of the forum is covered assuming that you have a non standard directory system.  ie.  "forum/index.php" instead of the standard "smf/index.php".
8)

I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

HiramAbif

I have a question.  I have guest posting enabled and there is one dude who is maliciously spamming my board using what I believe to be imacros.  Would this stop someone who floods the board with the same topic over and over again?  Thank you.

kizer

How does the email work on the ERROR 403 message? Meaning I really dont' want to give out my email address so I can go from a web spammer to a victim of email spam
Own a Jeep? Links4Jeeps.com

butchs

Quote from: HiramAbif on April 21, 2010, 05:15:33 PM
I have a question.  I have guest posting enabled and there is one dude who is maliciously spamming my board using what I believe to be imacros.  Would this stop someone who floods the board with the same topic over and over again?  Thank you.

The mod does not check the number of posts it checks to see if the bot is bad.  If the dude is a real spammer chances are he will not be able to even get on your board.  But if he is a normal person playing games then you will need to use other measures.
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

butchs

Quote from: kizer on April 21, 2010, 06:37:58 PM
How does the email work on the ERROR 403 message? Meaning I really dont' want to give out my email address so I can go from a web spammer to a victim of email spam

The mod does not give out your email as a normal email.  If your email is [email protected] it shows admin at yoursite.com.  A human/ spammer will have to correct and type it in order to be able to send you a message.  So the chances are low that you will get spammed.

This is included so that regular users can contact you for access.  For example, someone you know logs in and gets ERROR 403.  They can then use this error to send you a message and get placed on the whitelsit by you.  If you did not give them a method to contact you, they will never be able to log in.

The email listed is from the "Webmaster Email Address" listed in "admin -> server settings -> general -> Webmaster Email Address".  It is not recommended but, if you do not want your email address showing up leave the above setting blank.
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

butchs

Further clarification on my last post (It was late and I was tired).

Attached is a copy of what the spammer will see when they are caught.

If the spammer clicks on [nofollow] "admin at eastcoastrollingthunder.com" [/nofollow] then they will record  [nofollow] "admin at eastcoastrollingthunder.com" [/nofollow].  Which will not send an email to your site.

But if one of your members click on it their email program will pop up and they will have to fix the address before it the message is sent.

Whatever you do, do not use your personal email address as the "Webmaster Email Address".  Besides being a modified return address in ERROR 403 the "Webmaster Email Address" is used to report forum errors and as a return email address for all the Newsletters that you send.  If a spammer is a member they can harvest your email address.  Instead use an email address specifically for your forum that has some sort of spam filter installed or run it through a email forwarding service.  Most people use one of the free address provided by the hosting company for the forum admin email address.  In many cases, the hosting company offers a configurable spam filtering system that you can use before you forward the message to your real email address.   Then use the forwarding system provided by their hosting company to forward the message to a real email address.  I do the same thing but I forward my admin to a email forwarding service [nofollow]http://pobox.com/[/nofollow] that has a spam filter that in turn forwards the cleansed message to my real email address.
8)
I have been truly inspired by the SUGGESTIONS as I sit on my throne and contemplate the wisdom imposed upon me.

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