Banned People Still Getting In

[faeriedust]

I have several people who keep finding their way into the forum. I've banned them, checked all the triggers but that hasn't helped.
Whenever I try to ban them again (they use different name each time) SMF keeps telling me that they are already banned. How
can this be possible and how do I prevent it.

[Illori]

what options exactly are you using to ban them? are they spammers? an ip address ban does not really work well as there are things like proxies that will allow them back in. you should check the mod site for anti-spam mods.

[kat]

I'm getting the feeling that these are genuine members who have been banned for being trouble.

In the trade, I believe they're known as trolls.

They can be grade A pains in the bum, too.

I once read,somewhere,that it's possible to actually get their MAC addresses and could be banned, using that.

Never figured-out how to do that, though.

One would assume that, if they have a decent firewall,it's difficult to even get their MAC addresses.

Even setting registration to "By approval" wouldn't be of much help, because you wouldn't have much, if anything, to figure-out who they are, before you approve them, or not.

I feel for you, FaerieDust, coz I've suffered from a few trolls, myself, and they can be bloody vicious with it, too.

I'll try and figure-out that MAC address thing, but don't hold out much hope.

[kat]

I've done some research...

Even a MAC address can be spoofed, it seems.

Best way of dealing with them, it would appear, is to find out their ISP, contact them, and try to get the ISP to sort them out.

Bummer, huh?

[faeriedust]

Certainly is a bummer. I've had my forum up and running for 12 years now and have never had this type of problem. Guess I'll have to live with it. Thanks for the replies.

[kat]

Tell ya what I'd love to see...

A mod, where you can put these people into a certain group, or setting, where everything they post is automatically turned in to total gibberish.

Kinda like the "Word Censor" feature, but only for that particular member.

[faeriedust]

LOL...I love it. Perhaps someone out there will take the hint.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Would it help to just move them into a group with all permissions disabled?  You could call it Unwanted Guests. 

[kat]

LOL...I love it. Perhaps someone out there will take the hint.

Arantor's working on something, I think.

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=429680.0;topicseen

[faeriedust]

Actually, I would love it if there was a different ban button that wouldn't even let them onto my site.. Like when they try to log on, SMF would automatically recognize  the address and disconnect them. Wishful thinking, I know. But sure would be great to have.

[kat]

What about a Kill-O-Zap gun, for use just on them?

http://www.realhhg.com/hhgpage.php?page=kill

[faeriedust]

Well Krash, I don't know if thats a good thing or a bad thing, but either way I wish I had one..LOL

The problem with putting them in an empty forum is that these people are not registered members yet and I can't move them. They were banded them before they actually
finished the registration.
Is there something that allows banned users from trying over and over to register when they know all they would get is a "You are banned from this forum" message every time?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

If they're not registered members, then they should only have Guest permissions.  I've never run a board, or been a member of one,  that allowed guests to post.  If they can't post, they're not a problem.  Once they register, you can move them into a garbage membergroup.  I'd imagine they'd get tired of that in a hurry, and hopefully go away.

It wouldn't be too difficult to abort the registration process if a specific username, email address,  or IP is recognized, but you'd have the same problem of identifying a banned user. 

[faeriedust]

I think we got a little waylaid here. These people do not get to the forum so I'm not concerned about that. The issue is with a banned person who continually keeps trying and fills up my error log very quickly. I'm looking for a way to make it stop. Some people try 20 or 30 times in a day. They know they can't get anywhere, they just do it to be aggrivating.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

As I understand it, the way it works is the user fills out the registration form (Register.template.php), and then submits it to the form handler (Register.php), which processes the form inputs and registers the user, or not.  If you have an identifiable parameter that the trolls repeatedly use to register (i.e., username), it's pretty easy to block it in Regiser.php, but, again, it's not any different than how banning works.  Don't see why it's generating errors - Register.php should block the registration cleanly.  What are you seeing in the error log?

[busterone]

The error log will show an error for the registration attempt with the IP, and a message- "sorry, you are banned .....etc.  "
The only way to stop it is if the troll is continually attempting to register from the same IP address.  You can block that IP in your .htaccess file, so they will never even get to the forum main page or the register page. That will stop the error log from filling up.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

They can change the IP just by flipping the modem off/on.  Some boardware doesn't even bother banning IP's anymore.

[busterone]

True, however, that is the only solution to stopping the same person from attempting to register repeatedly even though they are banned. That one only works if their IP remains the same.

[faeriedust]

The error log will show an error for the registration attempt with the IP, and a message- "sorry, you are banned .....etc.  "

That's the error that I get. I'll try the suggestions and look into the .php's. I'll holler back if it doesn't.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Unban them, let them register, then move them into a no-permissions group.  They won't be able to register again with the same username, email address, or IP, because they're already registered.