to many bot spams

[dennismith]

hi there i just installed smf 2.0.rc5  last week im havin problems with bot spamers they keep registering i installed racaptcha mod wich is for smf  rc3 i installed manualy an was sayin ok then i did install stop forum spams but they keep registering is there any good mod that u can stop bots for registering please. that will be  helpfull thankyou

[Baby Daisy]

http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?action=search;basic_search=spam

[dennismith]

thx for ur reply baby daisy but i tried mos of them none of them is good

[winky100]

How does a spam bot register? If we understood that maybe we can stop them.

How are they able to issue a login command from code and read the fuzzy numbers? Or are those numbers only fuzzy for someone who is reading the page? I would like to understand how a spam bot works to connect to our forums.

[Arantor]

How does a spam bot register? If we understood that maybe we can stop them.

Through the registration form like genuine users. It's not even that hard for bots to 'read' the CAPTCHA these days. Hell, even I've been known to write a crude CAPTCHA breaker... in an evening. But it could break several of SMF's permutations.

[winky100]

But how do they get access to the registration form? I have to click on a button. How do they click on the button and get the form delivered and then fill out the form and then deliver it back etc etc...

Do they parse the html pages?

To many of us are kept in the dark about how a spam bot works. If we bring it to light we can beat them.

I know some of those spam bots are coming from china.

[~DS~]

But how do they get access to the registration form? I have to click on a button. How do they click on the button and get the form delivered and then fill out the form and then deliver it back etc etc...

Do they parse the html pages?

To many of us are kept in the dark about how a spam bot works. If we bring it to light we can beat them.

I know some of those spam bots are coming from china.

http://arantor.org/index.php?topic=20.msg89#msg89

[Arantor]

They parse the HTML. It ain't hard to do, given that the HTML of the registrant form is 95% the same every time, and where it isn't, the registration will see the form elements and pump in any old rubbish.

[dennismith]

what happens is whoever created them lol knows the tricts how to trict capatcha etc yesterday i got 5 of them registered an writen topic wich i had 2 racaptcha installed stop forum spam an racaptcha racaptcha use to work perfect on rc3 but on rc5 i installed manualy it seems not to work or maybe there is someone else who manualy does the registerin u never know i got no idea man all i want is a good racaptcha so i dont let them registered...an yes they do come from china russia most of them


this one registered



Ban name   Notes   Reason   Added    Expires   Triggers   Actions   
PrieniaPleavy         May 03, 2011   Never   3   Modify   
FluesyMepsyjet         May 03, 2011   Never   3   Modify   
ZICEDSTAIDAY      spamer   May 01, 2011   Never   3   Modify   
pletchernze      spamer   May 01, 2011   Never   3   Modify   
pletchertlo   spammer   spammer   April 30, 2011   Never   3   Modify   


IP: 188.143.232.83   0   Modify   
Hostname: 188.143.232.83   0   Modify   
Email: [email protected]

Banned entity   Hits   Actions   
IP: 109.230.220.96   0   Modify   
Hostname: 109.230.220.96   0   Modify   
Email: [email protected]


Banned entity   Hits   Actions   
IP: 125.120.136.24   0   Modify   
Hostname: 125.120.136.24   0   Modify   
Email: [email protected]

an many more

[YogiBear]

Many of those 'bots' are humans! It's now big business in the sweatshops of the Far East to pay humans to register then activate the accounts so the machine bots can hit a number of sites at once.

Recommend enable Verification Questions. The humans are paid according to the number of sites they can sign to in any one hour so anything which slows them down means they'll lose money so will try somewhere else instead.

Have a look under Chit Chat where many threads already exist on this problem.

Edit : see also Winky's thread...

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=432823.msg2979277#new

[dennismith]

there mos be anotherway how to stop them hope any good coder can create a mod for rc5 to fight them always smf will loose clients people may use different softwares after if smf coders dont fight this kind of spammers

[butchs]

With the right mods you will not get much, if any spam.  You need to install a protection scheme.  I use:

1.  Crawl Protect.
2. Avatar verification with 100 images.
3. Stop spammer.
4.  Bad Behavior.
5.  Clouldflare - Helps with bandwidth.  Or substitute htaccess country blocking of the top 10 bad guys.
6. Forum Firewall - Try if you are not a newbie.


They come, get blocked or try to log in and never get a chance to register.  Crawl Protect gets the really bad ones before they get close to the forum.  If it is a bot trying to hack the register FF gets them.  If they have a reputation project honey post activated in BB gets them.  If they are a bot then try to learn my images they get overloaded by way too many with Avatar Verification.  Finally Stop Spammer gets them if they make it past the many images.  All that with a honey pot sprinkled in the warning page has been quite effective for me.   

[MovedGoalPosts]

smf will loose clients people may use different softwares after if smf coders dont fight this kind of spammers

TBH every mainstream forum software will be targetted by spammers, be they bots or human.  Spammers are parasites and any way they can promote their own ends for free will be used.  Spammers are a nightmare for any web admin who allows content to be published by users.

I recently changed from vbulletin.  The spammer hit rate has substantially dropped simply by setting up a requirement for a randomly selected 3 out of a possible 10 registration Q&As, plus the Bad Behaviour Mod that seems to have blocked a large proportion of bot type activity.  From a mimimum of a spammer a day, and often 3 or four on a site which only has about 30 regular users, it's dropped to one spam registration a fortnight.  Thumbs up to the ease of blockinng stuff within SMF 2 RC5

[LynnB]

I have a strange situation. I am getting lots of registrants but they are not trying, or not being able, to post messages. I get maybe 2 actual spam posts a month. So I figured, why worry? These bots are putting a lot of hits on my website and not harming anything. Is that true? I don't know for sure what search engine ranking effect this is having. THAT is my biggest question. My site is #4 on google for the primary, domain match keywords. I'm not sure whether to change something or just let it go. Thoughts?

[monkeyofstick]

I was shown here by a wiser guy than me to have a set of questions related to the theme of my forum,and
to ask.I have 4 questions completely about the tactical reason for my site and I went from 40 spam bots a day to none in 9 weeks.