Spam

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Steadman on January 13, 2011 at 6:36pm

 The spam posts  on this forum are computer generated and are called Spambots. This is what I know about them.

 

Some companies such as drugs, pornography, real estate companies etc, generate these spambots in order to infiltrate web forums, guestbooks, blogs etc and use OCR technology (optical character reference) in order to bypass the CAPTCHAS that the forum has put in place to try and protect themselves from such spam posts.

 

Some spam messages are targeted towards readers and can involve techniques of marketing or even phishing making it really hard for the forum security system to know whether the poster is genuine or not.

 

Not all of the posts are meant for the readers and some spam messages are simply hyperlinks to their sites in the hope that the reader will click on the link nd thus boost the search ratings of that site.

 

Most of the forum spam consists of links t oexternal sites wit hte goals of increasing search engine visibility in a highly competitive areas such as weight loss, drugs, gambling, loans etc and generating more traffic for these commercial websites. Some of these links contain a code that will help track the spambots identity if a sale goes through whe nthe spammer behind the spambot works on commision.

 

Simple CAPTCHA systems where the code is displayed as a straigh forward readable words are not effective from preventign spambots so the most effective way of reducing the amount of spambot posts is by using a CAPTCHA system where the letters and numbers are scrambled up, but even this will never totally eradicate the spambots completely.

 

The only alternatives are-

1/  Actual textual conformation where the new member has to answer one or two random questions to prove that he or she is not a spambot.

 

2/ The forum has a feature where they send the user an email to new registered users/members either containing a password to use to login or an activation code.

 

3/ The forum administrater would physically have to approve each new membership application individually and make the decision whether that applicant is a spambot or a genuine fan.

 

4/ Use a system called ASKIMET which is an external filtering service t oascertain as to whether the member is real or not.

 

5/ Limit posting to registered users and insist that the new member uses a CAPTCHA before they post for the first time.

 

6/ Block member applications or posts that contain blacklisted words. more information here.                 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=129390&highligh...

 

7/ Block the signature application on the forum especially for new posters. This can then be lifted when posters reach a set amount of posts ie 100 posts.

 

8/ Create a spam 'subforums' to automatically direct posts of this nature to this folder which can then be set to delete them daily.

 

9/ Be wary of IP's used by untrusted posters (anonymous posts or newly registered users). A useful technique for proactive detection of well known spammer proxies is t oquery a search wengine for this IP. It will show up on pages that specialise in the listing of proxies.

 

10/ Install a moderation queue where by all new posts are sent to the moderators for approvssl prior to being allowed on the forum.

 

The long and short of it is that unfortunately, unless the web host ie Ning are prepared to spend a fortune on spambot protection,  sadly, they are here to stay!! Bummer!!!!

 

I hope this goes some way to help you understand what they are all about and how they get here. All I know is that they are a blessed nuisance.

 

Love Jennifer XX

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by sylvia doughty on January 13, 2011 at 7:02pm

Hi Jennifer,

 

Thanks for explanation - didn't appreciate that at all - thanks!  

 

Sylvia.   Your wee Scottish friend.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Steadman on January 13, 2011 at 8:57pm

Didnt appreciate my explanation or how spambots evolved?

I just thought this might explain more.

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Permalink Reply by sylvia doughty on January 13, 2011 at 9:13pm

Hi Jennifer,

 

OMG I am sorry - I was just going to close up laptop and saw you had posted here - Oh, Jennifer I am sorry ....when I read my message again I see what you mean ......under no circumstances was I implying that I didn't appreciate your explanation ....it is by far the reverse.....you giving such a detailed explanation was far, far more than what I expected and, without doubt, it was the explanation that was appreciated - because I had no idea how any of that stuff worked.  Please accept my apologies Jennifer - I am sorry !

 

Sylvia.    Wee Scottish friend.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Steadman on January 13, 2011 at 10:46pm

Thats ok Sylvia,

 

I just wondered what you meant.

 

Love Jennifer X

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