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+--- Thread: spammers, extermination of (/thread-2669.html)
spammers, extermination of - Kaylee - 04-16-2019
We need a dedicated thread for this, cuz I keep nattering up other threads.
I just saw Popeye's comment in another thread, so I have company.
A couple of months ago, I did some research and then some brief experimentation on this, but have to refresh my brain.
Tonight, I'll have unmetered internet for a couple of hours, and just added this to my ToDo list.
First, how bad is the problem?
Roughly how many spam posts do you see per day/week?
Roughly how many are stopped (before anyone sees them) by that external tool you use?
I'll post more tonight, just want to get some info to help me understand the scope of the problem.
RE: spammers, extermination of - Blacktank - 04-16-2019
just an annoyance,the only thing to make it easier would be able to block countries,pakistan and china are the worst but vpn's would get around that
the automated systems gets hundreds/thousands,i zap 2-3 at night,wake up and cammy has zapped 2-3,they come in waves
RE: spammers, extermination of - Kaylee - 04-16-2019
Have you tried using ".htaccess" to block by country?
I can very easily provide the lines necessary to do so.
That might slow down the site, but we're small enough that it's a worthwhile experiment... plus, it's way-kewl fun to Nuke China, without harming anybody.
Wow, hundreds/thousands of Kills rock!
That alone must be a significant load on the server.
I'm on an early morning schedule this week, so will send you something early evening my time.
You're in a great location for experimenting - you can hack ".htaccess" (after making a local backup), play around a bit, and not have to worry about most of the forum members.
RE: spammers, extermination of - Kaylee - 04-16-2019
Here ya go, all IP address ranges for country "China" (total of 423,224,320 IPs), as of last Friday.
I have it setup with multiple ranges per line, on the theory that's faster, but I'm a programmer, not-a-sysadmin.
Frater can give you better advise.
Here's how you install it:
- use an SFTP client to go to the public main directory for VD
- there should be a file named ".htaccess" already there
- copy the existing ".htaccess" to your computer (it's preciousssss)
- make a separate copy on your local laptop, then copy it to a CD/DVD/USB-stick or any other backup media (did I mention it's preciousss?!?)
- add the stuff in the attached plain text file to the bottom of your main local ".htaccess", and always add a blank line or two afterwards
- very quickly: rename your server ".htaccess" (in case something goes wrong), then copy your local laptop version to the server
- try accessing VD, and do Some Stuff, and if nothing blows up, breathe a sign of relief
- if anything is at all wonky, delete or rename the server file that you hacked, and restore/rename the original
If you make a mistake, almost always it will be real obvious and the whole site will be broken.
Just keep your SFTP client open, and you can very quickly fix things by rolling back the changes.
If you'd rather I do this, feel free to email me some temporary server SFTP/FTP credentials, and I'll do it tonight or early tomorrow.
RE: spammers, extermination of - Kaylee - 04-20-2019
A few hours after I posted that, figured I should really deploy the contents of that exact file into an .htaccess file on a site under my control. Did it to my anti-spam research site, since if it breaks, folks will tell me.
It works fine.
100% nukeage of Chinese IPs.
Granted, I'm checking using the same source of data (APNIC's own latest delegated list), so there shouldn't be any outliers.
RE: spammers, extermination of - Kaylee - 04-27-2019
Last week, I got a forum posting update with a spam in it.
The payload domain was registered to someone in the Ukraine.
It's literally trivially easy for me to export multiple countries into ".htaccess" nuclear annihilation format.
When I wrote that Code (eons ago), I even added a wee User Interface (gasp!), with a checked-listbox picklist that I can speed type to.
I already have a monthly task that involves exporting some or all countries to a few different projects.
It would be trivial to add a custom task for you folks.
Remember: Gary raided the Tee Shirt kitty and donated it to my Engine Fund. I'd be happy to contribute back some of my expertise.
As soon as I get to an unlimited wifi Library, I'll be researching some of the other stuff. Right now, I'm camped out in one of the few WI towns whose Library wifi is retarded/locked-down. Should be moving early in the week.
RE: spammers, extermination of - Blacktank - 04-28-2019
they come from everywhere but are just an annoyance and easy to take care of,i have the stop forum spam at factory settings,could turn it up if need be
RE: spammers, extermination of - Blacktank - 04-28-2019
Kaylee,want to do something?
see my new skull? can you make up some small png graphics and let the members choose which one they like and i will replace the stars with it
RE: spammers, extermination of - Blacktank - 04-28-2019
also need one for a new group "guru" for those that know so their post carry more weight
RE: spammers, extermination of - Kaylee - 04-28-2019
I like the skull, and bravo on the concept of a "guru" group!
Sadly, to misquote Doctor McCoy... I'm an engineer not an artist.
I'm pretty sure I can do something to fix that Apple 90 degree bug, but there's far better qualified people to do the esthetics stuff.
Members of my anti-spam Team had compared one of my early color schemes to Win3's "hotdog stand"... but worse.
Recently found out that most of my Team doesn't recognize my lovingly handcrafted fish-on-a-hook glyph as representing Phishing... or even recognized it as a fish.
Yes, I suck at making graphics.
Edit to Add:
Hey, how about "Tux" for guru?!?
i.e. the Penguin mascot of Linux
Big advantage: there's tons of freely available glyphs of him.