Forum hack?

CarolinaHD

Member
Feb 8, 2011
969
6
18
NC
Instead of posting about it here, click the hazard looking icon in the top right and that alerts Rob and the others.
 

snowman22

Member
Jan 30, 2018
298
8
18
SoCal
All the spam bots have given me a chance to read some really old interesting threads before realizing what was going on....
 

JoshH

Daggum farm truck
Staff member
Vendor/Sponsor
Feb 14, 2007
13,599
632
113
Texas!!!
No kidding. I think it was 63 posts in I don't know how many threads in about 20 minutes.
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,391
1,753
113
Norcal
A question for the site admins, is there a registration timer? Meaning if the registration forms are filled out in less then xx seconds then registration is denied.

Little bit of gargling indicates that these bots seem to fill out the forms in seconds which is unlikely for a human. So setting a minimum time like 30 seconds or more sould block most unless they have figured out how to get around that too. Looking at the logs sould give you some idea.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,173
4,956
113
Phoenix Az
We are gunna have to do something. Rob is on vacation for the week so I don’t want to bug him till he’s back. Just keep tagging them up guys.

Think a timer and a “you are not spam” check box would be a good idea assuming it can be implemented
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,391
1,753
113
Norcal
Reading up on these things, it seams that the bot programmers have figured out (mostly) how to beat the "I'm not a bot" check box (reCAPTCHA), regular CAPTCHA and the math question check. Even if the questions are presented in an image form the bots use OCR to decode it

Looks like the best ones are the timer and honeypot, seems like a good non intrusive way to stop them. The timer is rarely used as it is a new method so the bots may not have been adapted to it yet
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,391
1,753
113
Norcal
One in a million is all thay need. But really posting in this thread was golden

It costs them virtually nothing to have their computers / bots spam a bunch of sites. If they get just a few people who fall for it then they get their moneys worth.
 

DAVe3283

Heavy & Slow
Sep 3, 2009
3,681
236
63
Boise, ID, USA
Oh this explains why old threads pop up, then someone posts as if it is a fresh issue even though the thread is years old lol

Can we set it up so you have to have been a member for at least a week before you can post to threads older than 1 month?

Some forums auto-lock old threads, but I don't like that because sometimes you really do want to post in a years-old thread because an issue reoccured or you finally finished a motor build (ahem), etc.

So if we could just make it so that new accounts can't necro-post for a few weeks, it would solve that problem, but let us real people do the dumb things we like to do :thumb:
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
6,391
1,753
113
Norcal
My idea would be to have them, as a new member, only capable of posting in the introduction thread. Once done they can post in other threads or make their own.

As long as the bot doesn't hit that thread first then his account wouldn't be locked or denied or whatever.

One problem is we dont really know what the surver software is capable of without some serious programming. What will be the likely action is turning on or off already included options in the software or defining parameters pre set up. Some or all of our "solutions" may not even be possible without installing additional plugins or paying for a programmer to make the required updates

Unless a member here knows how to do this and is willing to do it pro bono we may never get what we need

Of course it is always possible that one or more site admins are accomplished programmers and this a non issue.
 

TheBac

Why do I keep doing this?
Staff member
Apr 19, 2008
15,322
1,608
113
Mid Michigan
Rob knows everything you guys are talking about. He is a very smart guy. A lot of it is the forum software version and the limits that imposes.

We identified the IP addy that most of the Russkie spammers have been using, and have blocked it. We'll see if that has any effect or if they move onto another IP.

BTW, I thought it was very ironic that the last spammer posted something in this thread. :rofl:
 

036.6turbo

Active member
Jan 17, 2014
703
42
28
Reading up on these things, it seams that the bot programmers have figured out (mostly) how to beat the "I'm not a bot" check box (reCAPTCHA), regular CAPTCHA and the math question check. Even if the questions are presented in an image form the bots use OCR to decode it

These spammers should direct their energies towards something useful, like L5P tuning! LOL.
 

NC-smokinlmm

<<<Future tuna killer
May 29, 2011
5,038
246
63
At Da Beach
I say crap like that in front of my in laws all the time.

I'm a Trump nut swinger... Lol... My business has gone ballistic since he was elected! Plus, the IRA's, oh my! Who could complain...:hug:

I say let him keep rolling, the career politicians need to go away, terms limits are all that's needed...:thumb: