Spambots

[Mist Walker]

Looks like they've made it here too then, CotEC and I think the herdstone have also been suffering a few attacks and I'm thinking the best way to avoid them would be the randomly generated letters that need to be entered, that would keep them away. Not sure how viable this is though. A link to CotEC's discussion on sorting out the problem anyway.

http://z4.invisionfree.com/cotec/index. ... st=0&#last

EDIT: we could always make it compulsory to post in the glade of gathering and get a response but that would definitely slow down the introduction of members

[Ramesesis]

It would, Mist Walker.
I will try to go after the topic after this new mongrel, but I cannot kick it out, only the admins got that power.

[Bad Beast]

i think the random number dealy is the best route assuming it's viable, i am not and have never been a fan of the "post in the introduction forum wait for a reply" method of sorting through posts as it seems to turn away more users, then bots, and i personally have never seen too much of a point in the introduction forum (I don't even think I've ever posted in that forum)

there is also the chance that this was a single sweeping bot like we've had in the past and it will be another 3 months till we get another one, honestly, i feel we should wait till it's actually an issue before we do anything about it

[Naggie]

The entering of random letters is called a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing-test to tell Computers and Humans Apart), and as we are running on phpBB instead of Invisionfree's odd system, we have always had captcha. And since phpBB 3, I can even edit the settings to a very good degree to make it easier or harder.

The one member posting about WoW gold in some forums is the very first bot that has managed to slip through the default security of phpBB 3. On our old system, I had about 20 add-ons to increase security, and had to add more every month. I haven't added anything to this installation of phpBB 3 since I installed it (well over a year ago) and this is the first that has gotten through.

We are not under any attack that I see as a serious threat. We stop more bots than most other sites.

~ Naggie

[Ramesesis]

Good to have you on the track so fast, Nagi!

I have removed the posts I found.

AHEM! Attention all asrai members!
As soon as you spot a possible bot or any spam, do not hesistate to report it, no matter if the source may even look human.
We can sift through treads, but the best scouts are off course all our asrai members!
If you spot a "hostile", do not hesitate to report, so I can dispatch a warband for a closer inspection and possible annihilation.
Raimie the Riftblade

[Naggie]

And an addition to Rammie's announcement: If you see more threads by the same member, please report them all. With today's fella, I only got one report - and even if that report said the poster had done the same in other forums there wasn't much I could do to find them. We have plenty of forums here, and even more threads, and even more posts. Please specify as much as possible when you report, or report every spam post you see.

I'd rather have you guys report one post too many than one too few. Each report comes up for moderator/administrator rewiew before any action is taken. You flag some posts to us and let us decide if it needs some action. Sometimes it doesn't, but it's always best to flag and let a mod/admin decide.

~ Naggie

[Mist Walker]

I seem to remember that there used to be a report user function but it's disapeared now. *shrugs*

[Naggie]

It disappeared in early May 2007

~ Naggie

[Mist Walker]

thankfully I haven't had to use it

[LoDark]

Shhh, they'll know we're on to them...

I'll look out for them in future. I know Druchii.net seems to be having a bit of a problem with them. I know at least two threads I've set up that have been hijacked a month or so later by Nike. It's as if they're targetting me for doing something wrong.