Do folks think it is targeted? I admit I am hesitant to post anywhere at the moment.
PLEASE VERIFY NEW MEMBERS TO HELP AVOID SPAMMERS
Sat, 2014-07-12 12:14
#102
Sat, 2014-07-12 13:29
#103
Catchfire
It is targeted insofar as they seem to have found a way past the spam filters, and then can link to the sites using their twitter accounts. But nothing more nefarious than crass oppurtunism. They are bots, after all.
Sat, 2014-07-12 14:13
#104
It is targeted insofar as they seem to have found a way past the spam filters, and then can link to the sites using their twitter accounts. But nothing more nefarious than crass oppurtunism. They are bots, after all.
The moderator bots from Mollom aren't helping. They aren't blocking the bots but they are blocking me from posting perfectly acceptable content.
Sat, 2014-07-12 21:11
#105
the entire board is spammed. Is the spam spread if we post to s thread that has been spammed?
Sun, 2014-07-13 00:06
#106
Any chance that posting abilities to babble could be shut down temporarily? I mean, after all, it is summer anyways.
Sun, 2014-07-13 10:12
#107
I know this may sound anti-social and exclusionary which is not ideal on a generally socialist and inclusive site, but could we not close the door to new Babblers for a month, with a summary, explanatory note saying that this is a regretted, temporary action to cope with these attacks. Just a thought...
Sun, 2014-07-13 11:41
#108
alan smithee
This is getting out of control and ridiculous...Looks like Harpie's little eleves are hard at work...I agree with sherpa-finn.
Sun, 2014-07-13 15:25
#109
Catchfire said they asked the techies to temporarily halt new registrations, but it doesn't look like they did so.
Sun, 2014-07-13 15:59
#110
[keeping ahead of the asshole spambots]
Sun, 2014-07-13 16:00
#111
Catchfire said they asked the techies to temporarily halt new registrations, but it doesn't look like they did so.
Oh yeah, I think they did... for awhile. I could log in about an hour ago, but couldn't post. When I clicked on "register" (as if to create a new account), it went to "access denied".
This is tiresome, and I'd appreciate a little more information about what's going on. We've been proposing new registration restrictions for many months. I do respect techies and all that, but let me say it: This isn't rocket science.
Sun, 2014-07-13 16:25
#112
2
Sun, 2014-07-13 16:26
#113
Catchfire said they asked the techies to temporarily halt new registrations, but it doesn't look like they did so.
Oh yeah, I think they did... for awhile. I could log in about an hour ago, but couldn't post. When I clicked on "register" (as if to create a new account), it went to "access denied".
This is tiresome, and I'd appreciate a little more information about what's going on. We've been proposing new registration restrictions for many months. I do respect techies and all that, but let me say it: This isn't rocket science.
Sun, 2014-07-13 17:33
#114
I think posting abilities to babble should be suspended temporarily until this gets figured out.
Sun, 2014-07-13 17:41
#115
One approach is to block IP addresses that seem to be originating spam. This is not perfect, but might cut down the intensity.
Sun, 2014-07-13 18:08
#116
Four of the twelve users listed as "Currently Active Users" at this particular moment are spam accounts that have joined in the past 12 hours.
Sun, 2014-07-13 18:47
#117
infracaninophile
I co-own/moderate an online group on a non-political topic. It is private (that is, posts are not visible to the general public) and our way of avoiding spam is as follows:
-- a person at the website who reads the description, or knows about if from others, or whatever, can click the button to join. S/he then has to enter an email address.
-- a guarded automated Welcome letter is sent to the email address, saying we are happy to have new members, the purpose of the group is such and such, if you are wanting to join please reply to this email with a brief explanatin of why you wish to join and your interest in the topic [nb: it's not of general interest!]
-- when they reply to the email, they are subscribed to the group. This means an actual person does the final step, but the earlier ones are automated.
It does not take long. The majority of people who click "join" never reply to the email. Sometimes we know from the email address that these ARE spammers.
Probably babble doesn't need anything this rigorous forever but might it not be a useful intermediate step?
So far we have had no spammers successfully get by our process. Ever.
Sun, 2014-07-13 19:12
#118
I co-own/moderate an online group on a non-political topic. It is private (that is, posts are not visible to the general public) and our way of avoiding spam is as follows:
-- a person at the website who reads the description, or knows about if from others, or whatever, can click the button to join. S/he then has to enter an email address.
-- a guarded automated Welcome letter is sent to the email address, saying we are happy to have new members, the purpose of the group is such and such, if you are wanting to join please reply to this email with a brief explanatin of why you wish to join and your interest in the topic [nb: it's not of general interest!]
-- when they reply to the email, they are subscribed to the group. This means an actual person does the final step, but the earlier ones are automated.
It does not take long. The majority of people who click "join" never reply to the email. Sometimes we know from the email address that these ARE spammers.
Probably babble doesn't need anything this rigorous forever but might it not be a useful intermediate step?
So far we have had no spammers successfully get by our process. Ever.
Sounds like good suggestions to me. I'm not posting until this is cleaned up (although some of you may say that's wonderful).
Sun, 2014-07-13 22:09
#119
a.s.b.
Sun, 2014-07-13 22:22
#120
infracaninophile
a.s.b.
anti-social behaviour?
anencephalic spina bifida?
Inquiring minds need to know.....
Sun, 2014-07-13 22:26
#121
I co-own/moderate an online group on a non-political topic. It is private (that is, posts are not visible to the general public) and our way of avoiding spam is as follows:
-- a person at the website who reads the description, or knows about if from others, or whatever, can click the button to join. S/he then has to enter an email address.
-- a guarded automated Welcome letter is sent to the email address, saying we are happy to have new members, the purpose of the group is such and such, if you are wanting to join please reply to this email with a brief explanatin of why you wish to join and your interest in the topic [nb: it's not of general interest!]
-- when they reply to the email, they are subscribed to the group. This means an actual person does the final step, but the earlier ones are automated.
It does not take long. The majority of people who click "join" never reply to the email. Sometimes we know from the email address that these ARE spammers.
Probably babble doesn't need anything this rigorous forever but might it not be a useful intermediate step?
So far we have had no spammers successfully get by our process. Ever.
Sometimes just having it set to send an email to a new registrant, who has to open the email and click the link to activate cuts down on spambot registrations. even without being assigned to a group. another step i've seen on other sites is a 5 post moderated minimum. moderators have to view and approve 5 posts for each new registered member in order for the post to show up on the site.
If moderators are visiting the site regularly, and it is a legitimate new poster, it really wouldn't take long to view and approve, and if it is a bot, go ahead and ban the user and block their IP.
i haven't seen a spam attack like this on any site i've ever been on. it was 5 pages in one section.
Sun, 2014-07-13 22:34
#122
Left Turn
I don't think the spam is politically motivated. I think it's most likely an outfit that's getting paid to post spam for various different companies, as in x ammount of money for y ammount of spam; the repeated posts of the same thing are probably an attempt to meet a quotia.
I agree with those who've suggested that new registrants be required to click on an e-mail link in order to verify their registration, since spam bots can't do this.
Sun, 2014-07-13 23:28
#123
Well, its 11:20 ET on a Sunday night, and all is cleaned up and operational again on Babble. Congrats to whomever did all the dirty work. Must have felt like cleaning up after Woodstock .... without the chemical enhancements, of course. Now, let's see how long it lasts! ( see one spammer still lurking as a 'Currently Active User' so am not too hopeful!)
Mon, 2014-07-14 08:55
#124
Monday morning
Hope we have a sensible week here, not sure yet.
DW
Mon, 2014-07-14 09:08
#125
is pogo real and why asb over and over again?
Mon, 2014-07-14 09:32
#126
Had a Pogo cartoon to insert here, but our new anti-spam controls will not let it pass!
Mon, 2014-07-14 09:49
#127
is pogo real and why asb over and over again?
Pogo's real. Anti-spam bump. Took me a while to figure it out too.
Mon, 2014-07-14 09:51
#128
I assumed it was "anti-social behaviour' - thanks!
Mon, 2014-07-14 09:53
#129
is pogo real and why asb over and over again?
The purpose was to try to keep important threads at or near the top of the Active Topics page. Seemed like a losing battle for a while. But thank you and congratulations to everyone involved in vanquishing the spammers. It's just one battle, but that's what wars are made up of, aren't they?
Mon, 2014-07-14 09:58
#130
I do not understand the last few post. what I understood is the Pogo is a real person. what is an anti spam bump?
Mon, 2014-07-14 10:15
#131
I do not understand the last few post. what I understood is the Pogo is a real person. what is an anti spam bump?
The spammers created so many new threads that they pushed most of the real threads off the active topics page, making it a lot harder to see where there was actual discussion happening. A bump is a post meant only to bring an older thread back to the top of the page. Pogo's asb posts were meant to bring real threads up, while pushing spam threads down.
Mon, 2014-07-14 10:46
#132
Pogo
One of my few posts that actually gets discussed. I just saw the active topics being pushed out and went to the bottom of the list of legit topics and moved them to the top.
Mon, 2014-07-14 12:50
#133
Catchfire
Hahaha Pogo, I always discuss your posts in my head.
So, that was a terrible weekend. I'm not sure if I can effectively address the concerns here, but I want to point out that just last week our spam attacks, which used to average 1000 per day are now averaging 4000 per day -- and I'm guessing even more than that over this hellfire of a weekend. Those asking for email verification seem to be assuming that such a change would just automatically fix the spam attacks. I do not think that assumption is safe to make.
I can tell you that the two people we have working on this are waay more expert than I am on this and they are looking at a high number of changes that they think will work. One of the reasons they did not close registrations (other than the fact that it keeps the site from adding new writers and new events as well) is that they would be unable to test the new anti-spam things. Again, I want to remind everyone that we just don't have the resources big media sites have to fight spam, but we get traffic akin to many of them. So it's a pickle.
I know you all know this, and you have been amazing in bearing with us through this so thanks for that. And thanks for the anti-spam kills too. I will try to keep youse updated as best I can.
ETA. What I should have mentioned above is that new users are ALREADY asked to verify through email! And it still isn't working!
Mon, 2014-07-14 14:08
#134
Catchfire
Update: apparently all registration was closed as of 4:30 Friday. So the spamming over the weekend was done by dormant accounts aleady created. Our new spambot overlords are nothing if not clever.
Mon, 2014-07-14 14:11
#135
Well the weirdest example of this I have ever seen was someone who managed to hack into members' accounts and post in their names. So we may not have seen the half of it.
Mon, 2014-07-14 16:02
#136
infracaninophile
ETA. What I should have mentioned above is that new users are ALREADY asked to verify through email! And it still isn't working!
Catchfire, would it make a difference if instead of simply clicking on a link in the email, a new user had to reply in some kind of coherent prose? Or answer a question? Something that a bot might not be able to do? And then the person would not be approved as a member until a mod had actually approved it?
Just wondering.
Mon, 2014-07-14 17:34
#137
Catchfire
Well, probably. But who is going to pay those mods to wait for such emails with bated breath? If you say "infracaninophile," I will say: "DEAL."
Mon, 2014-07-14 18:16
#138
Those asking for email verification seem to be assuming that such a change would just automatically fix the spam attacks. I do not think that assumption is safe to make.
Well, actually, NO. Here's what I said on July 8:
Babble should just stop new registrations, then require CAPTCHA and email validation. Until it's tried and it fails - it's unacceptable to say it won't work.
Aside from nitpicking, I do sympathize, and so does everyone here. But transparency is essential. Thank you very much for the update. La lutta continua!!
Mon, 2014-07-14 19:10
#139
Is it possible for me to be infected from the spam? I just looked at my trash file and found A very large number of duplicate E-mails I have sent in the last two days. To be clear, in my trash file I found 15 copies of four different e-mails. It looks like my Apple System designated the duplicates to be trash. This come from the spam?
Mon, 2014-07-14 21:44
#140
Is it possible for me to be infected from the spam? I just looked at my trash file and found A very large number of duplicate E-mails I have sent in the last two days. To be clear, in my trash file I found 15 copies of four different e-mails. It looks like my Apple System designated the duplicates to be trash. This come from the spam?
No.
Mon, 2014-07-14 22:32
#141
Hmmm... not convinced, Unionist. You would probably be equally dismissive of this rather nasty rash that has developed upon a rather intimate part of my personage at the very same time that Babble was being swamped with spam. (When my spouse inquired, I explained that it was all Catchfire's fault.)
Mon, 2014-07-14 23:25
#142
Catchfire
Oh dear!
Tue, 2014-07-15 09:07
#143
In addition to putting a hold on registrations, tech support is building a tool that will allow us to manually verify new user requests. Again not foolproof, but should significantly slow down spam traffic. Other tools are being put in place as well.
Tue, 2014-07-15 11:11
#144
Would it be less costly to limit new accounts to a maximum of x posts per week for the first 4 weeks of active use-- and x posts a day? What about making it impossible for a new person to open multiple threads - maybe they should speak to existing threads for a month? This would give time to see what they were before they could disrupt the board to the degree than can do at present?
This may be a compromise between full membership and blocking new people completely.
If metering posts is possible maybe it is less expensive than some of the other ideas being thrown around and more palatable.
Tue, 2014-07-15 12:16
#145
If Rabble was randomly targeted, the spammers will probably move on after a month or less. If they come back after registrations are unlocked, that suggests someone's specifically targeting this site for denial of service.
Tue, 2014-07-15 12:41
#146
Hmmm... not convinced, Unionist. You would probably be equally dismissive of this rather nasty rash that has developed upon a rather intimate part of my personage at the very same time that Babble was being swamped with spam.
Hard for me to diagnose definitively without a photo - please.
Tue, 2014-07-15 16:59
#147
If Rabble was randomly targeted, the spammers will probably move on after a month or less. If they come back after registrations are unlocked, that suggests someone's specifically targeting this site for denial of service.
The reason I think it is targetted is they know where to put up the most posts to get the greatest distraction from political discussion
Tue, 2014-07-15 18:28
#148
well done moderators, a day without spam.... wonderful
Tue, 2014-07-15 19:23
#149
Hmmm... not convinced, Unionist. You would probably be equally dismissive of this rather nasty rash that has developed upon a rather intimate part of my personage at the very same time that Babble was being swamped with spam.
Hard for me to diagnose definitively without a photo - please.
Sun, 2014-07-20 21:53
#150
Just wanted to extend a word of congrats to the Babble techies or whomever for securing the site for the past week or more. I have no idea what you've done (and have no interest in learning) - but whatever it was, it seems to have worked. (Touch wood.)
And for those who expressed their sincere concerns, that rash has cleared up nicely, too.
Sun, 2014-07-20 22:28
#151
Just wanted to extend a word of congrats to the Babble techies or whomever for securing the site for the past week or more. I have no idea what you've done (and have no interest in learning) - but whatever it was, it seems to have worked. (Touch wood.)
And for those who expressed their sincere concerns, that rash has cleared up nicely, too.
Good, and good!