How to stop spam bots on vb 4.x?

[vitrag24]

Hello,

Daily atleast 3-4 new spam bots registration & threads by them.

Tired if deleting manually.

How to stop them even before they register? Surprisingly they even verify their email account!!!

In vb 3.7.1 I has same problem & I was using "Vmail" which solved problem , vulletin shd have implemented that extra email verification system in vb 4.x as thus us basic need of any forum.

"Vmail" isn't available 4 vb 4.x.

Now pls advice me what shd I do??

[risestar]

Upgrade your captcha with one of the new non-recaptcha plugins and also add the advanced registration plugin which you can make up verification questions that must be answered before registration will occur

[vitrag24]

Upgrade your captcha with one of the new non-recaptcha plugins and also add the advanced registration plugin which you can make up verification questions that must be answered before registration will occur

Can u pls post link of both plugin u're talking about?

Thx.

[nisarg]

<a href="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=248042&highlight=Glowhost" target="_blank">https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showt...light=Glowhost</a>

This is the best one i use. Although some bots manage to pass them

[risestar]

Advanced Registration plugin:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=236117&highlight=captcha

Solvemedia Captcha plugin

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=257126&highlight=captcha

[Avoidable]

I use the Question & Answer Verification Options feature and have experienced no spam bots. I can see them trying, but they have never succeeded.

[vitrag24]

I use the Question & Answer Verification Options feature and have experienced no spam bots. I can see them trying, but they have never succeeded.

From which plugin?

[your24hourstore]

its built in to vb the mods just use it:>

you may want to add boofos mod for spiders it has a link to use wolfheads spider list its updated often, but the built in Q and A system for VB works add 5 or so it will randomly use them as needed oh i would block this one its the lates one trying to access my system
vpntunnel.org (http://www.robtex.com/dns/vpntunnel.org.html). vpntunnel.org (http://www.robtex.com/dns/vpntunnel.org.html) has one IP number (80.67.14.5 (http://www.robtex.com/ip/80.67.14.5.html)) , but the reverse is webb01.vpntunnel.se (http://www.robtex.com/dns/webb01.vpntunnel.se.html).

--------------- Added 1296407946 at 1296407946 ---------------

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=243460&highlight=boofo

[vitrag24]

its built in to vb the mods just use it:>

you may want to add boofos mod for spiders it has a link to use wolfheads spider list its updated often, but the built in Q and A system for VB works add 5 or so it will randomly use them as needed oh i would block this one its the lates one trying to access my system
vpntunnel.org (http://www.robtex.com/dns/vpntunnel.org.html). vpntunnel.org (http://www.robtex.com/dns/vpntunnel.org.html) has one IP number (80.67.14.5 (http://www.robtex.com/ip/80.67.14.5.html)) , but the reverse is webb01.vpntunnel.se (http://www.robtex.com/dns/webb01.vpntunnel.se.html).

--------------- Added 1296407946 at 1296407946 ---------------

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=243460&highlight=boofo

Thx but I didn't understand what u toldspecially last sentence.


Built in Vb? Which option in admincp then?

[your24hourstore]

Thx but I didn't understand what u toldspecially last sentence.


Built in Vb? Which option in admincp then?

oh you can ban the ip of bots trying to access your system and the last part is of a bot that just tried to access my system so I would ban that ip
80.67.14.5

[vitrag24]

oh you can ban the ip of bots trying to access your system and the last part is of a bot that just tried to access my system so I would ban that ip
80.67.14.5


That may stop other users Also!

Best way according to me is, prevent them at the point if registration. One I was using was Vmail linked below.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=162642

Best if Someone can update for vb 4.x.

[Alfa1]

Mind that when you successfully stop them from registering the problem is not over. They then keep banging on your front door as they try to keep in. Causing a lot of server strain and eating costly bandwidth. Add content scrapers and other bad bots to that. I often have around a thousand bad bots online that I would gladly get rid of.

[vitrag24]

Mind that when you successfully stop them from registering the problem is not over. They then keep banging on your front door as they try to keep in. Causing a lot of server strain and eating costly bandwidth. Add content scrapers and other bad bots to that. I often have around a thousand bad bots online that I would gladly get rid of.

You have a point.

So what to do that? Content scrappers? Link?

[risestar]

You could always log the unsuccessful attempts and then use a mod rewrite script to write the offending ips to a htaccess file on your sites root and this will forbid them

[your24hourstore]

ad 5 questions to the Q/A option this shows one ad 5 and its done

bots cant crack 5 random Q/A

[KeyCAPTCHA]

Hello,

Daily atleast 3-4 new spam bots registration & threads by them.

Tired if deleting manually.

How to stop them even before they register? Surprisingly they even verify their email account!!!

In vb 3.7.1 I has same problem & I was using "Vmail" which solved problem , vulletin shd have implemented that extra email verification system in vb 4.x as thus us basic need of any forum.

"Vmail" isn't available 4 vb 4.x.


Now pls advice me what shd I do??

Please look into our free KeyCAPTCHA anti-spam solution (https://www.keycaptcha.com/):

doesn't collect data of users like Email, comments, website/blog url, name, etc.
has never been passed by any bot
including those that use laundry attacks (redirection/outsourcing captchas, which they could not pass directly, to 3d party human solvers sweatshops)
in case of cracking, the pool of captchas and its type can be changed by our team without plug-in reinstall on protected websites
doesn't need typing of squiggly-wiggly texts
after 1-2 first uses, it is much faster and comfortable for passing than text-typing captchas
prevents spam instead of sorting out it postfactum (http://twitter.com/#!/KeyCAPTCHA/status/42305670741102592)
available in a dozen of languages (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=2166723#post2166723) and others are being added (http://twitter.com/#!/KeyCAPTCHA/status/42091809471471616)
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Supports all modern browsers including mobiles' (iPhome, iPad, Android, Sfari) in HTML5 (if not then in Flash - IE, Opera)
one can create captchas from its own images with our on-line designer (fee-based service) (https://www.keycaptcha.com/whatisit/?s=pc)
those, who installed it, switch off other anti-spam measures and moderation
free technical support, including free installation by us
many unique features unavailable in other solutions

[onehost]

Built in Q and A is excellent...

If one ever got past Q/A then they must be live...

also use Spam-O-Matic

if they get past QandA and spam-o-matic, then that
is pretty much a live spam issue, not much you can
do about the unknowns except for deal with them
right there on the spot, and move onto the next.

[vitrag24]

Built in Q and A is excellent...

If one ever got past Q/A then they must be live...

also use Spam-O-Matic

if they get past QandA and spam-o-matic, then that
is pretty much a live spam issue, not much you can
do about the unknowns except for deal with them
right there on the spot, and move onto the next.

built in Q&A?
i cant find any built in system in vb 4.2.1

[CarlitoBrigante]

In all of our clients' websites, we usually setup some of the methods in this thread. But since a lot of spammers these days are real people, the best defense should include also a usergroup promotion system.

Basically, the default usergroup people get at registration offers limited use of PMs, no links in posts, no images, and so on. You then establish some criteria - number of posts, days registered, etc. - for promotion to the next usergroup. This discourages a lot of spammers, also on very popular forums (we used a setup like this on some of the biggest vB forums).

[KeyCAPTCHA]

But since a lot of spammers these days are real people
and in previous days?
the spammers were aliens?
I'm really intrigued by such phrases that are quite frequent to encounter

[CarlitoBrigante]

Usage of automated bots to bypass most of captchas was the norm; in these days, you can see real people being used to pass through anti-spam protection, especially in forums or in blogging environments where there is a high ROI for spam. I have seen an increase of this type of spam especially in forums around Forex, or forums that in general provided services that had immediate value outside of the forums, like classifieds.

These posters behave like normal members for the first 10-15 posts; at that point, they switch to spammer mode, sometimes in subtle ways. Any form of captcha is entirely useless in these cases; solutions like the one above or even Akismet and centralized spammers IPs databases in general are necessary.

[Alfa1]

You have a point.

So what to do that? Content scrappers? Link?
Bad behavior stops spam bots, scraper bots and malicious bots from accessing your site. Its available for vb3 and vb4.
Spam-o-matic works well on top of that.

[KeyCAPTCHA]

Usage of automated bots to bypass most of captchas was the norm;
How long was it the norm?
in these days, you can see real people being used to pass through anti-spam protection, especially in forums or in blogging environments where there is a high ROI for spam. I have seen an increase of this type of spam especially in forums around Forex, or forums that in general provided services that had immediate value outside of the forums, like classifieds.

These posters behave like normal members for the first 10-15 posts; at that point, they switch to spammer mode, sometimes in subtle ways. Any form of captcha is entirely useless in these cases; solutions like the one above or even Akismet and centralized spammers IPs databases in general are necessary.

The statistics proves that if one stops bots then the spam also disappears

There are not and never were bots without human spammers behind them, otherwise they are called by viruses but not bots.
And there are no "pure" spammers without bots. Their productivity is so low and, resp., prices so high that they are economically senseless

Stop bots, and this is technically possible, then jump to conclusions

BTW, your home site http://magneticat.com/ blocks humans from even reading it giving, for example, to me:
Forbidden
You do not have permission to access this document.


And I am on black IP of a large ISP, meaning that just on this one you blocking dozens thousand of legitimate users.
Or the whole countries?
Cheers!

[CarlitoBrigante]

Ah, I know trolls with vested interests like you, no problem. You will go a long road selling out your services with this attitude. Nobody implied that there is not a human behind the spam; I implied that there was not a human physically going through the captcha process. What does "called by viruses" mean?

While you like to talk, my experience comes from about 200 forums we worked with during the years, some of them being the biggest vBulletin forums around; websites with 500,000 visitors per month were plagued by spammers even though they used the most advanced captcha systems at the time. A simple usergroup technique like the one above solved their problems. We have no "theory" or "statistic": we saw this happening starting 1-2 years ago. Why or how or the commercial implications I do not care: that is not my job. I see facts, I act on them.

Thankfully, a usergroup technique like the one above is free, unlike your extended service: your captcha, by the way, must be one of the most frustrating systems I have seen in a long time (why on earth are some pieces placed below other pieces, thus being invisible to the user?).

Anybody interested in security and in anti-spam measures instead of just advertising their services would never spend time to criticize the methods I outlined: they are added layers of protection.

On a note, your russian IP is being blocked because it is on a well-known spambot list: amazing, isn't it? If I were a company specialized on anti-spambot measures, I'd at least make sure to have a clean dedicated IP. And no, we do not ban whole IP ranges. The tool we use to protect against spam is a well-known commercial hardened kernel/anti-spam package which loads data about single IPs from some of the best spambot list databases.

How long was it the norm?


The statistics proves that if one stops bots then the spam also disappears

There are not and never were bots without human spammers behind them, otherwise they are called by viruses but not bots.
And there are no "pure" spammers without bots. Their productivity is so low and, resp., prices so high that they are economically senseless

Stop bots, and this is technically possible, then jump to conclusions

BTW, your home site http://magneticat.com/ blocks humans from even reading it giving, for example, to me:


And I am on black IP of a large ISP, meaning that just on this one you blocking dozens thousand of legitimate users.
Or the whole countries?
Cheers!

--------------- Added 1302551561 at 1302551561 ---------------

One more note to the poster: I believe it is better to have strong anti-spam measures that do not punish the good users like Akismet, centralized databases of spammers' IPs, and usergroup promotion schemes like the one I have outlined. The great thing is that these methods are FREE for everybody. Commercial websites need different licenses with Akismet, but it is well worth it.

Captcha systems are just a first barrier, good when not too frustrating for the user; security must be multi-layered. And I will certainly not recommend vBulletin owners I work with captcha systems that are backed by companies that like using trolling as an advertising scheme.

[KeyCAPTCHA]

my experience comes from about 200 forums
And mine comes from over 10,000+ protected websites

On a note, your russian IP is being blocked because it is on a well-known spambot list: amazing, isn't it? If I were a company specialized on anti-spambot measures,
If I am, then I simply have to know how ordinary user/IP from commonly used ISPs is affected by various spamming and antispamming techniques



One more note to the poster: I believe it is better to have strong anti-spam measures that do not punish the good users like Akismet
Akismet:

routinely being (anti-)helpfully used by blackhat SEO to dump competitors,
that is inherently retroactive, i.e. doomed to always lag behind the newly invented spamming techniques and approaches,
dumping legit users web resource owners never see (http://www.growmap.com/akismet-deleting-comments)
is illegal for use in Germany and other EU countries,
etc.

[CarlitoBrigante]

"Anybody interested in security and in anti-spam measures instead of just advertising their services would never spend time to criticize the methods I outlined: they are added layers of protection."

[thenags]

I've tried the Q&A verification with about 6 different pretty good questions. No answers given away in the question, no simple math problems, etc... spam kept flying in.

I've been testing out Glowhosts Spam-O-Matic all day and it's catching quite a bit of spam but it's also letting in about 2 spambots for every 8 it blocks.

I've now temporarily disabled Spam-O-Matic and I'm testing out KeyCaptcha to see if that can get 'em. Hopefully this works.

I really wish we had the option of enabling 2 Human Verification options. I'd love to have KeyCaptcha on as well as a Q&A.

[Max Taxable]

I've tried the Q&A verification with about 6 different pretty good questions. No answers given away in the question, no simple math problems, etc... spam kept flying it.

I've been testing out Glowhosts Spam-O-Matic all day and it's catching quite a bit of spam but it's also letting in about 2 spambots for every 8 it blocks.

I've not temporarily Spam-O-Matic and I'm testing out KeyCaptcha to see if that can get 'em. Hopefully this works.

I really wish we had the option of enabling 2 Human Verification options. I'd love to have KeyCaptcha on as well as a Q&A.Try this Mod of the Month:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=289463

[thenags]

Try this Mod of the Month:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=289463

I'll keep that in mind if KeyCaptcha doesn't work. I've only had it installed for about 2hrs so far but so far I've had no spambots join. It was so bad earlier that I was getting several an hour.

[Max Taxable]

I'll keep that in mind if KeyCaptcha doesn't work. I've only had it installed for about 2hrs so far but so far I've had no spambots join. It was so bad earlier that I was getting several an hour.There's no conflict, it's a turnkey installation, and you'll be amazed the number of bots it stops and reports.

[thenags]

So I finally installed this. I haven't had any bots get past KeyCaptcha at all. But this is still catching tons of bots. I guess they're trying to just skip KeyCaptcha and get in anyways. Either way, won't hurt to have 2 layers of protection.

[KeyCAPTCHA]

So I finally installed this. I haven't had any bots get past KeyCaptcha at all. But this is still catching tons of bots. I guess they're trying to just skip KeyCaptcha and get in anyways. Either way, won't hurt to have 2 layers of protection.

Hello thenags,

First of all, thank you for your feedback regarding KeyCAPTCHA. Looks like you have no successfully registered bots after KeyCAPTCHA installation. Am I right?

Best regards,
KeyCAPTCHA

[thenags]

Hello thenags,

First of all, thank you for your feedback regarding KeyCAPTCHA. Looks like you have no successfully registered bots after KeyCAPTCHA installation. Am I right?

Best regards,
KeyCAPTCHA

I had one get past... I assume it had to have been a human as I can't imagine a bot getting past it. I then installed the plugin that blocks them if they register too quick and that has caught a ton. With the combo of both I went from 50-100 spambots a day to 0.

[KeyCAPTCHA]

I had one get past... I assume it had to have been a human as I can't imagine a bot getting past it.

Hello thenags,

Sure, there was a human.


I then installed the plugin that blocks them if they register too quick and that has caught a ton. With the combo of both I went from 50-100 spambots a day to 0.

We are glad to help our customers.

Best regards,
KeyCAPTCHA

[spd2612]

Is there a free version of KeyCAPTCHA if so what is the difference I dont find much on your site

[Brandon Sheley]

Is there a free version of KeyCAPTCHA if so what is the difference I dont find much on your site

It is free

[Disco_Dave]

It is free

It also made me chuckle :)

[DAMINK]

1) Usergroup promotion (manual) And no access to any forums until promoted at all. In a hidden forum the public cant see.
2) vbstopforumspam mod. (works well) It has stopped around 100 today thus far.
3) A timer on the registration page, if they break that timer there ip gets banned in my .htaccess file. (sort of custom, not a vb mod)
4) No captcha (i hate them things) And find them pointless really. Just my experience.
5) Email verification or account deleted in 10 days. Actually anyone who dont post gets deleted in 10 days.

Thats what i do and i get no spam. None at all.
They simply cant. They could register under a clean ip, username and email.
However they would not get past the manual promotion anyway.
I find the few that do get in and register attempt to post to threads they saw when they were unregistered. Of which they cant once they register given usergroup permissions.

I guess its an evolving thing.
What works today maby wont tomorrow.
The one thing i will say is human verification is nothing but a pain to the normal registering users.
A burden i dont like to place on my new members.

Username, Password, Email and accept the rules. Thats all i ask of new registrations on my forum.
Seems to work just fine.

[nit233]

I tried reCAPTCHA / Question & Answer Verification / Image Verification but nothing works.
I tried Solve Media, works really well. Thanks it is one of the best mod to prevent spam bot registration.

[fjbindo]

I tried reCAPTCHA / Question & Answer Verification / Image Verification but nothing works.
I tried Solve Media, works really well. Thanks it is one of the best mod to prevent spam bot registration.

how to use "solve media" this is plugin or what?

[findingpeace]

Glowhost Spam-O-Matic keeps out 100% of the spammers for us. Blocks hundreds per day. Also, very user-friendly (keeps users from having to fill out captchas or questions). We are able to have a 3 step registration process (username, email, password) - no verification or anything. And still, zero spammers. I love this mod!!

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=248042

[deadlySniper]

Glowhost Spam-O-Matic keeps out 100% of the spammers for us. Blocks hundreds per day. Also, very user-friendly (keeps users from having to fill out captchas or questions). We are able to have a 3 step registration process (username, email, password) - no verification or anything. And still, zero spammers. I love this mod!!

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=248042

I support this also but keycaptcha since being installed, has stopped 110% of all bots.

[nit233]

You can find details on Solve Media, https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=257126
Compared to Glowhost Spam-O-Matic...Solve media was easier and faster to install. It works well and solves the purpose as well.