New Recaptcha for vB3.8
 

Is there a way of getting the newer recaptcha for vB3.8 just to give you an idea what it looks like, this might be a pretty nice little feature for upcoming versions.

http://www.google.com/recaptcha/intro/index.html

It will be defeated like any other CAPTCHA. These gadgets always are.

All tools to defeat spammers will be defeated, eventually. Its an arms race. Use the best you can when you can.

You can't know that yet though, it's something brand new. Maybe it actually helps, although you can never battle real human registrations who spam.

Yes we can, and no it is not brand new. Google is about 5 years behind on human verification even with this "new" gadget..

Good compilation of spam stopping tools here.

The Era of Big Spam is Over

Thank you, Zachery. Nicely said with that. Sometimes or at times reCaptcha doesn't do what it's told when configuring and whatnot with that part...I saw other mods for older versions, which is why I thought I would request the newest one.

--------------- Added [DATE]1417636983[/DATE] at [TIME]1417636983[/TIME] ---------------

Max Taxable, this is what I am talking about.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2014/12/4.gif

I know exactly what it is and watched its development in google. It is a LUA - legitimate user annoyer. It will be defeated.

This stuff is about five years behind the curve, as I was saying.

If you want the latest and best spam stopping mods for vBulletin, visit the link I provided. We are miles ahead of these trinkets and gadgets.

Miles away from those now? I'll look at the link you provided.

You'll see what I mean.

Just installed the Spambot Stopper by kh99. Let's see how this works out.

We recommend the entire package listed, the more bullets in the gun the better. There's not any one magic bullet.

Sent you a PM at Ozz's place.

I don't see anything added to 3.x
Maybe 4.x but I really doubt it too..

It may be added to 5.x but no one uses that pile of junk ;)

Lol, maybe something a lot down the line, we hope.

Why would someone add something that is defeated?

There's no way to defeat real human though.

For a very long time I haven't faced such things called robots, all of them are human. They might be paid to do this, and we can never stop them completely.

As the new technology of google is preventing robots to spam, nothing new.

Sure there is. It's been done and it's done every day.

Also it is just plain annoying. Why rely on something that can and will be defeated, if it is not already. :)

That is true, yes. I wouldn't rely on this, but I would like to see one do a mod for it or something. Just to see how it turns out and whatnot.

But, why?

1) It is annoying
2) It is useless as programs like XRumer probably have it defeated.
3) There are other un-annoying, un-defeated ways to stop spammers.

Okay, you have a point there. I'll leave it at that. :P

Just pointing this out ozzy, once your current "stop spam" methods get popular enough, xrummer, and other bots will build defenses around them, and then they'll be useless too.

Not if you stay on top of it, and update it as things are defeated. Once they defeat one layer, change it and add a different layer. :)

So, you mean the same arms race that recapcha/etc is all under?

Nope, there in no captcha In anything I use, as it has been defeated for years.

Actually there is no way a defense against the registration timer will ever be done. Because first, you can't guess the timer setting, so you make the delay 60 seconds at least for your botnet. This greatly cuts into the production. Secondly, false fields exist in the timer mod. Bots always put gibberish in odd fields. Third, there's also a maximum time setting you gotta figure on.

XRumer currently has nothing in it that even allows for time delays. I'm a paid license holder and get all the updates.

And this is just the timer mod. The other mods we recommend involve targeted blocking of known spammer hostnames, user agent strings, and spammy emails that use dots and other punctuation in the username of the email addresses.

And none of them give any hint whatsoever that any human verification is being used, and don't give "gotcha" messages when a spammer fails the checks. And as a package, they provide alot of bullets in the anti-spam gun.

Keywords "currently".

Bots never had the ability to defeat recapcha, then it got popular, then it got defeated.

Honeypots are stupidly old, and became unpopular, because bots were programmed to defeat them.

Timers are also old, and once again they can be user annoyers. Because I don't know anyone who can't fill out a registration in less than 60 seconds. Chrome auto fills these for me, I can register in under 5 seconds. If the minimum is 60, guess I can never register another account again.

Your silver bullets will eventually corrode and be useless.

Edit: Hostnames, and user agents can easily be countered to be valid user agents too. These people have more incentive to break down your walls than you currently have to build them. Your walls take months/weeks to build, and they can break them down in hours.

Defeatism.

Tell me how they're going to defeat all the checks.

Botnets rely on speed and high volume. Programming even a short delay means potentially a million fewer stabs a week. Delay can't really be programmed, because you have to make it long enough to defeat minimum time, short enough to pass the check for maximum time. No way to know the settings site to site.

False fields - botnets are programmed to put SOMETHING here. And they do.

Dots, dashes and other punctuation in email usernames - this mod has settings too. How many dots are allowed? Commas? Semicolons, underscores? There is no way to know these settings.

The targeted lists - these are not honeypots. These are lists of guaranteed known bad user agent strings and hostnames. Not IP addresses.

This "new" reCaptcha - the "new" thing about it is a checkbox. Defeated years ago, the bots check the "I have read the rules" box already. They will quickly adapt to this "new" one that is at least 5 years behind the times.

These games, puzzles, captchas, Q&A and such, are just GADGETS that annoy legitimate people and have been long defeated.

We believe we are smarter, more creative, better looking, and just overall superior to any botnet admin, spammer supervisor, or spammer alive. This is why they are bottom feeders to start with. The era of Big Spam is over.

I said back on the first page, you should use the tools that do the job today. You just can't claim they'll always work.

Once they're popular, they're targeted. Once they're targeted they can be defeated.

Edit:I've got a lot more to write i'm just in the middle of something else atm.

Haven't seen these problems yet. Have you personally? Or is this just a theory?

The hostnames and UA strings CAN be spoofed. Question is, will they ever be in wide use basis.

I'll tell you what Zachary, if this new capcha is the way to go, as everything else is defeated as you say, code up the mod, and make it so it can only run if the re is no other form of spam protection on the sites. Not any other mod, Q&A or anything.

Then we will see if sites stop getting spam. :)

And.... Nobody quite made that claim.

I've merely made the case for why these solutions are far better than toys.

We just don't accept the dogma of defeatism.

Here is a screenshot of the bots, spammers that have been blocked from my site using current methods.

We're promoting vBorg anti-spam mods for vBulletin, over a "new" captcha toy, and the Zacharys of the world are aghast.

Correct, recaptch is far more likely to be defeated as it is most certainly going to be used by many many major sites.

While the botnet admins are less likely to spend wasting their time, on some mod that works with vBulletin, which in a global sense of the sites using or not using recaptcha is small.

And right, the Zacharys of the world do have one legitimate point - the most popular anti-spam methods do get the most attention. Right now the stuff we recommend is just a tiny nuisance in the big picture of the internet.

Fortunately for us, vBulletin simply isn't really a platform worth working on if you're a spammer, anymore. Thanks IB!

Oh dear, this thread went and forth on this. :eek:

It's educational and informative though.

It is a bit, yes. I will agree with that, but in someways it looks like arguing. :(

Healthy debate between two guys who daily work on anti-spam, and Zach.

No there is no arguing, it is just difference of opinions. :)