Board Optimization - Proxy Alert

FORMALLY KNOWN AS TOR ALERT! PROXY ALERT TAKES CONTROL OF YOUR FORUMS WITH THE NEXT LEVEL OF PROTECTION! 3.8 VERSION HERE.

I've searched high and low for a modification that can detect Tor or proxy users. Personally I've had one too many banned members just create another identity and troll about. Now let proxies and TOR... Give you problems NO MOR! Now when those pesky proxy and Tor users visit your site, you can block them and redirect them to a custom error message!

You can also alert your members that proxies and Tor is not a nice thing to use! You can customize the message and it also allows to be closed.

Demo:
http://www.consolediscussions.com/forum/
*You will need to register as I have it set to detect for members only.


Features:
Thread Posting on Detection [PRO]
IP Address Whitelist [PRO]
Redirect Proxy Registrations to Blank Page [PRO]
Detect Web Proxies [PRO]
Email on Detect [PRO]
Index Only Option [PRO]
Usergroup Permissions [PRO]
*Search Engine Safe
Block Proxy Registrations (Registration Blocking Only Option Available)
Detect Lan Proxies
PM on Detect
Enable/Disable
Automatic or Manual Template Edits
Persistent Message Enable/Disable (Uses Cookies)
Redirect if Detected
Custom Messages
Customer Color of Messages
UserID Permissions
Block Registration Even When Proxy Disabled


No Branding Version:
For a premium no-branding version which has additional features, please visit my Products & Services page.

If you look forward to seeing this modification progress, you can help by donating! Donators will be given access to early releases before anyone else, and access to the 3.8 version pro when it's released as well. Upcoming features include:
[S]Option to remove X on alert[/S]
Not allowing Tor users to post
[S]Redirect to another page[/S]
Usergroup Permissions
Set a certain amount of views before blocking
[S]Once closed, don't persist with displaying box[/S]
Possibly a notice type message instead of a popup
BAN Tor users automatically
[S]Enable/Disable feature[/S]


Installing:
1.) Upload everything in the upload folder to your forum root.
2.) Navigate to AdminCP Add/Import Product
3.) Select product-toralert.xml
4.) Install the modification
5.) Set your options in the AdminCP
6.) Mark Installed


Upgrading:
1.) Upload everything in the upload folder to your forum root.
2.) Navigate to AdminCP Add/Import Product
3.) Select product-toralert.xml
4.) Check yes to Allow Overwrite
5.) Install the modification
6.) Set your options in the AdminCP


*Not working?
1.) Disable automatic template edits in the AdminCP
2.) Navigate to the navbar template in your style
3.) Add {vb:raw toralert} to the bottom of the template


Changelog
1.9.2
Fixed issue with broken bracket.

1.9
Fix for 4.2.2
AdminCP Manager
Pro Feature Ported to Free (Block Registration Even When Proxy Disabled)


1.8
Registration Detection Only
Added Link to Change Registration Detection Message
Fixed Issue w/ Registration Detection
Reduced Queries Further


1.7.5
Fixed "Could not find phrase 'proxy_alert_registration'." Error
Improved Detection
Reduced Queries
Enhanced Code


1.7
Thread Posting on Detection [PRO]
Added Member Only Detection
Added Global Enable/Disable
Restructured Code
Optimized Code


1.6
User ID Whitelist
Bot detection fix
IP Whitelist [PRO]
Registration blocker works with ip address whitelist [PRO]


1.5
Block Proxy Registrations (Screenshots Added)
Redirect Proxy Registrations to Blank Page [PRO]
Block Registration Even When Proxy Disabled [PRO]


1.4
-Updates
Changed IP text to Real IP
Changed pm alerts to be more detailed if it was detected using tor, a lan proxy, or a web proxy.


1.3
Fixed conditional issue


1.2
-Updates
PM on detect now posts the ip address, proxy ip address, and the hostname of the user

-Bugs
Fixed multiple PMs being sent


1.1
-Updates
Renamed to Proxy Alert
Detect Tor and Lan Proxies
PM on Detect
Detect Web Proxies [PRO]
Email on Detect [PRO]
Redirect to Blank Page [PRO]

-Bugs
Fixed cache issue
Fixed font issue


1.0
-Updates
Enable/Disable
Automatic template edits Enable/Disable
Font color of messages
Index only option [PRO]

-Bugs
Fixed cache issue in tor.php
Fixed online location still showing unknown for redirects


0.6.5
Added a persistent option in the AdminCP
Minor bug fixes


0.6.0
Alert message when closed will not pop back up (Stores tor cooking and if exists alert will not pop up any longer, this does not apply to redirection)

Changed the position of the alert to not cause issues with the Adblock Alert product


0.5.0
Block Tor users and redirect them to a custom page with a custom message controlled in the AdminCP

Enable/Disable redirection in AdminCP.

Who's online trigger


0.1.0
Release.

[the one]

Hi all only me again i deleted this by accident

I am running 4.2.1 and have uploaded the files correctly but its not blocking tor network

It was before is there something i am now doing wrong or is there a specific download for 4.2.1 or is this not compatible with any other plugin.

Also i cant find my pro version i paid for would i need to pay for this again TheInsaneManiac


Many thanks for any help

[the one]

Hi i was told you could block the tor network in the firewall for csf

Does anyone know where this is i have tried looking but cant find it

Many thanks

[the one]

Ok i have downloaded and reinstalled the pro version.

All i want to do is block tor but its not working.This is a screen shot below



I have had to use my csf firewall in whm to help with the block for now

Is there something i am doing wrong or does this not work if you have other ip plugins installed i have Duplicate IP Report by BOP5

[woodmj]

Try enabling Redirect Blank. I recall when I was using the mod it didn't work for me if I didn't have that enabled.

[the one]

Originally Posted by woodmj

Try enabling Redirect Blank. I recall when I was using the mod it didn't work for me if I didn't have that enabled.

Thats great it now works just gives a blank page it would have been cool to have been able to have a message but that dont work.

The normal Redirection Would you like to block access to the forums and redirect to your own message does not work i think it does for proxy but not for tor.For tor to be blocked like you said i had to enable redirect blank.

thanks

[TheInsaneManiac]

Are you using the pro version? Need to figure out which to troubleshoot.

[edgeless]

Originally Posted by TheInsaneManiac

Are you using the pro version? Need to figure out which to troubleshoot.

Never mind... you were too fast for me . I cleared the cookies and it's now working :up:

[edgeless]

Okay, it does work... but I'm encountering a few problems. And one of them is a fairly serious one.

I'll start with the most serious problem. There is no combination of settings that I have been able to find which will allow registration from what I fear may be many mobile devices. For testing I'm using my own cell phone. The test is to try and use it to register as a new member on my forum site. Prior to each test, I freshly clear its cookies and other private data. The problem is that PApro persistently interprets these efforts as proxy connections and blocks me at the registration page. This happens even with the Tor, LAN, and Web Proxy options set to "no" and the Members option set to "yes". And it doesn't matter if the Registration Only option is set to "yes" or "no". The vB message with the text that I entered for the proxy_alert_registration phrase consistently appears and blocks every registration attempt from this cell phone.

I have a theory about this issue, but at the moment I have no way to test it. My theory is this: The IPs assigned to my phone (its service is through Consumer Cellular) do not have rDNS hosts. That is, none of the dhcp IPs leased to my cell phone can be reverse-resolved to host names (i.e., there are no PTR records for them). If PApro uses rDNS lookup as a criterion to approve each IP as being a non-proxy address, then this may be why these IPs are not passing. But as I've said, I have no immediate way of testing this theory, since I only have the one cell phone. I could have some of my members or staff test this theory with their mobile devices by clearing their cookies and then attempting registration. But that tends to become a bit awkward so I'm holding off for now. And of course users who contact admin due to a registration refusal are usually not the best options as test subjects.

The next matter of concern is that my testing has shown that for some reason when the Registration Only option is set to "yes", my registration attempts through Tor will randomly slip through to my forum's registration form. And this is with confirmation that my Tor exit node IP has NOT changed each time it happens. Again, this issue does seem to only occur when the Registration Only option is set to "yes". I haven't been able to duplicate it with that option set to "no"... at least yet.

My last observation is trivial... but I'll still mention it. It is that even when I have the Location option set to "no" while the Registration Only option is set to "no" as well, the PA popup message seems to only appear on the main forum index page. Isn't the Location option being set to "no" supposed to cause this popup message to appear on all pages? This is obviously not a serious problem. It's only an observation at this point.

Thanks for reading... if anyone has any thoughts I'll sure be interested.


EDIT:
I had one of my staff test the reg process using their mobile device - it acquires IP addresses which will in fact properly resolve to host names. Like my mobile IPs, hers are as well managed by AT&T Mobility; they are just different numerical blocks. She was able to get through the registration process without issue. I think that serves as fairly good evidence that the lack of PTR records for the IP blocks that my phone has access to has been responsible for PApro rejecting the registration efforts from my phone. The 2nd issue, intermittent slip throughs on Tor connections, may require some further testing on my part.

EDIT2:
Okay. I've done some more testing on the second issue. As mentioned, when the Registration Only option is set to "no", all Tor connections are blocked and the "proxy connections are not allowed" message is consistently presented as expected - i.e., registration does not occur and the proxy_alert_registration message is displayed. However, when the Registration Only option is set to "yes", the system will randomly fail to display the proxy_alert_registration phrase and instead moves to the next stage, which is the new member information entry form page. But when this happens, once the member information has been entered and the 'Complete Registration' button has been clicked, no registration occurs -which is good- but the vB message which then appears is not about proxies at all... instead it is: "Your email is marked as spam." Below is a screenshot.

Doing a search for phrases, the above message phrase is shown to be the contents of email_mark_as_spam. I'm unsure though why this message phrase is triggered by PApro ? So that's my first question. And my next question is why, when the Registration Only option is set to "yes", do Tor connections randomly alternate between allowing the user to reach the member information entry form stage (followed by display of the email_mark_as_spam message), or terminating immediately after the birth date is entered with a prompt display of the proxy_alert_registration message? The important thing of course is that this mod seems to block Tor users. It just doesn't do the same thing each time if the Registration Only Option is set to "yes". At least that's what I'm finding.

Any ideas as to why I'm noticing this behavior?

[Dave]

Regarding the problem with your phone, does this also happen when you switch from data to WiFi? A lot of providers nowadays do a lot of magic by passing it through a proxy on their own server that optimizes images/JavaScript/CSS files and add all kind of headers.

[edgeless]

Originally Posted by Dave

Regarding the problem with your phone, does this also happen when you switch from data to WiFi? A lot of providers nowadays do a lot of magic by passing it through a proxy on their own server that optimizes images/JavaScript/CSS files and add all kind of headers.

I'm not sure. I don't have a wifi-equipped router here and there are no wifi access points near enough to me to try. But I have contacted AT&T IP Support who handle their DNS servers and they have confirmed that the PTR records are missing from the IP ranges that my phone has access to. They emailed me that they have submitted a request to the team who administers the mobile ip DNS servers to add the PTR records for the affected ip blocks. They said the problem should be corrected by sometime next week. Once it is fixed (if in fact that occurs), I will test it with my phone and report back here.