Miscellaneous Hacks - Stop the Registration Bots

Control your vBulletin forum registration process and stop the registration bots.

This mod will check the the time it takes for a vBulletin registration form to be submitted. If the form is submitted faster then humanly possible, the registration will be denied and the admin contact will be emailed about the event. The time is settable

We will start the registration on the forum rules page in two ways. First we will add a custom hidden field with a hash. Second we will insert a randomly named hidden field with a random value. This should make it a bit difficult to program a bot since the field names on all sites will be different as well as the values.

We will use a second set of random hidden fields on the form page as well to add to the confusion.

Time stamps to check the time spent on registration submission are stored in a DB table and private.

A registration will have to come through the Rules page and the form. Every Site will be different.

Installation is very easy.

There are two templates to edit.
One database table is added.
Three hooks are utilized.
Includes uninstall code.
Adds to vBulletin options.
Set time frame option.
Includes Phrases.
Sends Mail to Admin.
No files to upload.
XML product install.
Instructions attached in zip.

Demo usage and view source at http://www.riderinfo.com/

Compatibility
This hack is known to work on vBulletin 3.6.11 PL1 and will likely work back a few versions in the 3.6.x vBulletin series. Of course it works on 3.7.x as posted too.

HISTORY
1.2.2
added admin email on/off setting
moved hook code to files to reduce overhead.
1.2.1
Added Enable/Disable setting.
Fixed coppa includes file probem
Added file upload instructions to readme file.
1.2.0
Added JS timer to registration button.
Added enable/diable for email.
Removed ACP settings for random fields on rules and reg form pages and automated.
Reworded Pharses in ACP.
Recoded rules form and reg form edits.
Renamed variables for better code following.
Added more DB fields per user reg for tracking random automation.
New Hook on start_registration for functions.
Added new functions file. includes/stb_functions.php.
1.0.3
Changed input user name on rules form to random named hidden field with hash value.
Removed \n chars from email phrases.
All changes to registration are transparent to the folks registering.
Renamed DB username field to hash.
New hook on register_signup.
1.0.2
Added new Pre Reg Name hidden field to register form edits and ACP.
Added code to deal transparently with user deciding to change name after pre submitting it.
1.0.1
Fixed typo, changed 36000 to 3600 in product file.
1.0.0
Original Release.

[AdrianH]

Originally Posted by jscieza

Just wondering what should happen if bot programmers inserts a delay before submit the registration form. This mod appears to be very easy to cheat.

I am curious. Sorry if my post makes no sense, I am not a programmer so my reasoning is from a human being

The bot still has to deal with the hidden fields and if you make sure that you change the codes fairly often they will not get past.Changing the codes immediately you install is vital.

[AdrianH]

Originally Posted by Debi

just installed and we already had one get through. it has prevented a bunch though.

this spam attack seems like it's never going end.

The ones getting through are not bots,they are humans with a crib sheet and instructions to copy paste info in to certain boxes.You can make life hard for them as many do not speak other languages,set some extra required profile fields in your registration and they are mostly stuck.

I use this mod and "no spam" and added extra fields, anyone not speaking english would have to guess the correct entry to make.

I see dozens of failed registrations on Paul M's "guest tracking" mod and have only seen one manual registration for a spammer in the last month.

Also set your registration to email verification( or even admin approval) ,checking usernames and email addresses against Google gives a good indication of someone spaming and I delete their registration before they get a chance to do anything.

[noppid]

Originally Posted by jscieza

Just wondering what should happen if bot programmers inserts a delay before submit the registration form. This mod appears to be very easy to cheat.

I am curious. Sorry if my post makes no sense, I am not a programmer so my reasoning is from a human being

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it if that is possible.

Carey Crew's advice answers your question well I believe. Thanks Carey!

[Debi]

Originally Posted by CareyCrew

The ones getting through are not bots,they are humans with a crib sheet and instructions to copy paste info in to certain boxes.You can make life hard for them as many do not speak other languages,set some extra required profile fields in your registration and they are mostly stuck.

I use this mod and "no spam" and added extra fields, anyone not speaking english would have to guess the correct entry to make.

I see dozens of failed registrations on Paul M's "guest tracking" mod and have only seen one manual registration for a spammer in the last month.

Also set your registration to email verification( or even admin approval) ,checking usernames and email addresses against Google gives a good indication of someone spaming and I delete their registration before they get a chance to do anything.

We went ahead and set new users to go into moderation in case they get through. That one I referred to earlier is the only one that has made it through, so I know this mod is a huge help

[Elsie]

Thanks noppid. Have just installed this, and am looking forward to being spam free soon!

[noppid]

It's helped up through this. But ya still gotta clean your in box from notifications.

Good luck.

[irishelite]

I installed this yesterday and for the first time in a week we didn't have any overnight registrations. So far so good.

Thanks for this!!!!

[noppid]

Originally Posted by irishelite

I installed this yesterday and for the first time in a week we didn't have any overnight registrations. So far so good.

Thanks for this!!!!

That's great news. We're getting hammered with bots too.

To be certain they don't get in, I've been changing my settings for hidden fields daily. That's not too hard. But I want to automate that too.

[Kayden]

Helpful. Thanks.

[Kayden]

Quite helpful.