Anti-Spam Options - Hostname or Useragent Registration Ban

THIS ADD-ON IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND IS NOT SUPPORTED

This is an add-on that is designed with vBulletin 4.1.5. It may not work on earlier versions of vBulletin. It is known to be working on vB versions 3.8.7, 4.0.7 and 4.1.5 through 4.2.0. I don't know if it is compatable with all versions of vB or not.

On my site, I receive quite a few PMs asking me how I prevent spam from being posted there. While I can't release everything I use because some of it is server based (external from vBulletin), I can release one of the lines of defense that I use.

This mod allows you to ban Hostnames and Useragents from registering on your site.

If a hostname or useragent contains any of the words you specify and they are trying to register, they are presented with an error telling them they are forbidden from registering on your site. And no registration screen ever appears.

In the event the hostname is blank, a WHOIS can be performed to establish the identity of the system being used to register.

The 'External Content' pulled by this mod is only the WHOIS information when that is enabled.

WARNING: This mod has the potential of banning humans from registering. Choose what words you use carefully.

Personally, I am not very concerned about banning an occasional human from registering. So, from time to time my system may ban a human that uses an anonymous proxy.

NOTE: This mod has a 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' clause. Please don't post telling people what words to ban. We don't need spammers getting around this mod by reading posts telling them what is being filtered.

REQUIREMENTS: In order for the WHOIS function used in this mod to work properly, your server must have OPENSSL installed.


* INSTALLATION *
---------------------
1) Upload the contents of the 'upload' folder to your forum's root.
(If your forum's location is http://www.example.com/forums/, the root is /forums/)

2) Import the product XML file (product-hostusercheck.xml) into the Product Manager in AdminCP.

3) Take some time to set the options in ACP->Settings->Options->Prevent Hostname or Useragent from Registering.

4) Be sure to turn on the mod when setting options in ACP->Settings->Options->Prevent Hostname or Useragent from Registering.



* History (Changelog) *
-----------------------------
1.0.3 (December 12, 2013)
- Fix hostname not being checked under certain circumstances.

1.0.2 (March 1, 2012)
- Fix error on registration page when Useragent or Hostname to ban is blank.

1.0.1 (February 24, 2012)
- Wrong hook being used for one of the plugins.

1.0.0 (January 22, 2012)
- Public Release

[nhawk]

Originally Posted by ozzy47

Let me ask you this, can it be made to have each one on it's own line without a performance issue? It would be much easier to maintain the list that way.

It could be done. But to keep it simple, I would also have to retain the csv format to account for old installations.

I'll put it on the wish list for the mod.

[ozzy47]

Cool, I would really like to see that.

[Alan_SP]

Originally Posted by Max Taxable

With "Ban Spiders by User Agent" we don't get such matches, I assume because the definitions are line by line instead of separated by commas?

Actually, we do.

I had problem with banning string MSIE 1, with which I tried to block old MSIE 1 users. But, today there are MSIE 10 and MSIE 11, both browsers also were blocked, as they contain "MSIE 1" in their UA. As I remember, to block only MSIE 1 we should use this string: MSIE 1. (dot at the end), as it is identified with MSIE 1.0.

I wrote about it Ban Spiders thread.

We need to be very careful what string we block, unless we get blocking innocent users.

[ozzy47]

Yeah it is best to be cautious when adding things to these types of mods.

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by Alan_SP

Actually, we do.

I had problem with banning string MSIE 1, with which I tried to block old MSIE 1 users. But, today there are MSIE 10 and MSIE 11, both browsers also were blocked, as they contain "MSIE 1" in their UA. As I remember, to block only MSIE 1 we should use this string: MSIE 1. (dot at the end), as it is identified with MSIE 1.0.

I wrote about it Ban Spiders thread.

We need to be very careful what string we block, unless we get blocking innocent users.

Right, I remember that well. I merely stopped worrying about IE 1 since the likelihood of any device using that, still surviving seems very low.

[CaptainAwesome]

So how do i collect hostnames and useragents to ban? I saw post 29 but being a newbie it means nothing to me.

Lets start with an example. I just had a spammer try to register. Their IP is 137.175.68.84 and looking at stopforumspam confirms there is a lot of spamming going on from this IP.

What would be my next step (in newbie talk)? When i tried to do a hostname search using whatismyip.com, it just threw up the IP address i just posted.

[nhawk]

If you don't understand what's in post 29, it really can't be explained in any simpler terms.

Look up the IP at ARIN as described in post 29.

In the case of that IP, you would want to ban 199-180-100-0-1

[CaptainAwesome]

Got it

[fxdigi-cash]

This great mod should be a built-in vb as a security and protection tool ...

[princesspepper]

Installed on VB4.2.2 PL2