Miscellaneous Hacks - Ban Spiders by User Agent

What this mod does
With this mod you can enter User Agents to watch or ban, you can also recieve emails or have an Output.txt created and updated with time and date of visits. It doesn't just have to be spiders, you can watch, log or ban any useragent!

How to install
Simply import the product ban_spider, the mod is active by default but none of the other options are turned on.

What is a UserAgent?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent

Understanding a UserAgent string
http://user-agent-string.info/parse

Genuine User Getting Blocked?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=105

Tools to help
http://whatsmyuseragent.com/SwitchingUserAgents.asp
http://www.botsvsbrowsers.com/SimulateUserAgent.asp

FAQ
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=137

How does it work?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=381

What's a bot?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot

How do i ban a bot?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=318
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....7&postcount=51

Where's output.txt located?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=216

Bad bot lists
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=259
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=224
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=281

Tested on vb3.7.x, vB3.8.x , vB4.x.x but should work on any version.

__________________________________________________ __________________
Special thanks to:
Lior
KH99
BoP5
for helping me sort out a few issues

...and beta testers
ForceHSS (Special thanks to Force for latest testing)
ozzy47
GreyHost

If you use this please mark as INSTALLED

History
9th June 2011 Orginal xml added
12th June 2011 Added both email notification and text file logging
22nd June 2011 Version 2.0.0, Added create thread on activity

1. Added match facility you can now use something like Yandex and it will match MOZILLA/5.0 (COMPATIBLE; YANDEXBOT/3.0; +HTTP://YANDEX.COM/BOTS)
2. Added clickable link to visited thread

22nd September 2011 added user redirect url selection
08th October Beta testing started for thread creation.
20th October Beta testing started for emailing.
21st October Beta testing complete Ver 3.0.0 uploaded
29th October minor fix added to cope with empty userid on thread creation
30th October Beta testing automatic redirection to spiders/bots IP
31st October New xml uploaded with automatic redirect to IP
25th November Minor fix for blank forumid fixed
26th November 2011 Fixed version check & create thread Off by default
17th December 2014 Version 3.1.0 uploaded, Hook changed extra logging and statistics added by Ozzy47 (Chris)
18th December 2014 Version 3.1.1 uploaded, prevented spiders being counted when mod turned off.
17th December 2014 Version 3.1.2 uploaded, due to rogue code from another mod
The Bad Bots list is now included in the product
Please prune out all those that you wish to be able to see your site (i suggest you definately prune out "DA" and "Custo" :

Support will now only be given to those who have this mod marked as INSTALLED

[Alibass]

Originally Posted by Simon Lloyd

This mod will do its job, simply enter the entire User Agent string in the list to ban and the mod will take care of the rest

If you experience further trouble i will investigate that bot further, i had a similar issue with a bot i thought i was banning, but then found the UA didn't contain the bot name, so in this instance i had to use the entire UA as i found it. Over the last few pages of this thread you will see i've posted links on how you can check UA's against your site or find UA's...etc, have a look for those links as they will help you in the fight against the bots

Simon

Thanks for the info and this great mod. I had entered the complete UA in the spider list before posting here and that did not seem to stop it. I will enter the UA's you posted and some more I have found on Google for leaseweb. I will report back to you is this doesn't stop the bot.

Alibass

[mavigul]

my mistake, how can i delete the threads activity from blabla

[Simon Lloyd]

Originally Posted by mavigul

my mistake, how can i delete the threads activity from blabla

Im not with you, what do you mean?

[Simon Lloyd]

Hi all, i have further improved this mod to allow you to automatically redirect the bot to it's own IP, if you would like to beta test for me as usual send me a pm and i'll give you download details, like every other beta test please try it with one bot at first (do also use the bots vs browsers tool to ensure redirection).

Looking forward to hearing from you

[ForceHSS]

send will test

[Simon Lloyd]

Originally Posted by ForceHSS

send will test

Thanks PM sent

[Simon Lloyd]

New feature, you can now automatically redirect the spider/bot to their own IP!

[Bengie]

Well there are a lot of happy people out there, but alas, they are all much more clever than I am.
I have downloaded the mod and it's sitting on my desktop, where do I upload it to please?
Also, what is WOL?

[ForceHSS]

Originally Posted by Bengie

Well there are a lot of happy people out there, but alas, they are all much more clever than I am.
I have downloaded the mod and it's sitting on my desktop, where do I upload it to please?
Also, what is WOL?

upload the files same place where your forums files are use a ftp program then go to your admin panel plugins and install the xml

[Simon Lloyd]

Originally Posted by ForceHSS

upload the files same place where your forums files are use a ftp program then go to your admin panel plugins and install the xml

Force there isn't any files to upload , simply go to Admincp>Plugins & Products>Product Manage Products>import new product and thats it, if you don't have a previous version there is no need to check the overwrite radio button.

WOL = Who's On Line