Banning Abusive Users once and for all

If you've been admining a VB or any forum for that matter you know what I mean.

I've been toiling all this time trying to get a way to ban a user but time and time again I come he pops back with new ip address and handle leading me to the conclusion that it's difficult if not impossible to completely ban a user without resorting to a site wide registration ban.

That is why I want to implement a system that used a socket connect to connect to the user's "apparant" ip to send a confirmation address through a sort of Java chat window. This way if the user is using a proxy or spoofing technique he will never get the message since the second server to client request is made on ipaddress and port alone. Apparently though, even through a non-applet program it is only possible to send messages back on a connection made by the client and it is not possible to achieve the existing connection's port number and spawn a different process based on ip address and port, alone. Not to mention if I do manage to get the port number and ip address it just might happen to route the information back to the spoofer's computer since the client is listening on that port. Is there another way to send a "message" to a specific ip address without getting into legal trouble and foil the hacker at the same time???

I thought of a second implementation through Java by trying to determine the user's non spoofed ip address (or through the proxy) by downloading one of the scripts I found online that claimed to be legit . I doubt however it was 100% successful since none of the legit ones are. and of course I'm not going to even try the illegal software though I know there is a plethora out there (ie, programs to find free ports, etc etc)

Thirdly I thought of only allowing certified e-mail addresses from an ISP, such as aol, but collecting such a list would be a nightmare... I've looked already and I've only covered a tiny percentage of possible ISPs out there. It would be good, however since it would effectively block out anyone who didn't want to reveal their ISP.

Lastly I thought of doing something fancy with cookies by not only making them a neccesity but to also make it so that any attempt to delete them would block the registration and force you to contact the administrator. Harsh I know but I know even more people who would do this for a malicious purpose than do it by a mistake. It's still not fail proof unfortunately. And even if used with the the other java method, it still eeks out the REALLY computer savvy individuals. Tripled with the e-mail address ban it's effective but may bar TOO much.

Sigh...I'm willing to try anything at this point to stop an abusive user but right now I feel as though I'm out of real world options and that mycurrent options will be extremely inconvenient and not all that fail proof.

I have nothing against anonymity as long as the sufer is not abusing it. But in so many cases,this is exactly what happens.

[ibeblunt]

I noticed on sites like HardForum.com, they don't allow the users to register with hotmail or yahoo account.

[Fatty_Bolger]

ah can you ban emails like that in vb, I mean I know you can ban specific ones, can you do *.*@hotmail.com etc. I have not tried it, but it could be handy.

[Logician]

Originally posted by Fatty_Bolger
ah can you ban emails like that in vb, I mean I know you can ban specific ones, can you do *.*@hotmail.com etc. I have not tried it, but it could be handy.

Yep you can: admin cp/vb settings/Ban Users and read explanations under the box

[MGSteve]

Just a thought, the best way to do it would probably be to have a secret ignore.

To everyone else, the abuser's posts are invisible, but to the abuser, they appear. That way he thinks his posts are there, to everyone else, they aren't.

He thinks he's being ignored and moves on.

The only draw back is that if he logged out, his posts would dissapear and he might notice.

Still, worth a thought?

[Erwin]

There is a hack that allows you to secretly ban a user. Do a search for it.