Administrative and Maintenance Tools - vbStopForumSpam - known spammer lookup for new registrations

vbStopForumSpam

This provides access to a RBL type system for forum admins, listing known spam IP / email / usernames. The RBL database is provided by www.stopforumspam.com. You do NOT need an API key from the website in order to access the database. only to submit data if you should wish to do so.

At the point of user registration, the mod checks if the IP number / provided username / email addresses appear on a block list and can block the registration.

Whilst this isnt the most perfect way to stop all forum spam, its another step that spammers have to overcome.

VB4 here https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...hreadid=230921
Its the same code, it works in 3.54 to 4.0


What it does

It checks with a remote database of known forum spammers. Their IP number, email address and forum username are tested and based on your configuration, you can reject / log / accept user registrations based on what you get back.

This version doesnt have
- whitelisting or the ability to submit users to the database but it will within the next week.
- automatic user deletion / post / PM purging. There are good tools out there already, this does something else.

Instructions are included in the installation.txt file - PLEASE read it first and dont forget to actually upload the files in the upload folder, otherwise it WILL kill your registration progress and you wont see the log file options in admincp. You do not need to download the product-vbstopforumspam-3.54.xml file unless you are using a vBulletin version older than 3.6.0

Changes to vB
- 3 new database tables
- 2 database table alternations
- No new templates.
- 2 Hook (register_addmember_process & register_addmember_complete)

Ive tested it but had feedback that it works with versions as old as 3.6.2... Support should go back to older versions, as long as they have hook support for register_addmember_process / register_addmember_complete

Known to work - tested by me
- vBulletin 3.6.8 on Apache 2.2 / PHP 5.1.2 on Linux using cUrl
- vBulletin 3.7 Gold on Apache 2.0 / PHP 4.4.3 on Windows without cUrl (template changes wont work on 3.7 - thats in the next version with auto template changes)

For code to submit spammers to the database, check this post for code changes
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=288

Reported in the thread to work
- 3.6.1, 3.6.2, 3.6.9, 3.6.10, 3.7.0, 3.7.1, 3.7.2, 3.7.3, 3.74, 3.80, 3.81, 3.82, 3.83, 3.8.4, 4.0beta3

If you have 3.54, then you can use the product-vbstopforumspam-3.54.xml file attached instead of the one in the ZIP file, which will allow older vBulletin versions to access this mods' features. I personally havent tested this version, its a user contribution, thanks to Darrell Mobley, that changes the way the XML works when imported into older versions.

Installers should remember to refresh their ACP navigation window when they first install it so they can see the new log file menu item.

REQUIRES MySQL 4.1.1+

Future versions
- Automatic integration into vBulletin to add users to the stopForumSpam.com database from a form
- Whitelisting of username / IP / email addresses
- AJAX integration to allow for lookups from within the users profile
- Decreased remote query count from three per user to one per user.

Versions / Changes

0.1 Initial Release

0.2 pedigrees special brew birthday release.
- Small security update. If you have 0.1 installed, download 0.2 and replace your existing functions_vbsfs.php with the one in the archive. It just tests to see if its running inside the VB framework before anything else. This is what happens when you code at 2am after drinking wine

0.3
- stopped it processing valid registrations twice
- moved all non-function code into the plugin. Not a big one as 0.2 basically did that
- fixed a typo in the log pruner that stopped it working (404)
- removed unused fields from the database for people with mysql that doesnt support varchar > 255 (ie mySQL4). If you have 0.2 installed and dont need to prune your logs just yet, you dont really need to install this version but can instead wait for 1.0 unless of a massive security update.

0.4
- logs registrations that arent/wouldnt be blocked
- fixed XML errors when username has a space it in
- tightened up the cache so that it doesnt test a username against an email name to give a bypass result (for when a username is an email address that isnt banned where the email address is)
- fixed some basic logic errors in the PHP

0.6
- Should work on PHP 4.4 now - rewrote the XML with PHP4 in mind (tested on Apache2.0/PHP 4.4.3)
- Fixed a caching system where data wasnt being updated correctly which could cause a remote query when one wasnt needed
- Possible false negative situation when a spammer was blocked due to SFS.com being down who then visited again when it was up but within the cache expiry time
- Remote query failure when the result page isnt XML should work a bit better now. It does a very basic test for valid XML results.
- Fixed log purging (again) and it should actually work properly now.
- No longer requires PHP5
- The log viewer now links to a user profile when registration is allowed.

v0.61 - Removed a template change that was invalid vBulletin code. The package you download will still say its 0.60 however

NB : When upgrading from any version to 0.6, you must remove and then add the plugin due to changes in one of the database tables

You need to have an API key from www.stopforumspam.com in order to submit data, its free and easy to get... You DONT need an API key in order to use this mod however, only to submit spammer data.

Issues are
- The usergroup permissions / view details etc DONT work. I jumped the gun and put the permissions controls in there before I put the code in. Please delete the includes/xml/bitfield_vbstopforumspam.xml file and rebuild your postbit

Installation
- Follow the instructions in the zip file, that includes upload the correct folders
- ONLY download the 3.54 xml file if youre using a vbulletin version prior to 3.6.0. use this file to install the mod instead of the xml file in the zip file.

Please click Installed

[Medtech]

Works like a charm on vb 4.0.2

[Pro-eSports.com]

Originally Posted by Pro-eSports.com

There are 2 downloads available in the mod post.

1 XML file and the Zip folder

The Zip folder includes an XML file too but with another name. Which XML is the newest version?

Any help?

[Medtech]

i use the one in the zip

[Pro-eSports.com]

How can I rebuild the postbit like the author mentioned in his topic post?

[Pro-eSports.com]

Also noticed another issue. I created a test account and after registering it showed this message:

Registration denied, this forum runs an active policy of not allowing spammers. Please contact us via the "Contact Us" page link if you believe this is in error

Why did it classify me as spammer?

[JamesC70]

Originally Posted by websissy

When I first installed vBSFS and ISBOT, I was seeing the same symptoms you describe on my site. The vBSFS log showed "registration allowed" but the user never showed up as a completed registration.

I only run vBSFS, coupled with reCaptcha. I see "registration allowed" for several vBSFS log entries, some of which finally make it through to a complete registration, others don't. These entries are usually within a minute apart.

My theory is that when someone fails the reCaptcha, and is returned to the registration screen displaying the reCaptcha image, the vBSFS routine runs again.... causing multiple log entries for the same person.

[djbaxter]

Originally Posted by TommyC

That's because the search is likely setup to search through the database. The API is likely setup for a precision response.

Example:
http://www.stopforumspam.com/api?username=jor <--- shows as NOT a spammer
http://www.stopforumspam.com/api?username=jordan <--- shows as a spammer

Thank you. I didn't get a notification for your reply for some reason but that is reassuring.

[pedigree]

The file called "3.54" is for version 3.5x as stated in the mod description

[Pro-eSports.com]

Originally Posted by Pro-eSports.com

Also noticed another issue. I created a test account and after registering it showed this message:



Why did it classify me as spammer?

Any help?

[imported_silkroad]

Originally Posted by skippybosco

@TMH63: .... even in the rare case there is a false positive, your users can still register and post, while at the same time having peace of mind that content is being vetted before it is being presented to your users.

To be clear, and sorry to offend any sensitive developers and their loyal supporters, our experience with this mod was not "the rare case [of] a false positive'. We found many cases of false positives. We only found a "rare care" in that people would not just get angry and never return, because no legitimate users likes to be called a spammer. The "rare cases
are the ones who will take the time to contact board admins and mods after repeated humiliation and rejection. It is very offensive to users to be rejected as a spammer because they wanted a user name called "dantheman" (just an example) and a spammer somewhere in the world has the same name.

By using CAPTCHA and a few simple bot checking programs, we never had a problem with spam prior to installing this mod, we simply installed it to test it (open minded and very eager for it's success). We have since disabled it because of the false positives; and instead of this rule-based system, we installed a very efficient Bayesian Anti Spam classifier we are very happy with. Our statistical system (AI) works much better than a rule-based mod, especially when the rule base is generated by "community" where it is easy to submit anyone to the DB and time consuming to get out of jail.

Finally, we are not trying to "sell anything" and don't want you do download any of our software (we have none), nor do we want to make a name for ourselves, nor do we have any conflict of interest at all. We simply warn our fellow forum friends that community-driven rule-based systems, all of them, not only this one, are well known for false positives, more than well trained statistical based systems.

What the developers are doing is noble and their heart is in the right place. Folks will benefit and many will simply think the system works well as it blocks both spammers and legitimate potential users .... because most blocked legit users will simply leave your forum, silently, and go elsewhere. This is human nature.

In closing, false positives are not rare in rule-based systems like this (community contributed). What is "rare" is for rejected users to take the time to contact your board and explain what happened. Rejected users generally just get angry and go elsewhere. That is a consequence of running a system prone to false positives.

We disabled the mod and did not do it because we were angry, upset or unhappy with the zeal and passion of the supporters here. We disabled it because it does not work for us because too many false positives. Plus, we don't like having registration checks dependent on a third party server up or down, especially when it adds little value to our forums.