| 0 |
Subject: Nuisance posts
Posted by: Guru
- [330592710] Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 09:42
As you may have noticed, the forum has attracted a raft of "nuisance posts" over the past 12 hours. They are most likely automated, but I can't figure out any purpose, nefarious or otherwise - other than perhaps some testing in advance of a next wave.
I've implemented some automated controls this morning that should reduce the incidence, although it's possible that, should this continue, I'll need to implement a more strenuous process that only a "live" poster can execute.
In the meantime, thanks for your patience.
|
| 1 | Farn
Leader
ID: 451044109
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 09:52
|
*fights urge to make joke about already having one nuisance user in political forum for years*
Thanks Guru. Appreciate your efforts.
|
| 2 | Tree
ID: 41512710
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 11:05
|
i am so glad i came to this thread. :oD
|
| 3 | Guru
ID: 330592710
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 11:21
|
As noted above, my spam checking software is currently using more aggressive identification techniques than usual. If you are having trouble posting something, you are probably getting snagged. I'm not going to divulge the particular logic that did it, of course.
In any event, if you think you have been inappropriate flagged, just send me an email and I can correct it. In many cases, I may have already done it automatically - as was already the case a few times this morning.
Special note: if you are a GuruPatron and your id is currently set to recognize you, then the spam blocker will most likely let you through, regardless of any suspected infraction. You can validate your GuruPatron status here, and reset your id if needed.
|
| 4 | Guru
ID: 330592710
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 12:17
|
Actually, a lot of the overnight attempts were more obvious spam posts, but those were immediately thwarted, so yo haven't seen those. Only the posts that failed to fit an established spam pattern got through overnight.
So although it looks like all of the posts have no apparent purpose, that's not really true. You are only seeing the ones that snuck through.
It is not unusual to have several hundred spam posts automatically blocked on any day. What is unusual is the number of posts with no apparent purpose
|
| 5 | Seattle Zen
ID: 10732616
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 12:26
|
The "RIBC PCL in season" thread got totally nuked in the Baseball standings forum.
Does that mean we can start fresh from today :)
|
| 6 | Guru
ID: 330592710
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 12:49
|
Sorry - I just restored it.
|
| 7 | youngroman
ID: 56523304
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 13:27
|
did all these strange posts come from the same IP address?
do you log the referrer in the web server log? if yes is it always the same site? looking at the content of these posts, they could very well be written for a different site and just posted here.
was it really a bot? because a bot would post all of these posts within a few seconds/minutes and would not need some hours.
|
| 8 | Guru
ID: 330592710
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 13:36
|
I'm not going to discuss the techniques here. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss.
But if it were as simple as what you are suggesting, then it would be simple to block. And yes, I have been tracking all of that info you mention.
|
| 9 | blue hen
Dude
ID: 710321114
Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 13:49
|
Guru, thanks as always for your diligence. This forum is fantastic and I think sometimes we take that for granted. You work hard to make it happen, and for that we thank you.
|
|
|
|
Post a reply to this message:
|