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Newbury Today Forum _ Random Rants _ Forum Under Attack?
Posted by: user23 Jan 17 2011, 10:09 PM
http://forum.newburytoday.co.uk/index.php?&name_box=begins&sort_key=joined&sort_order=desc&filter=ALL&act=members&max_results=60&aim=&yahoo=&icq=&msn=&posts=&joined=&lastpost=&lastvisit=&signature=&homepage=&name=&photoonly=&st=60, all with names that look like they could have been randomly generated.
There was also some inappropriate material on here for a short while posted by one of these names.
Posted by: Biker1 Jan 17 2011, 10:30 PM
Good point User - what's going on Admin??
Posted by: Squelchy Jan 17 2011, 10:41 PM
Certainly made me choke on me Cheerios.
Posted by: NWNREADER Jan 17 2011, 10:59 PM
Goodness!!!!
I hope no nasty person suggests they are the names of all the recruits to the Newbury Labour Party, as that would be a really horrid suggestion and would mean poor RG having a terrible time.....
Posted by: Bofem Jan 17 2011, 11:31 PM
some great names too if they are bot generated. Makes us all look even more dull!
Posted by: spartacus Jan 18 2011, 03:28 PM
Posted by: gel Jan 19 2011, 10:17 AM
Presumably Admin can see IP address shown when registering, and whether it was same one; some websites show you your IP address to remind you that you're not invisible!
You can see yours by using:
http://whatismyipaddress.com/
and the location of ISP server you are routed through 
Posted by: user23 Jan 19 2011, 08:24 PM
You can see yours by using:
http://whatismyipaddress.com/
and the location of ISP server you are routed through
Posted by: Exhausted Jan 19 2011, 09:07 PM
How does that work then. Surely there has to be some confirmation that the person wanting to join is human and is required to provide specific information which will identify the application is genuine and not a spammer trying to set up a denial of service or some kid in his bedroom with nothing else better to do.
Posted by: Darren Jan 19 2011, 10:35 PM
Automated bots.
They trawl the internet looking for forums. As the format is pretty standard they can automatically add the details to the registration boxes and even beat the reCAPTCH verification programs. When the verification mail arrives, the 'click to activate' link can be processed too.
At a later date, the accounts will activate and post spam, usually for things like Viagra and Cialis.
The spammers work on 1-100 click rate
Posted by: Andy1 Jan 20 2011, 10:42 AM
You can see yours by using:
http://whatismyipaddress.com/
and the location of ISP server you are routed through
That would only work if the ISP has lots public addresses, ie the addresses published to the internet, rather than the address used by the users
Posted by: JeffG Jan 20 2011, 11:56 AM
Not sure what you mean. The IP address of the poster is seen by anyone with administrator privilege and the administrator can ban any IP or group of IPs.
Say for example, the IP address originates in China (a common source of spam), then the sensible thing to do would be to ban the whole group of IPs in that range (usually one city), since it's unlikely anyone in that city would have a legitimate interest in this forum.
Posted by: Simon Kirby Jan 20 2011, 06:04 PM
I count over 700 accounts validating since the start of the year, something like 50 times the usual sign-up rate. I don't suppose admin has an infinite amount of time to dedicate to maintaining the site so this kind of attack could even threaten the continuity of the forum, and while I know for sure that the Powers That Be would welcome our silence, I seriously believe that would be a blow to an important outlet for freedom of speach.
Why not just block the whole of asia and eastern europe at the server level as that's where this kind of thing seems to come from.
Posted by: Darren Jan 20 2011, 10:42 PM
Hang on. You talk about freedom of speech, then want to censor an entire continent and half of Europe? What about ex-pats working overseas?
Posted by: Simon Kirby Jan 20 2011, 10:56 PM
Hm, very good point, that hadn't occured to me.
Posted by: JeffG Jan 21 2011, 11:40 AM
We haven't had any comments from the Admins on this problem (a post from them would be helpful).
It's my guess that only a small range of IP addresses are involved with the current attack, which could be banned without affecting anyone's freedom of speech. But we won't know if it's coming from a single source, or whether the site has suddenly appeared in a general spammer's list of sites to hit unless the Admins tell us.
Posted by: admin Jan 21 2011, 02:55 PM
It's my guess that only a small range of IP addresses are involved with the current attack, which could be banned without affecting anyone's freedom of speech. But we won't know if it's coming from a single source, or whether the site has suddenly appeared in a general spammer's list of sites to hit unless the Admins tell us.
Thanks for your concern and thoughts all. We are aware of the problem and are working on a solution which will probably involve a software upgrade very soon. In the mean time, if you see anything on the forum which shouldn't been there (no obvious jokes please about various members) please let us know asap. Thanks again.
Posted by: Darren Jan 21 2011, 05:02 PM
Spoilsports
Posted by: NWNREADER Jan 21 2011, 05:41 PM
So we can pick on just one?
Posted by: Cognosco Jan 22 2011, 04:45 PM
[quote name='NWNREADER' date='Jan 21 2011, 05:41 PM' post='32201']
So we can pick on just one?
[/quote
Leave the WBC spokesperson alone!!!
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