Spam Bot Situation

[edthefirst]

Well, as most people have noticed there has been a recent spam bot movement (3 in the last 2-3 weeks). I believe new security implementations should be added. Also IP addresses should be blocked (although most of the spam bots have different origin IP's, and the releasers change IP's each time). But that serves as another security precaustion. I know this thread is almost useless, but if more security can be added, then it should.

[Farbror Fazer]

Totaly agree....

[Jokker]

And until the mods get a thread they're working on up, I'll say this here.

Stop helping the spambots. If you don't get what I mean. Stop posting in their threads. If you post in a spambot thread. The creators (and almost ALL spambots) will notice and will send more spambots here. If you stop posting, and simply let the mods do their job (they won't miss the thread. ._.) everything will be way better. You can even use the report button to speed things up.

Also, the spambot 'situation' isn't that bad. Some simple community cooperation should help and stop it.

CAPTCHA's aren't really needed yet. And IP bans I'm sure are being placed.

Also, a suggestion. Don't delete the accounts. Just ban them. Most bots will try and use the account if it's available (instead of recreating it), even if it's banned.

[Cyranix]

The volume of posts is not too large to handle, so I do read every single post. The sticky that Jokker was referring to has been posted in the Physics Games board; among other things, it suggests that members should not reply to spam threads.

Thanks for voicing your concern about spam -- it bothers me too! The moderator team will soon be in discussions with Matthew to come up with countermeasures, though no spam prevention system will be totally effective. We appreciate your patience as we work through the issue!

[Slanzinger]

IP bans may not be the way forward though. If on dial-up, you get a shiny new IP address (which may be quite tarnished) every time you connect. If IP bans happen, you might get a few surprises when you next connect to the site (An IP ban is not absolute)
A MAC address ban, however, would be (MAC address is assigned to one particular piece of hardware, never changes) - but then again, it seems to be a little extreme (and not even sure if it would be possible - depends if it's sent out in the referrer, this is HIGHLY unlikely)
Another option might be to report the IP address to the relevant ISP? Not many service providers are very happy with spammers on their network, they'd probably act and may even ban them from <ahem> TEH WOHLE INTERNETS!!1!</ahem>
Dunno, depends really.

[Wrestle]

I havn't noticed a single spam bot post myself so the mods are ontop of it. This is one of those things that drastic measures are only required when it gets out of hand I think.

[edthefirst]

Yeah, I know the IP ban might not work, also there are ways to change IP addresses manualy. The thing is that even with mods deleting these threads (good work on that by the way), it all depends when the mods are on. There should be more measures if possible. But that is up to the mods and Matthew.

[CX1329]

While no other measures are taken, you can be sure the mods will always be on the look-out for such posts. :D

[edthefirst]

While no other measures are taken, you can be sure the mods will always be on the look-out for such posts. :D

And just as a compliment you guys have been doing a great job.

[Justin1221]

I agree. on this forum and another one, I saw the user name google bot or something.

[Jokker]

googlebot is Google's method of indexing sites. It is a good bot.

A bot that comes and posts one message about 'FREE XXX PORN GALORE' then leaves is a bad bot.

Also, this has been solved methinks. Mods are on it, haven't even seen any more spam bots.

[Justin1221]

yeah, but google sucks.

[Maltor124]

yeah, but google sucks.

Take that back. The internet would come about a fingernail away from phailing without Google. Half of us would never have even played a physics game without it, or found Fun-Motion.

Also, the spambots are indeed still here, but the other mods and me (mostly them) are definitely trying our best to stop them from rearing their ugly faces.

[edthefirst]

Take that back. The internet would come about a fingernail away from phailing without Google. Half of us would never have even played a physics game without it, or found Fun-Motion.

Also, the spambots are indeed still here, but the other mods and me (mostly them) are definitely trying our best to stop them from rearing their ugly faces.

Yeah, I found this site while on google. Pus the spam bot situation has decreased, but one or two still pop up once and a while.