Any Moderators in the house???

[dan s]

We seem to have a new member posting porn spam.

anyone know how to get a hold of George so are new member can be IP banned?

[JCHannum]

Just click on that little triangular thing at the top right of the post to report an objectional post.

[dan s]

I know about that, I was just checking to see if someone could get a hold of George before he checks his work email Monday morning.

[lazlo]

We seem to have a new member posting porn spam.

I'm sorry Dan -- I'll stop.

[JCHannum]

I know about that, I was just checking to see if someone could get a hold of George before he checks his work email Monday morning.

I clicked it 15 or 20 minutes ago, and it is gone. Sorry Robert.

[George Bulliss]

The spammers and porn guys seem to have found a way past us. The Live Steam site has had a lot of trouble in the last few weeks. I manually check all the people signing up for this site and have noticed that some of the clues that I rely on to separate the trash from the legitimate guys are no longer there. It’s amazing how much time and energy these guys expend on trying to get on the site. Don't you have something better to do Lazlo?

George

[.RC.]

Banning IP's is pointless as most home connections use dynamic IP's that change every so often (24hrs for mine)..

[dan s]

Banning IP's is pointless as most home connections use dynamic IP's that change every so often (24hrs for mine)..

That's why you ban an IP range.

[.RC.]

And anyone else who is using that IP at the time...

[dp]

Banning IP's is joyless and a lot of tedious fruitless work. There are millions of compromised PC's around the world doing the work of the spammers. You haven't a chance at making a dent. Blocking address ranges is a crapshoot - you get the affected box and all the rest of the good guys in that address block.

Better is to install a Bayesian filter similar to your email junk box filter. They learn quickly what is not acceptable.

They're useless for image spam which is the next thing you get hit with after Bayesian is installed. Then you install CAPTCHA which is that scrambled letter graphic you've probably seen on websites. You have to type in the correct letters before your post is accepted. That is overcome in a very funny way - pornographers use your CAPTCHA link to provide a quiz for porno viewers. If they solve the CAPTCHA they get a free porn image and your BBS gets spammed. I loved that one.

After CAPTCHA there's content spam filters as used on BLOG sites to keep spam down. They work pretty well now but it's just a matter of time before that is shot down. Expect false positives.

Then you subscribe to an address reputation service that tracks known white and black hat IP's. Your costs go up, board performance goes down, users, already getting fed up with the spam/porn drop off.

The end-game is where you charge a fee for using the BBS interactively. It's the end game because it doesn't last long.

There is no effective way to combat this problem which is why we're losing this war.

[tdkkart]

We seem to have a new member posting porn spam.

Dammit, I missed it..............

[lunkenheimer]

Does a vigilant user base help?

Seems to me that having users who are willing to click on the triangle button will help nip this sort of carp in the bud....opinions?

[dp]

Seems to me that having users who are willing to click on the triangle button will help nip this sort of carp in the bud....opinions?

It helps in a reactive kind of way and is a lot of work for George to wade through. This is the kind of thing individual forum moderators live for and should be checking for daily.

Here's my take - what the hell's the hurry? If George is dropping his fork to run down spam on the BBS it is an interference in his personal life. We're all adults here and can deal with it in our own personal way and move on knowing that the moderators are on the job and take it seriously.

Am I the only one who noticed what a tiny condom that guy was wearing? How do people like that earn a living in that biz? He should find another line of work.

[Paul Alciatore]

.....
Am I the only one who noticed what a tiny condom that guy was wearing? How do people like that earn a living in that biz? He should find another line of work.

Good one! Ten points.