Dedicated attack on server 13/10 04:30

[Deleted User]

mystic_trev wrote: »

The threads now been taken down. I hope the sites not given in to blackmail by these Cyber bullies :mad:

No, the link you went to was incorrect and has now been edited.

mystic_trev wrote: »

The thread was taken down and now is back up.I can't see any amendments to it.

The thread wasn't deleted.

mystic_trev

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

No, the link you went to was incorrect and has now been edited.



The thread wasn't deleted.

But it couldn't be viewed while it was being 'amended' hence my comments.

fermi

The original said they were spammers, which turns out to be true.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D5068412

mystic_trev

We run the MSE Forum.



…..and we're bloody knackered!

Pollycat

mystic_trev wrote: »

Very odd? The thread was taken down and now is back up.I can't see any amendments to it.

There have been amendments to that thread.

warehouse wrote: »

Is it just me who thinks that perhaps Browntoa closing that thread but still making derogatory comments in the thread AFTER closing it was acting totally unprofessionally?

Whilst I am in no way condoning the spammers, (who I would happily hurt), this action by a moderator was very provocative.

Some comments by Browntoa - referred to in the spam posts - have been deleted from that thread.
I think it was something like 'I bet this drives them crazy that they can't post to praise this company'.


Actually, Fermi's post above shows the actual text that has been removed.


I agree with warehouse that it was pretty provocative.
But these spammers are still idiots.


Would you buy a kitchen from them?
No, me neither.

Atidi

kazwookie wrote: »

Just how many accounts are there?...

About 1000 new ones since about 9am ... they got really busy from about 11am

About 140 prior to 9am

R34GTT

2 things:

1. Given the spam bot is using the same topic title can you not ask your DBA to go into the forum's database and select all topics with that title started in the last 24 hours and delete the associated users and posts?

2. The forum registration needs tightning up, Captcha is useless and is annoying for genuine new users. Why not deploy different verification code such as honeypot forms which catchout spambots alongside some kind of logical question and answer. So many options that could be implemented with ease. Also I second the previous poster who said you should take the forum down while you sort this out or at the very least stop new registrations.

lovinituk

R34GTT wrote: »

2 things:

1. Given the spam bot is using the same topic title can you not ask your DBA to go into the forum's database and select all topics with that title started in the last 24 hours and delete the associated users and posts?

2. The forum registration needs tightning up, Captcha is useless and is annoying for genuine new users. Why not deploy different verification code such as honeypot forms which catchout spambots alongside some kind of logical question and answer. So many options that could be implemented with ease. Also I second the previous poster who said you should take the forum down while you sort this out or at the very least stop new registrations.

Changing to some decent forum software too would help, although I realise this would be a huge undertaking for such a large forum. VBulletin just doesn't cut it these days.

fermi

In my userCP I see 63 pages of deleted threads just on my boards. So that is at least 63 X 20 = 1260 threads on my boards today.

And that will be a small fraction.

R34GTT

fermi wrote: »

In my userCP I see 63 pages of deleted threads just on my boards. So that is at least 63 X 20 = 1260 threads on my boards today.

And that will be a small fraction.

Does MSE have someone proficient in SQL? The forum needs suspending to new registrations, the bot users and topics removing in bulk using a query on the database and then someone who knows how to implement tighter registration verification code. These sort of problems have had solutions for over 7 years so it's very sad to see a forum of this size still being vulnerable to simple attacks.