Is APAT under attack ?

[ian.ski309]

Just wondering who or what are the dozens of weird names in the "Users Online" list..?

[ian.ski309]

[Paulie_D]

I have been seeing an increased level of spam recently but I and the other mods seem to be on top of it.

I"m waiting on PhilTC and Des to see if we can turn the security settings up to "11" but in doing so it does makeit that much harder for new "real" members to join.

It"s a delicate balance.

[fandango]

Looks like Polish names   just saying..

[AMRN]

Looks like Polish names   just saying..

I don"t see Pledge or Mr Sheen...

[Chipaccrual]

I would suggest that with 600 new members in the past two days, there is a serious problem that needs to be looked at ASAP.

Otherwise the APAT Forum is about to become Spam Central.  

[Paulie_D]

I would suggest that with 600 new members in the past two days, there is a serious problem that needs to be looked at ASAP.

Otherwise the APAT Forum is about to become Spam Central.  

I don"t disagree but until they post something....

The only thing I can think of is a manual confirmation process which we"re not really geared up for.

It"s obvious from looking at some of the details on the accounts that probably are /will be spam accounts but I don"t have the time to go through them and delete them manually in what would be a "my sole authority" type of way even if I thought that was something I should do.

[Chipaccrual]

New members have averaged about 3 a day for the past six months.  You"ve had 600+ new members in two days.

I"m suggesting it might just be worth a blanket delete of all new accounts in the last two days.

That might annoy half a dozen genuine new members, but as admin time is in short supply, it would make a lot of sense.

[Paulie_D]

I"m suggesting it might just be worth a blanket delete of all new accounts in the last two days.

I"m not sure we even have the functionality to do that...we"d have to do them one by one but I"ll check.

[Paulie_D]

I"m suggesting it might just be worth a blanket delete of all new accounts in the last two days.

I"m not sure we even have the functionality to do that...we"d have to do them one by one but I"ll check.

Not quite but about 30 at a time...most of them had the same IP address.

Done!

[Matt D]

I"m suggesting it might just be worth a blanket delete of all new accounts in the last two days.

I"m not sure we even have the functionality to do that...we"d have to do them one by one but I"ll check.

Not quite but about 30 at a time...most of them had the same IP address.

Done!

Nice one Paulie

[Paulie_D]

Another bunch this morning.

IP - 192.99.5.203

Seems to have slacked off some now.

They may not ever have been an issue due to the current registration & verification procedures but I feel happier than they are gone.

[PHIL_TC]

Another bunch this morning.

IP - 192.99.5.203

Seems to have slacked off some now.

They may not ever have been an issue due to the current registration & verification procedures but I feel happier than they are gone.

Superstar. Thanks Paulie. IP Ban FTW.

We"re getting targeted more and more recently. From an admin point of view.



Annoyed doesn"t even come close.

[Paulie_D]

IP Ban FTW.

I kept one account (rather than the insta-delete) and banned him with an IP trigger.

Since then there have been no new registrations from that IP and it looks like another crisis has been averted.

A big thanks to Ian for spotting & pointing out the issue. If anyone sees anything similar, please feel free to ping me (or any mod a PM). It IS appreciated.

[ian.ski309]

It looks a lot like the spammers are back again. There are hundreds of "em in the "Users Currently On Line"...