NOTE: Spam from 50+ New Forum Members.

[Wafflem]

Just a heads-up to everyone.

There's been too much spam on the forums. Also, if you haven't noticed yet, check the Members list and click "Date Registered." You'll see that there are more than 50 new users who have signed on to the forum on the same day.

[namida]

I already PM'd all the mods and admins about this.

[Clam]

There was a suspicious post a day ago with a link to the forum homepage. Not sure if it's related (like a gateway for the spambots?) but I removed it anyway.

Thanks geoo for removing a bunch of the threads while I was offline.

[Crane]

I've had the same problem on another forum that I moderate.  50+ new members spamming the forum relentlessly.  Sounds like quite a vicious spam-bot that's going places.

[geoo]

Yeah, we really need someone active to have all the privileges for the server the forum is hosted on (either as this forum or a new migration, but if we migrate we should get a database dump, I believe Ksoft has access to database dumps).

For now bookmark this forum namida set up as a place to go to in case the forum goes down: http://lemforums.nfshost.com/

I don't think Clam or I have the privileges to batch-ban/delete users or do anything else that would stop this issue.

Here's a list of the bots from 1 hours ago, more have already signed up in the meantime:
Charlespl, AyaDAmart, Honey, wholesaledl, centipsylonz, mJacobsenMl, Michaelsmag, DIfertymhat, Lapactagree, Adrianhor, ProtivnaYaLamn, deanbffe0d, Lerkasr, CharlesappoffIntoto, Varyornania, Scacroparry, LilyRaeGo, mouffscotadaf, Korovenko, Williamkt, Alberticen, Williamcef, CharlesTup, RandellOt, AlmoTiC, Charlesrib, VikariaExede, musliWew, dalpglafWoppy, AnisvonsNug, Ericasok, DarinaDoronov, Ronaldst, boobiafub, Cedaspedy, attighavoig, Meallygax, Patrickhoth, Michaelpr, SibirAvipn, DarrylSnah, CCase, RichardKl, JulianaVax, pletcheruoh, nafimmary, Williamer, krohaMt, Miscaalenzemy, SeriyBiz, Monumentov, kitBriege, FrancesBop, KennethEa, AlisaPl, Williamgaip, JohnMifs, Robertuploagdog, AxseoxTig, Leonardmt, valera_uslovm, GellBeert, Antoniowex, IrinkaBond, Matthewpn, YaDopn, freewary, SemenBeni, DaryaNet, IvanKak, Komuremnko, Robertcob, UnlimPayKa, tilmAcittee, Аachiererild, Mashapi, Kennethzjix, Robertosed, Carolynfah, ArnoldHets, KimSt, vuretokafer44, DrimsinSr, #Antolian[SDFSGDH], Uenfoppy, WalterHaw, RollandEl, BilliePild, Timothypn, AnnSqualo, ADrulkibrituer, Poropunenko, Dhzblalben, Kennethei, PatishkaVaga, AnthonyTab, Dowjnfhasz, Dennisusex, dinolexi, Bladerbist, cowboyskf, PatriceleS, KiOnelonbon

[namida]

I've set up a new forum we can use, and we all know I'm very active :p But I'll leave it to the community to decide if migrating is a good idea. Both moderators have details of the new forum.

[Prob Lem]

Yikes, the spammers' activity really escalated overnight!

I've grabbed my username on the alternate forum (good idea setting that up, namida!), but I'll wait to see what everyone decides is the best course of action here, before using it too much.

[Crane]

It would be a shame to be forced to migrate because of a spambot.  What's to say the new forum won't get infested too?  I just hope we can stay on top of it.

[geoo]

The problem is, nobody who is active has the privileges to efficiently deal with the spam bots. We only have active mods, the admins and the server admin have been AWOL for a long time. Over at the new forum we could deal with these issues.
I think it's a good precaution measure to have a place to go to in case the forum goes out (but I don't think we should move there just yet, let's try to get the databases or some other data from the admins). I've contacted Mr. K, I should probably shoot Adam a message too...

[Prob Lem]

Keep us posted, please, geoo.

[Mr. K]

The spam problem is the result of my being unable to get the forum software updated (no FTP permissions to alter files appropriately) -- so we're horribly out of date which means there are lots of exploits the bots can use.

From here on out I'm going to work with you guys to transition.  Obviously, I'm not around enough to do this any more -- I started adminning this board to keep it from going under, and that was back in high school.  Now I'm older, working on a degree and working a job at the same time and I barely have any time on my hands, so this gets a backseat priority from me.  That's unlikely to change, and Adam tends not to be around either, so I think it's best if I pass the place on to new owners.  I've been damn negligent, and as the server starts breaking here and there it's just going to get worse unless someone else takes over.

EDIT: I've contacted you, Geoo.  Also I have disabled registrations for now and am deleting ALL members with zero posts.  Should stave off the problem until we can move forward.

[Wafflem]

Thanks to everyone for taking action on this matter. I've also moved to the new forums, but I'll probably change my username at some point.

The News section on the main page, which has been saying the same stuff over and over, should be updated to announce the new forum.

[Crane]

The spamming isn't limited to just here.  The forum I moderate has been recently updated, and that got badly infested too.  I've cleaned most of it up, but I can only delete posts etc.  I can't do IP bans, for example.  Personally I just hope they stop it at the source.

[namida]

What version of SMF does your forum use, Crane?

[Nepster]

I just read some advice agains spam bots here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/485106/how-do-i-protect-my-forum-against-spam.
Especially the following advice sounds pretty useful (but already for registration and not only for posting here):

Have a hidden form field with a name that sounds like something a spammer would want to fill out, like "website" or "homepage" or something like that. If the form field gets filled out, throw away the message instead of posting it, because it was a bot automatically filling in the whole form, even invisible fields.

[mobius]

honestly I like the way the other forum is laid out a little better, of course I didn't give it a total look over yet. Having an admin that consistently ignores you is pretty annoying.
[btw, I was referring to Adam, Not Mr. K]

[Nepster]

Hey, geoo is an admin now and I doubt he will ignore us . Congrats geoo!

[geoo]

Well I have means to deal with spammers now, but as I'm not a server admin the things I can do are limited, and if the forum goes down or there's some other hickup I can't do anything about that. I'll try to get hold of the forum content, and to reach Adam somehow.

[namida]

Many of you have already found the new link, but for thosr who havent: It'll be posted here when the time is right; if this site goes down before then I'll put the correct link on the NeoLemmix website to ensure you can all find it. Alternatively, check the Lix IRC channel (#lix on QuakeNet).

[Minim]

EDIT: I've contacted you, Geoo.  Also I have disabled registrations for now and am deleting ALL members with zero posts.  Should stave off the problem until we can move forward.

I really appreciate everyone's hard work on dealing with this matter, but thanks for doing this particular job, Mr. K. I was about to start a new topic complaining about the large number of members without a post. This really does clean up the members list a lot.

[Crane]

What version of SMF does your forum use, Crane?

It isn't even SMF - it's IP.Board.

[namida]

Okay, I've finally got a solution that allows me to download a copy of the posts including attachments. I'll be able to add the posts to the new forum; I just need to write something to parse the HTML which will be simple once I actually have the files on my computer (which is in the process of being downloaded as I write this, and yes, attachments are definitely included). My suggestion would be to start using the new one now (the old posts will be there soon enough), and especially avoid new attachments on this one - perhaps use a file hosting service in the meantime if you need to post something here. The posts from this board will be there soon enough.

I've also posted in the Site Talk board over there a topic for finding moderators and administrators for the new board - highest priority will go to current staff members here who are fairly active (ie: Clam, geoo and Proxima) if they're interested; if it seems we need more or any of them aren't interested I can look at adding more later.

I'll still leave it to the mods/admins to make an official announcement about this; but that's my two cents at the current point in time. If you don't have the new link yet but want it, just ask around - there's plenty of people who do have it. Of course if the mods/admins do make any public official announcement I'd expect they'd put the link in that too.

Note to the staff: Please DON'T take down the board until I confirm I've got a 100% up to date copy. If nessecary, disabling posting is fine, as long as reading it and downloading attachments (including as guest) is still possible - in fact doing this might be ideal.

EDIT: At the current point, I have a complete backup I can use of the entire board in its current state (or at least the messages and attachments ), except for this edit to this post.