Comments on: 20,000 spam attempts per day (and counting) http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/ apparently much happier in person Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:03:04 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Stephen Downes http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/#comment-81999 Stephen Downes Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 1329147209#comment-81999 <p>I have been considering switching to Drupal for my own site for a while now but one of the things that has stopped me has been spam control. My own system works pretty well (not allowing links helps) and I know I couldn't cope with deleting a flood of the little stinkers. So this is good to know. </p> I have been considering switching to Drupal for my own site for a while now but one of the things that has stopped me has been spam control. My own system works pretty well (not allowing links helps) and I know I couldn't cope with deleting a flood of the little stinkers. So this is good to know. 

]]> By: Charlie http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/#comment-82001 Charlie Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 1329147209#comment-82001 <p>You are probably right about one thing. The spam bots are certainly sticking around because they think they are getting through. I wouldn't be surprised if the load continues to increase as a consequence.</p><p>One way to eliminate that is the <a href="http://drupal.org/node/30501">bad behavior module</a>.  It will block many of the spammer access requests immediately before they can access any of the site rather than letting them think that the comments have been posted. <br /> </p> You are probably right about one thing. The spam bots are certainly sticking around because they think they are getting through. I wouldn't be surprised if the load continues to increase as a consequence.

One way to eliminate that is the bad behavior module.  It will block many of the spammer access requests immediately before they can access any of the site rather than letting them think that the comments have been posted.

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/#comment-82002 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 1329147209#comment-82002 Charlie - thanks for the tip! I've just installed the bad behavior module integration to see how it works out. Begone, spam roaches! Charlie – thanks for the tip! I’ve just installed the bad behavior module integration to see how it works out. Begone, spam roaches!

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/#comment-82004 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 1329147209#comment-82004 Stephen - you've got an order of magnitude or two more traffic than I do, but I think Drupal could still handle that, given proper iron on the server. Mike - I've tried BB before, and it seems pretty cool, but I haven't had a lot of luck configuring it. I tried it on a Mediawiki site, and had to kill BB because it decided everyone was evil, and started blocking <em>all</em> access. I'll give it another shot though - sounds like BB+Akismet should be a pretty sweet combo... Stephen – you’ve got an order of magnitude or two more traffic than I do, but I think Drupal could still handle that, given proper iron on the server.

Mike – I’ve tried BB before, and it seems pretty cool, but I haven’t had a lot of luck configuring it. I tried it on a Mediawiki site, and had to kill BB because it decided everyone was evil, and started blocking all access. I’ll give it another shot though – sounds like BB+Akismet should be a pretty sweet combo…

]]> By: Mike Cohen http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/#comment-82005 Mike Cohen Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 1329147209#comment-82005 I haven't tried the Akismet module for Drupal, although I use it on my WordPress blog. Since I upgraded to Drupal 4.7 I've been using the Bad Behavior module and it's been working great. It's fun to look at the bad behavior log and find all of the spamming attempts it caught. I ended up disabling some of the tests which gave false positives and I still haven't had a single spam slip through. I haven't tried the Akismet module for Drupal, although I use it on my WordPress blog. Since I upgraded to Drupal 4.7 I've been using the Bad Behavior module and it's been working great. It's fun to look at the bad behavior log and find all of the spamming attempts it caught. I ended up disabling some of the tests which gave false positives and I still haven't had a single spam slip through.

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/#comment-82006 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 1329147209#comment-82006 hmm... first thing Bad Behavior did was block my automated requests for cron.php, complaining that "Header 'Pragma' without 'Cache-Control' prohibited for HTTP/1.1 requests" - so I'll have to fiddle with curl on my office Mac to send proper headers... hmm… first thing Bad Behavior did was block my automated requests for cron.php, complaining that “Header ‘Pragma’ without ‘Cache-Control’ prohibited for HTTP/1.1 requests” – so I’ll have to fiddle with curl on my office Mac to send proper headers…

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/06/24/20-000-spam-attempts-per-day-and-counting/#comment-82007 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 1329147209#comment-82007 That was easy... Followed the instructions <a href="http://curl.haxx.se/mail/archive-2002-07/0017.html">here</a> to remove the Pragma header, then deleted the entries from the Bad Behavior log (so it didn't "recognize" that IP address again), and all seems well now. Cool! That was easy… Followed the instructions here to remove the Pragma header, then deleted the entries from the Bad Behavior log (so it didn’t “recognize” that IP address again), and all seems well now. Cool!

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