Recent problems

Anthony Butcher · 20-02-2007, 01:47 PM

Apparently 761 Mb of spam in the blogging "Shout Box" crippled the MySQL database. We have emptied the table, so this shouldn't happen again... for a while.

Blame the spammers.

Edward Longshanks · 22-02-2007, 07:28 AM

Anthony: I must confess to being something of a computer illiterate so please can you tell me how this sort of thing manages to get through your safeguards like a firewall/spam blocker etc. The BNP site has been hacked into several times as well and those seemed to be very professional and dare I say it government inspired. Are UKIP under attack in this fashion or is it a computer nerd?

tito · 22-02-2007, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Longshanks

Anthony: I must confess to being something of a computer illiterate so please can you tell me how this sort of thing manages to get through your safeguards like a firewall/spam blocker etc. The BNP site has been hacked into several times as well and those seemed to be very professional and dare I say it government inspired. Are UKIP under attack in this fashion or is it a computer nerd?

Spambots are pieces of software which stalk out forums, register themselves and post messages.

It is very difficult for a forum to tell the difference between a spambot and a human, the spambot technology is very advanced.

Not profesional hackers by any means, just pieces of software choosing random targets.

Anthony Butcher · 23-02-2007, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Longshanks

Anthony: I must confess to being something of a computer illiterate so please can you tell me how this sort of thing manages to get through your safeguards like a firewall/spam blocker etc. The BNP site has been hacked into several times as well and those seemed to be very professional and dare I say it government inspired. Are UKIP under attack in this fashion or is it a computer nerd?

The problem is a silly technical one. Spammers have auto-posting software that targets very specific areas of forums. In this case it is the "shout boxes" in the blogs. Over a period of time a very large number of spam adverts had built up in the database.

Alex McKee · 24-02-2007, 11:01 PM

Can you not require that users be registered in order to post on the blogs?

Anthony Butcher · 25-02-2007, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex McKee

Can you not require that users be registered in order to post on the blogs?

I turned the shout boxes off completely... but it doesn't seem to make any difference

Alex McKee · 25-02-2007, 12:14 AM

Very odd.

Alex McKee · 25-02-2007, 12:29 AM

Now that is just seriously ironic. A spambot just posted into this thread. LOL.

Lazyguy · 05-03-2007, 11:38 AM

My guess is that a human creates accounts, then links a spambot to them. I've seen it before, on other forums.

Alex McKee · 05-03-2007, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazyguy

My guess is that a human creates accounts, then links a spambot to them. I've seen it before, on other forums.

Nah, it's session reuse, OCR and brute force.

20-02-2007, 01:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
Anthony Butcher Administrator Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Long Ashton, Bristol Posts: 9,538 Party: None	Recent problems Apparently 761 Mb of spam in the blogging "Shout Box" crippled the MySQL database. We have emptied the table, so this shouldn't happen again... for a while. Blame the spammers.

05-03-2007, 11:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
Lazyguy Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 398	My guess is that a human creates accounts, then links a spambot to them. I've seen it before, on other forums. __________________ #@~~Lazyguy~~@#

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22-02-2007, 07:28 AM	#2 (permalink)
Edward Longshanks Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bucks Posts: 625	Anthony: I must confess to being something of a computer illiterate so please can you tell me how this sort of thing manages to get through your safeguards like a firewall/spam blocker etc. The BNP site has been hacked into several times as well and those seemed to be very professional and dare I say it government inspired. Are UKIP under attack in this fashion or is it a computer nerd?

24-02-2007, 11:01 PM	#5 (permalink)
Alex McKee Moderator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Gloucester Posts: 6,571	Can you not require that users be registered in order to post on the blogs?

25-02-2007, 12:14 AM	#7 (permalink)
Alex McKee Moderator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Gloucester Posts: 6,571	Very odd.

25-02-2007, 12:29 AM	#8 (permalink)
Alex McKee Moderator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Gloucester Posts: 6,571	Now that is just seriously ironic. A spambot just posted into this thread. LOL.