Spammer in Aisle Three

Mr. Valentines Day

Friday, January 29th 2016, 8:10pm

Quoted

the Trabant, together with the nation that created it, does not exist in Wesworld and has never appeared at one of our auto shows.

I was refering to past, present and future auto shows when I mentioned the horrible cars.

I see no reason why the Sachsenring would not exist in Wesworld so there is a chance that VEB Sachsenring will be formed in the 50s and someone from that firm might come with the Trabbi idea to compete with Volkswagen's people's car. I doubt they will succeed in Wesworld Germany, but I still think that the Trabbi might rear its ugly head. Sure hope that the Wesworld German Government is smart enough to arrest those people before we get to that point and lock them up for a very loooooooong time.

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

When you sit on the rusted remains of a Lancia Beta, you look like a scrapyard owner with no future.

Fixed for ya.

Even in that heap of junk, you will probably feel like the King of the World when you see someone drive by in East Germany's Wheelie Bin of Misery.

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BruceDuncan

Ex chaos ordo

Posts: 12,916

62

Friday, January 29th 2016, 8:16pm

As it is unlikely that BMW is going to split itself up and that Auto Union is going to sell off half its plants, the emergence of the Sachsenring is extremely unlikely.
:thumbdown:

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Rooijen10

Mr. Valentines Day

Posts: 9,644

63

Friday, January 29th 2016, 8:45pm

That is really worrisome to hear. That means that someone in BMW or AU will come up with that idea??

Considering that BMW did this horrible thing historically...

... does that mean that we end up with a Trabant with a BMW badge in order to battle AU's Volkswagen?!?

Actually being more serious, just because it is a Trabant does not mean that a Wesworld Trabant is going to be as bad as the OTL Trabant. A Wesworld Trabant could actually be a very decent car and a serious competitor to AU's Volkswagen. It is going to be as good or as bad as you make it, Bruce.

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BruceDuncan

Ex chaos ordo

Posts: 12,916

64

Friday, January 29th 2016, 8:47pm

It's an Isetta... track down Snip and ask him if he's going to build it. And while you're at it, find Steve Urkel - he'd buy one.

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The Rock Doctor

Old-School Heel

Posts: 5,310

65

Monday, February 1st 2016, 3:57pm

Three different car insurance spammers this morning. Did one of you guys post about a massive traffic pile-up or something?

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Brockpaine

The Shadow

Posts: 15,109

66

Monday, February 1st 2016, 4:04pm

Oh, that was after the two that I eliminated myself?

Honestly, I think it's the same bot hitting the site repeated times, since the content and the links are almost always the same.

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Rooijen10

Mr. Valentines Day

Posts: 9,644

67

Monday, February 1st 2016, 4:14pm

Well, Hood posted his "British Infrastructure and Transport Projects" yesterday. I think that is the closest any of our articles came to a massive traffic pile-up... on the other hand a few had popped up and were removed before that was posted so it seems unlikely that there is a link between that post and the spammers.

... I really think that the boards need to be locked to keep the spam from unregistered users away...

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BruceDuncan

Ex chaos ordo

Posts: 12,916

68

Monday, February 1st 2016, 4:41pm

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Well, Hood posted his "British Infrastructure and Transport Projects" yesterday. I think that is the closest any of our articles came to a massive traffic pile-up... on the other hand a few had popped up and were removed before that was posted so it seems unlikely that there is a link between that post and the spammers.

... I really think that the boards need to be locked to keep the spam from unregistered users away...

Yes, there were several that infiltrated over Sunday... going into the same threads that have been used, so I suspect it is the same bot spoofing repeated IDs. And I agree with Walter on unregistered users... but many of these bots are joining as "members" and then spamming us. Brock has been doing his best to stomp them after the fact but I think some form of vetting of "members" might be in order. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about the methods we use to know if that is possible.

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Brockpaine

The Shadow

Posts: 15,109

69

Monday, February 1st 2016, 5:09pm

I went in and turned the flood control for unregistered users up - so if it is the same bot striking multiple times, they'll only be able to post once every hour. I also removed a few Guest privileges for the encyclopedia folders which the bots were repeatedly hitting.

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BruceDuncan

Ex chaos ordo

Posts: 12,916

70

Monday, February 1st 2016, 5:13pm

Thanks for doing what is possible... :thumbsup:

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Brockpaine

The Shadow

Posts: 15,109

71

Monday, February 1st 2016, 5:17pm

Well, it may or may not work. We'll see...

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Hood

Ugly Aircraft, Inc

Posts: 8,155

72

Sunday, February 7th 2016, 11:49am

Is there something especially attractive to spambots on the What-if RAF Aircraft thread?
Seems like there's been at least four bots over the last few days on that one thread.

Maybe they just like looking at my artwork?

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Rooijen10

Mr. Valentines Day

Posts: 9,644

73

Sunday, February 7th 2016, 4:06pm

Yes, I noticed that trend as well. Maybe "they" think it is real and hope you will insure those planes.

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BruceDuncan

Ex chaos ordo

Posts: 12,916

74

Sunday, February 7th 2016, 4:11pm

Brock's latest changes to the permissions has certainly cut back on the volume of spammers, and he stomps on them as soon as they identify themselves as such. Why they keep coming back to the same threads probably relates to the fact that it's all the same bot and it exploits a known vulnerable URL with every identity it comes up with. My flotilla cruiser thread has seem repeat business too...

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Brockpaine

The Shadow

Posts: 15,109

75

Sunday, February 7th 2016, 10:06pm

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

Why they keep coming back to the same threads probably relates to the fact that it's all the same bot and it exploits a known vulnerable URL with every identity it comes up with.

Bruce's explanation is as good as any.

I've tried to lock unregistered users out of the encyclopedia (which should not be available for obvious reasons). When taken in the context of the entire forum, that leaves relatively few folders vulnerable to bot attack; thus, the bots are kinda channeled into attacking places like the Non-WW design forum and such.

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Brockpaine

The Shadow

Posts: 15,109

76

Monday, February 8th 2016, 2:25am

You know, I could try temporarily locking those threads that the bots are repeatedly going after...

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BruceDuncan

Ex chaos ordo

Posts: 12,916

77

Monday, February 8th 2016, 2:30am

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

You know, I could try temporarily locking those threads that the bots are repeatedly going after...

It might be worth trying; spammers are lazy - if unsuccessful, they might go elsewhere.

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Brockpaine

The Shadow

Posts: 15,109

78

Tuesday, February 16th 2016, 3:28pm

Actually seems like that might've worked - locked two threads and they stopped getting in. (Unless Rocky's been nailing them when I'm not looking.)

I might wait another week or so and then try unlocking them again - see if they're still trying to hit the one link they know, or if they have moved on to more accessible targets.