Shoutbox

Well the title says it

I have this guestbook on my website where people can write a little greeting, but lately it has been spammed up with useless stuff and links. Yesterday I re-uploaded the database so that over 80 spam messages were deleted, but they are baaack

I am quite sure that it's a bot of some kind and not a human that spams it.

I have never had such a problem before, so my question is:

Can I change my code or the database inorder to get rid of the spam?


Link to guestbook (my site is in Danish): http://www.x2zen.dk/gb.asp

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Originally posted by x2zen
Well the title says it

I have this guestbook on my website where people can write a little greeting, but lately it has been spammed up with useless stuff and links. Yesterday I re-uploaded the database so that over 80 spam messages were deleted, but they are baaack

I have quite sure that it's a bot of some kind and not a human that spams it.

I have never had such a problem before, so my question is:

Can I change my code or the database inorder to get rid of the spam?


Link to guestbook (my site is in Danish): http://www.x2zen.dk/gb.asp

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you could put one of those picture things in wher eyou have to copy hte code from the hard to read picture before continueing but i don't know how to do that

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Originally posted by NiteMare
you could put one of those picture things in wher eyou have to copy hte code from the hard to read picture before continueing but i don't know how to do that

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Good idea, but just like you I don't know how to do that

Ive had the same problem, and came up with a temp solution anyways. just rename your guestbook page, if it is gb.asp, try renaming it to something like guestbook.asp. You probably wont get any spam for a couple months anyways, and then when you start to get more spam, change the file name again. Simple, but works.

I'd log IP addresses with each shout, then if the spam is comming from the same address, just block it. When you do this, don't use a proper error message telling the spammer how you've blocked them, just put a generic error message and the spammer will think that it wasn't even directed at them.

The image verification thingy is often referred to as a captcha. There are bound to be some free ones ready to integrate, or just steal it out of MyBB.

This happend to me aswell, i done the rename thing wich works for only a little while. Blocking the IP's is no option because there are way to many of them..they are bots using IP's of others. In the end i decided to take the guestbook off in total.

The only solution to prevent these kinda posts in total is to have a guestbook with captcha (and just like you i didn't know how to integrate that either). Another solution wich would help a little is floodcontrol (time needed in between new posting), most bots will leave.

Now i have a shoutbox thingie wich only holds as many posts as i tell it to, after that they get deleted..it also has floodcontrol wich prevents bots from continuously spamming. A shoutbox aint quite the same as a full guestbook but well atleast it's something.

Ohh yea another thing: things that attract spammers are possibilities to leave their webadress (free advertising/linking).

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Originally posted by Sunshine
Blocking the IP's is no option because there are way to many of them..

Now i have a shoutbox thingie wich only holds as many posts as i tell it to, after that they get deleted..

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I run my own Apache server, and it logs everything, and I thought about just blocking an IP address, but looking at the logs you can see that every guestbook post is made by a different IP address, so indeed, blocking the IP addresses wont work.

I also have a shoutbox on my website, and it works great, I have not ever had a problem with spam on that. The one I use is called ShoutPro 1.0, and uses php, do a google search, should be able to find it if you are interested. Fully customizable.

Also, imo, captcha or whatever is just a giant pain in the a$$ to myself and anyone who is trying to make an entry to my guestbook. Ive always hated them and personally would never implement one in one of my own websites lol.

It's common for bots to attack anything with forms in it, an image verification would fix this, it did for me. However, I am not familiar with ASP so I can't help you with coding it

i also have a wordpress blog on my site and i have to approve comments.. and there is 175 f***ing viagra adds in the comments every week. i have to go and delete them all the time and its really annoying! can anyone help me too? or should i start a new thread?

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Originally posted by YA_MUM
RE: My guestbook is being spammed

i also have a wordpress blog on my site and i have to approve comments.. and there is 175 f***ing viagra adds in the comments every week. i have to go and delete them all the time and its really annoying! can anyone help me too? or should i start a new thread?

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Make a rules page about ads, anyway, can u ban the spammers. if  you could ban them if u want.