Hi,

I got hit by spambots a while ago and I can outline a fix for YaBB 1.3.2 that seems to work for me, I hope it's of use to you guys too.

1) Edit Sources/Register.pl

2) Search/replace all instances of "regagree" with some other random word - I used "obfusticate".

3) Add this code to the Register function just below the radio buttons that we just renamed obfusticate:

[tt]
<div style="display: none;"><br>Are you a Russian spam bot? <B>Yes</B> <input type=radio name="regagree" value="yes">
    &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <B>No</B> <input type=radio name="regagree" value="no" checked></div>
[/tt]

4) Add this code right at the top of the Register2 function:

[tt]
if($FORM{"regagree"} eq "yes") {
     die "Begone you Russian spambot";
}
[/tt]

This works by replacing the "I agree" part of registration with the question "Are you a Russian spambot?" but the bots are not smart enough to know the answer. I've had some good results with this, let me know what you think. I've written a bit more about it [url=http://www.andymurd.uk6.net/Stuff/yabbspam.shtml]here[/url].

Thanks, it's still seems to be working - I've gone from about four or five new spambot accounts a day to zero! 

I changed my register.pl file to reflect the changes above.  It appears that the bots are no longer posting, but I am getting new members at a rate of about 20 a day, even on Easter Sunday.  How can I stop them from registering?  I have YABB 1.1

I would appreciate any help in this matter, thanks very much.

Sincerely, Lisa

I am obvioulsy a total dummy - I have hassles with the Russian additions to my site but can't get the positioning right of the text changes you suggest ... can you give me more guidance..  Not being a code-savvy guy - Can u hlp

Also where did you d'load the Flood Protection ?

Thanx - if you can help

Does anyone know of a wild card I can put before @mail.ru to block these email addresses, please,
Jim

In relation to this, I posted a thread some time ago about CAPTCHA implementation for us dude(tte)s stuck in YaBB 1 land.  Anyway, as someone contacted me here tonight asking for help with this, I wanted to direct them to said thread, which had become a decent knowledgebase, only to find out that it's GONE.  Needless to say, I am TOTALLY bummed by that reality.  If there is any hope (I'm guessing no) of recovering it, it used to be located at http://www.yabbforum.com/community/YaBB.pl?num=1186785854.  In any event, in the effort to once again start collecting information and consolidating knowledge on this + my CAPTCHA "mod", here is the extant thread over on the BoardMod site:

http://www.boardmod.org/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=newssp;action=display;num=1194790373.

I am...

... Sincerely,
Steve "StegRock" Stegeman

Captain John wrote on Dec 28^th, 2008 at 1:47pm:


All the more reason why it's beat that that thread was "kleened".

For a lot of us that "mandated" upgrade is not so easy in light of very gnarly tailored customizations, mods we've added that we can't even remember anymore because it was a looooong time and three computers ago, and, of course, most importantly, the time we can devote to all this.  Someday, if my site(s) ever really take off and I am of the means, I look forward to contacting the YaBB guys about giving my forum(s) a makeover and putting some well-deserved dough in their pockets.

In the meantime, though, it would be nice if we weren't treated like bastard children and our old posts about our poor little old boards weren't "kleened", an "upgrade", being a history guy myself, I could do without.  Anyway,... I'll go back to...

Captain John wrote on Dec 29^th, 2008 at 10:33am:


Uhhh... duh...  Of course, that's what I thought...

Dude, bottom line, while I suppose that it is not worth it for this forum to maintain posts for time immemorial or even just a long time (I do think from a knowledgebase perspective history and keeping records would seem to be important, but I don't know the behind-the-scenes situation like as regards, say, disk-space), contrary to your pontification, what is worth keeping and not worth keeping is contingent on the makeup and circumstances of a given forum.

Captain John wrote on Dec 29^th, 2008 at 10:33am:


That's simply not true, man, at least not for my "oldie, but a goodie" forum.  I can search back to the origins of time. And, just an FYI, I can't decipher what you immediately followed that with.

Captain John wrote on Dec 29^th, 2008 at 10:33am:


Dude, not to nitpick, but think that back through...  Is there not an implicit contradiction there? ...
 
Captain John wrote on Dec 29^th, 2008 at 10:33am:


I am sincerely sorry if I offended your sensibilities with my choice of words, but, please, walk a mile in someone's moccasins before you go takin' that tack.  Not all of us are very computer savvy, no less "professional" web developers, and, in any event, this is a HOBBY for many, if not most, of us.  Moreover, your comment about not upgrading in four-plus years is tendentious:  once you've missed even just one of these upgrades, no less a couple, you're behind the eight-ball, and things become exponentially more difficult.  Furthermore, an upgrade to a version "you guys" (assuming you speak officially for YaBB) would like (not that I have days on end to untie and retie all these knots that doing so would require), from what I understand, would require my forum to be totally reset, memberships, boards, threads, everything, something that is not even entertainable for me.  For the kind of content posted on my site, history and keeping records, I think, is important.  But, in any event, let me wrap this up so I don't waste any more time on a post that is necessarily destined for oblivion,... and as I hear my two-month-old crying in the background, likely needing a diaper change.