From sierdzio at gmail.com Thu Dec 4 15:07:09 2014 From: sierdzio at gmail.com (Tomasz Siekierda) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2014 15:07:09 +0100 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? Message-ID: Hi, I'm sure you know who I'm talking about: the impossible-to-reason-with spammer that keeps polluting our forums with frequent moaning about economists, Digia and profits. He has grown significantly more active recently. We are banning him swiftly, but he keeps coming back. In the last few days there's been a real barrage from that individual, plus he started getting really personal and insulting (not to say he was decent before, no no. He's just worse than usual lately). Apart from - possibly - nominating new moderators (for example: p3c0, Chris Kawa if they are not already), do we have any options? Has anybody checked this guy's IP address? If it is static, we could ban the IP, but most probably he is behind an ISP network with dynamic addressing. Maybe we could ban the email address he is using (I suspect he uses temp mail addresses, but just in case he does not) from registering on the forum? Or will it end when somebody calls the police (probably unlikely)? What are your opinions, proposals? BR, sierdzio -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sierdzio at gmail.com Thu Dec 4 15:10:47 2014 From: sierdzio at gmail.com (Tomasz Siekierda) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2014 15:10:47 +0100 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 4 December 2014 at 15:07, Tomasz Siekierda wrote: > Hi, > > I'm sure you know who I'm talking about: the impossible-to-reason-with > spammer that keeps polluting our forums with frequent moaning about > economists, Digia and profits. > > He has grown significantly more active recently. We are banning him swiftly, > but he keeps coming back. In the last few days there's been a real barrage > from that individual, plus he started getting really personal and insulting > (not to say he was decent before, no no. He's just worse than usual lately). > > Apart from - possibly - nominating new moderators (for example: p3c0, Chris > Kawa if they are not already), do we have any options? Has anybody checked > this guy's IP address? If it is static, we could ban the IP, but most > probably he is behind an ISP network with dynamic addressing. Maybe we could > ban the email address he is using (I suspect he uses temp mail addresses, > but just in case he does not) from registering on the forum? Or will it end > when somebody calls the police (probably unlikely)? > > What are your opinions, proposals? > > BR, > sierdzio And now he is even trying to impersonate Chris... From leon at anavi.org Thu Dec 4 15:21:10 2014 From: leon at anavi.org (Leon Anavi) Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 16:21:10 +0200 Subject: [Web] =?utf-8?q?What_are_we_going_to_do_about_our_forum_spammer?= =?utf-8?q?=3F?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Tomasz, I am sure who you are talking about. Recently I have not been active at Qt Project networks because I am overloaded with work at my job as well as my contributions to the Tizen project but I have spotted the SPAM attacks. He/she (or may be they) are targeting both new and old forum thread no matter what is the language of the discussion at the thread. It is really annoying and it is important to stop the SPAM because this SPAM is a disaster for the whole Qt community. Best regards, Leon On 2014-12-04 16:10, Tomasz Siekierda wrote: > On 4 December 2014 at 15:07, Tomasz Siekierda > wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I'm sure you know who I'm talking about: the impossible-to-reason-with >> spammer that keeps polluting our forums with frequent moaning about >> economists, Digia and profits. >> >> He has grown significantly more active recently. We are banning him >> swiftly, >> but he keeps coming back. In the last few days there's been a real >> barrage >> from that individual, plus he started getting really personal and >> insulting >> (not to say he was decent before, no no. He's just worse than usual >> lately). >> >> Apart from - possibly - nominating new moderators (for example: p3c0, >> Chris >> Kawa if they are not already), do we have any options? Has anybody >> checked >> this guy's IP address? If it is static, we could ban the IP, but most >> probably he is behind an ISP network with dynamic addressing. Maybe we >> could >> ban the email address he is using (I suspect he uses temp mail >> addresses, >> but just in case he does not) from registering on the forum? Or will >> it end >> when somebody calls the police (probably unlikely)? >> >> What are your opinions, proposals? >> >> BR, >> sierdzio > > And now he is even trying to impersonate Chris... > _______________________________________________ > Web mailing list > Web at qt-project.org > http://lists.qt-project.org/mailman/listinfo/web -- http://anavi.org/ From szehowe.koh at gmail.com Thu Dec 4 16:15:57 2014 From: szehowe.koh at gmail.com (Sze Howe Koh) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2014 23:15:57 +0800 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 4 December 2014 at 22:10, Tomasz Siekierda wrote: > > On 4 December 2014 at 15:07, Tomasz Siekierda wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I'm sure you know who I'm talking about: the impossible-to-reason-with > > spammer that keeps polluting our forums with frequent moaning about > > economists, Digia and profits. > > > > He has grown significantly more active recently. We are banning him swiftly, > > but he keeps coming back. In the last few days there's been a real barrage > > from that individual, plus he started getting really personal and insulting > > (not to say he was decent before, no no. He's just worse than usual lately). > > > > Apart from - possibly - nominating new moderators (for example: p3c0, Chris > > Kawa if they are not already), do we have any options? Has anybody checked > > this guy's IP address? If it is static, we could ban the IP, but most > > probably he is behind an ISP network with dynamic addressing. Maybe we could > > ban the email address he is using (I suspect he uses temp mail addresses, > > but just in case he does not) from registering on the forum? Or will it end > > when somebody calls the police (probably unlikely)? > > > > What are your opinions, proposals? > > > > BR, > > sierdzio > > And now he is even trying to impersonate Chris... Unfortunately, this person is hiding inside the Tor network (so there's no static IP, and police can't track him easily) and uses throwaway email addresses with each registration. Tero has considered banning all traffic from Tor exit routers, but he said it's hard to do and he isn't convinced it's the right solution. I'm not convinced either -- this can block legitimate users. I suggested that each account's first post be withheld from public view until a moderator gives the OK. This is the best compromise I can think of: New users face a once-off inconvenience for a new user, but are given full posting rights after approval. The community is shielded from the torrent of garbage. What do you think? I'm not sure if Expression Engine supports this arrangement though. Regards, Sze-Howe From tero.kojo at theqtcompany.com Fri Dec 5 08:18:33 2014 From: tero.kojo at theqtcompany.com (Kojo Tero) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 07:18:33 +0000 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: > -----Original Message----- > From: web-bounces+tero.kojo=theqtcompany.com at qt-project.org > [mailto:web-bounces+tero.kojo=theqtcompany.com at qt-project.org] On > Behalf Of Sze Howe Koh > Sent: 4. joulukuuta 2014 17:16 > To: Tomasz Siekierda > Cc: web at qt-project.org > Subject: Re: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? > > On 4 December 2014 at 22:10, Tomasz Siekierda > wrote: > > > > On 4 December 2014 at 15:07, Tomasz Siekierda > wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > > > I'm sure you know who I'm talking about: the > > > impossible-to-reason-with spammer that keeps polluting our forums > > > with frequent moaning about economists, Digia and profits. > > > > > > He has grown significantly more active recently. We are banning him > > > swiftly, but he keeps coming back. In the last few days there's been > > > a real barrage from that individual, plus he started getting really > > > personal and insulting (not to say he was decent before, no no. He's just > worse than usual lately). > > > > > > Apart from - possibly - nominating new moderators (for example: > > > p3c0, Chris Kawa if they are not already), do we have any options? > > > Has anybody checked this guy's IP address? If it is static, we could > > > ban the IP, but most probably he is behind an ISP network with > > > dynamic addressing. Maybe we could ban the email address he is using > > > (I suspect he uses temp mail addresses, but just in case he does > > > not) from registering on the forum? Or will it end when somebody calls > the police (probably unlikely)? > > > > > > What are your opinions, proposals? > > > > > > BR, > > > sierdzio > > > > And now he is even trying to impersonate Chris... > > Unfortunately, this person is hiding inside the Tor network (so there's no > static IP, and police can't track him easily) and uses throwaway email > addresses with each registration. Tero has considered banning all traffic from > Tor exit routers, but he said it's hard to do and he isn't convinced it's the right > solution. I'm not convinced either -- this can block legitimate users. Yes, single use email and Tor make it pretty impossible to categorically ban a single user. I have pondered cutting access from Tor nodes, but that is problematic on a whole different level, people have also valid reasons to use Tor. > I suggested that each account's first post be withheld from public view until a > moderator gives the OK. This is the best compromise I can think of: New > users face a once-off inconvenience for a new user, but are given full posting > rights after approval. The community is shielded from the torrent of garbage. > What do you think? I'm not sure if Expression Engine supports this > arrangement though. Yes, that is the problem, Expression engine isn't really up to date with these things. Can't do first post screening or many other practical things that would make sense. We are moving to more modern platforms, but it's been a lot of work getting everything going, and the forums will move somewhere in January-February. Tero P.S. Added p3c0 and Chris Kawa as admins. Other names are also welcome. > > Regards, > Sze-Howe From andre at familiesomers.nl Fri Dec 5 08:21:29 2014 From: andre at familiesomers.nl (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Andr=E9_Somers?=) Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:21:29 +0100 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <54815CF9.9030101@familiesomers.nl> Tomasz Siekierda schreef op 4-12-2014 15:07: > Hi, > > I'm sure you know who I'm talking about: the impossible-to-reason-with > spammer that keeps polluting our forums with frequent moaning about > economists, Digia and profits. Actually, I guess that is part of the problem: we do _not_ know who we are talking about. He is hiding in the TOR network, and using different throw-away email addresses. When there was still some disucussion with him going on, he refused to tell why he was doing what he is doing (assuming it is a "he" by the way), nor did he want to reveil his identity. He thinks what he is doing is peaceful protesting like handing out pamflets, I compared it to spraying grafitti everywhere or interupting completely unrelated debates or concerts with loudly voiced rants and then running away refusing to talk about it. > > He has grown significantly more active recently. We are banning him > swiftly, but he keeps coming back. In the last few days there's been a > real barrage from that individual, plus he started getting really > personal and insulting (not to say he was decent before, no no. He's > just worse than usual lately). > > Apart from - possibly - nominating new moderators (for example: p3c0, > Chris Kawa if they are not already), do we have any options? Has > anybody checked this guy's IP address? If it is static, we could ban > the IP, but most probably he is behind an ISP network with dynamic > addressing. Maybe we could ban the email address he is using (I > suspect he uses temp mail addresses, but just in case he does not) > from registering on the forum? Or will it end when somebody calls the > police (probably unlikely)? > > What are your opinions, proposals? I don't think there are many options while the platform runs on Expression Engine. I understand it's not a very flexible platform, and it hard to hack into. If were were not hindered by that, I would suggest a moderation queue. Messages may be marked for moderation by using some automated rules such as flag words in a combination, links outside of trusted sites, first-posts by accounts, but also by being explicitly marked for review by users. You could make that more fine-grained as well, for instance by requiring a minimum amount of karma/points in total by reporters before a message is moved to moderation queue, in order to prevent people being able to start annoying the forums by randomly marking loads of messages for moderation. Idealy, the existance of messages inside an existing thread would be visible, but the contents replaced by a message like "This message is under review." while the message is in the queue. New thread starts perhaps need different treatment. However, until we have an engine capable of such things, there is not much we can do. I do suggest looking into the banning of TOR exist nodes though, especially for making new accounts. Perhaps we can look into if they are used legit at all. If not, I see little downside to blocking them for the time being. André > > BR, > sierdzio > > > _______________________________________________ > Web mailing list > Web at qt-project.org > http://lists.qt-project.org/mailman/listinfo/web -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andre at familiesomers.nl Fri Dec 5 08:24:04 2014 From: andre at familiesomers.nl (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Andr=E9_Somers?=) Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:24:04 +0100 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <54815D94.9060405@familiesomers.nl> Kojo Tero schreef op 5-12-2014 08:18: > Yes, single use email and Tor make it pretty impossible to > categorically ban a single user. I have pondered cutting access from > Tor nodes, but that is problematic on a whole different level, people > have also valid reasons to use Tor. There may be, but are people actually doing it? > >> I suggested that each account's first post be withheld from public view until a >> moderator gives the OK. This is the best compromise I can think of: New >> users face a once-off inconvenience for a new user, but are given full posting >> rights after approval. The community is shielded from the torrent of garbage. >> What do you think? I'm not sure if Expression Engine supports this >> arrangement though. > Yes, that is the problem, Expression engine isn't really up to date with these things. Can't do first post screening or many other practical things that would make sense. > > We are moving to more modern platforms, but it's been a lot of work getting everything going, and the forums will move somewhere in January-February. > > Tero > > P.S. Added p3c0 and Chris Kawa as admins. Other names are also welcome. Did you discuss them with them before doing that? André From tero.kojo at theqtcompany.com Fri Dec 5 08:38:10 2014 From: tero.kojo at theqtcompany.com (Kojo Tero) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 07:38:10 +0000 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: <54815D94.9060405@familiesomers.nl> References: <54815D94.9060405@familiesomers.nl> Message-ID: > -----Original Message----- > From: web-bounces+tero.kojo=theqtcompany.com at qt-project.org > [mailto:web-bounces+tero.kojo=theqtcompany.com at qt-project.org] On > Behalf Of André Somers > Sent: 5. joulukuuta 2014 9:24 > To: web at qt-project.org > Subject: Re: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? > > Kojo Tero schreef op 5-12-2014 08:18: > > Yes, single use email and Tor make it pretty impossible to > > categorically ban a single user. I have pondered cutting access from > > Tor nodes, but that is problematic on a whole different level, people > > have also valid reasons to use Tor. > There may be, but are people actually doing it? > > > >> I suggested that each account's first post be withheld from public > >> view until a moderator gives the OK. This is the best compromise I > >> can think of: New users face a once-off inconvenience for a new user, > >> but are given full posting rights after approval. The community is shielded > from the torrent of garbage. > >> What do you think? I'm not sure if Expression Engine supports this > >> arrangement though. > > Yes, that is the problem, Expression engine isn't really up to date with > these things. Can't do first post screening or many other practical things that > would make sense. > > > > We are moving to more modern platforms, but it's been a lot of work > getting everything going, and the forums will move somewhere in January- > February. > > > > Tero > > > > P.S. Added p3c0 and Chris Kawa as admins. Other names are also welcome. > Did you discuss them with them before doing that? Good point, I went the wrong way round, added rights and sent an opt-out mail. Need to change that order. Tero > André > _______________________________________________ > Web mailing list > Web at qt-project.org > http://lists.qt-project.org/mailman/listinfo/web From sierdzio at gmail.com Fri Dec 5 08:49:46 2014 From: sierdzio at gmail.com (Tomasz Siekierda) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 08:49:46 +0100 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: References: <54815D94.9060405@familiesomers.nl> Message-ID: On 5 December 2014 at 08:38, Kojo Tero wrote: >> >> What do you think? I'm not sure if Expression Engine supports this >> >> arrangement though. >> > Yes, that is the problem, Expression engine isn't really up to date with >> these things. Can't do first post screening or many other practical things that >> would make sense. >> > >> > We are moving to more modern platforms, but it's been a lot of work >> getting everything going, and the forums will move somewhere in January- >> February. OK, that is really good! We'll continue banning this guy until the move to qt.io is done. Hopefully the new platform will work better in this regard. >> > P.S. Added p3c0 and Chris Kawa as admins. Other names are also welcome. >> Did you discuss them with them before doing that? > > Good point, I went the wrong way round, added rights and sent an opt-out mail. > Need to change that order. Well, yes, I've only given some example names of people who are very active on the forum and seem to be good members of the community. I have not asked them about this. But, I guess there's no harm done, and we've both learnt a lesson :-) From sierdzio at gmail.com Fri Dec 5 14:23:14 2014 From: sierdzio at gmail.com (Tomasz Siekierda) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 14:23:14 +0100 Subject: [Web] What are we going to do about our forum spammer? In-Reply-To: References: <54815D94.9060405@familiesomers.nl> Message-ID: On 5 December 2014 at 08:49, Tomasz Siekierda wrote: > [...] I forgot to answer JKSH. Yes, withholding first posts of new users, while a bit drastic (it may deter some newcomers) could effectively solve this issue. Another possibility would be to send email notifications about replies first to moderators/ admins, and only after a delay (2 minutes?) to other members. If any of us is online, we would ban before the emails could be sent. That is the biggest concern I have - that so many innocent people are exposed to this guy's rants because they are getting the email notification. Anyway, it seems we will have to stay patient until February. The spammer seems to have woken up already today. Got 2 bans from me, plus someone else is also actively banning him quickly (yes, we are guessing the gender, I know. Although one of his accounts *did* use 2 Finnish male names). Have a good weekend, guys! sierdzio