Why are there so many spams here?
- Thread starter sami simo
- Start date
Shelley
Well-known member
I used to be a contractor for them, yes. I run my own company now.
Nice. I thought i recognized your name from somewhere just wanted to make sure.
tenants
Well-known member
Would this be similar mechanism that's going into XenForo 1.2 , 1.2 looks like it's going to be using the StopForumSpam DB, and should be fairly effective at stopping known bots... but when this is released is any ones guess right now (a similar mechanism is used by XenUtils and Stop Spam Here)
Dan Cryer
Active member
Similar, yes, but the service uses more external services than just StopForumSpam - It also maintains its own internal threat database.
tenants
Well-known member
Go for it, the more options available to people, the harder it is for bots to deal with these variations
What's the advantage of an internal threat database instead of submitting the information to SFS , how does it work?
Dan Cryer
Active member
The service does all of the above - It just adds another opportunity to spot trends and prevent abuse.
When we receive a report, we log it locally and also push it out to StopForumSpam, CloudFlare and others. When we receive a registration to check, we check against all of them.
CTXMedia
Well-known member
Just a thought - we occasionally run the spam cleaner on someone who later turns out to be more of a misguided poster than a real spammer - is there any way to reverse or retract a report and remove the details from your database?
Also, are you sharing any of the data you collect with other parties/companies/agencies?
Also, are you sharing any of the data you collect with other parties/companies/agencies?
CTXMedia
Well-known member
Shelley
Well-known member
I'd guess it would become paid at some point or some kind pf premium subscription would be needed for the advance service. But good question I have no issues paying for quality service would like to hear more from dan to clarify that as it could be totally free.
Dan Cryer
Active member
On the first question - No there isn't presently, however one report isn't sufficient to cause a significant risk level within the system. No one site can abuse the service in such a way that they can effectively ban people they don't like from every forum that uses it.
In terms of sharing data - We share reports we are sent with the services we use to check registrations (SFS, CloudFlare, etc.) We also use said services to check registrations, so in effect we are sharing the information there. However, we'll never provide lists of registrants for a given site to a third party, or anything like that.
Dan Cryer
Active member
Indeed - Initial thoughts are that it'll be a low-priced premium service (i.e. £5/mo or less). However we may look to change it to a cost per X registrations, with a free tier for smaller forums.
I'd be keen to hear your feedback on how you'd see it working?
We're also looking to give at least six months free access to those who help in testing the service.
Dan Cryer
Active member
I'm going to try and speak to them as soon as possible about some kind of reciprocal agreement. However, StopForumSpam is only one of a few services we use, so we can turn it off if we need to and just feed them data instead.
Mouth
Well-known member
It basically comes as an addon which checks all new registrations against our internal database and a selection of other sources (including StopForumSpam and CloudFlare) and advises whether or not the registration should be allowed. When you use the spam cleaner and ban a member, it reports it back to us as a spammer. For every forum using the service, it becomes stronger.
Duplicating what XenUtil already does by incorporating no less than 3 external and well respected spam filtering services?
Why is this new service any better or different?
Sometimes duplication and fragmentation just isn't good for a community effort - of which spam prevention is - divide and conquer, etc.
Dan Cryer
Active member
As I've not used XenUtils, I can't claim the service to be better or worse. It is, however, different.
- We use different (again, not necessarily better or worse) third party services, which each operate in a different market, so to speak - they're not all just bot catching services.
- We combine the third party data with our own, in a weighted algorithm to decide the risk level.
- The spam service addon for XenForo doesn't do anything other than check for spam in registrations, and report spam when the Spam Cleaner bans a member.
- We intend to roll this out to more than just XenForo. There will be versions for IP.Board, vBulletin, Wordpress and so on - this widens the net for catching out spammers.
CTXMedia
Well-known member
Is it worth starting your own thread in http://xenforo.com/community/forums/resource-and-add-on-discussions.63/ to recruit potential beta testers?
Presumably that would be okay with the mods?
Presumably that would be okay with the mods?
