Spambots on the wiki...

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KenjutheDenjuu(imported)
Posts: 458
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 2:53 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by KenjutheDenjuu(imported) »

I know that the wiki has been having trouble keeping out the occasional spambots, but since yesterday, 5 new spambots have started editing parts of articles and changing the text to nonsense. I've reverted all of the edits they've made so far, but they seem to have kept on editing regardless. I thought it might be good to let the forum know so that a moderator can make sure the articles don't keep getting edited by these guys.

Here's all the IP addresses responsible:

91.224.161.250

109.230.216.60

216.194.53.237

77.252.245.61

75.119.206.105
RacieB
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by RacieB »

I try to check for them every day and generally end up banning one every couple days. I think they've finally caught on that they can't add links to articles so instead they just add random nonsense... dunno what good that does them, if they're not advertizing something or trying to raise their search rankings why bother spamming at all...?
KenjutheDenjuu(imported)
Posts: 458
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 2:53 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by KenjutheDenjuu(imported) »

I'm just so surprised that there's suddenly been a case of mass spamming when nothing's prompted it... Since Telefang isn't the most well known, i'm not even sure why spammers would think their adverts would appeal to the people here, unless they're trying to use a less known wiki to get away with spamming? Beats me ^^;
RacieB
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by RacieB »

I think they have bots that look specifically for random wikis to spam on. Ughughhh I'd ask Sanky if we can have captcha for anonymous page editing, but we currently have a legit anon IP contributing a lot of content to Denjuu pages, I don't want to put them off...
KenjutheDenjuu(imported)
Posts: 458
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 2:53 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by KenjutheDenjuu(imported) »

Yes, i've seen that new user lately. Although they do contribute some good info, I don't think they know about the preview button, since there were 5 minor edits to Tsunonasu's page that could have been done in one. I've noticed they tend to edit articles multiple times without first testing them. Maybe giving them a small message about it might be a good idea. I'm guessing they're somewhat new to wikis, but not entirely.

At least they're a genuine user and not a spambot, although I did have to remove one of bit of vandalism from them at first. Nothing's happened since, however.
RacieB
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:27 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by RacieB »

I think that wasn't so much vandalism as trying to add trivia, iirc it was about the stats for certain types, like Kanzou being the best Sky-type or whatever. Written better, it would be fine to have that stuff, we have notes on other pages like that (Oshe having lowest stats overall, etc.)
KenjutheDenjuu(imported)
Posts: 458
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 2:53 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by KenjutheDenjuu(imported) »

I thought that was what they were trying to write, judging by the other pages, but because it was badly written it looked like spam at first.

EDIT: Thanks for cleaning out the spambots, hopefully the wiki will have some peace from spam for now ^^
TimeWalker(imported)
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:13 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by TimeWalker(imported) »

Never be too sure, they'll always come back really fast.
KenjutheDenjuu(imported)
Posts: 458
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 2:53 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by KenjutheDenjuu(imported) »

Oh, I know they'll be back eventually, but at least it'll be quiet(er) for now ^^
Blaziken257
Posts: 983
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:52 am

Re: Spambots on the wiki...

Post by Blaziken257 »

Wow, so now they're editing existing articles now? I don't think I've seen this before on any wiki, ever... More than likely, they're using the Random page link (seeing that they're most likely bots) to find pages to spam. I'd say either implement the Telefang-related questions (that appear when trying to register) when anonymous users edit pages, since they don't seem to be adding external links now. It might inconvenience the legit anonymous user a bit, but I don't see why that user can't simply register. And if that doesn't work, we should step it up by not allowing anonymous edits at all... that's always a possibility.

But yeah, I have no idea why they would target this wiki, of all places. And what's the point when they don't add external links...?
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