Hi all,

I wanted to get all of your advice on something. We were recently hit by a spam attacker. These people have been logging into the system and taking advantage of our free community.

I don't know what other kind of lame attempts these idiots will do to clutter the Internet with useless garbage, but, it has affected us here now.

My question to you is this.... Should we lock down the website and require a little more from our members before they can use the site? For instance, we always allow anonymous users to browse the site and read the information. If I was to lock it down a bit more, users would be required to log-in before they could view the information. (accounts will always be free)

On that same note, I am considering that users must participate in the club (posts, contributions, links, images, etc) before they can use our PM system and other advanced features.

Anyway, let me know what you think about locking our site down a little bit more. I want to keep this a friendly and free place. But, I don't want to be taken advantage of by spammers if we can help it.

-- Mike

IMO, being required to have 10 posts in order to use the PM system should not be considered a burden. If a newbie feels that it is a burden, then IMO they most likely are here for something other than learning about Z's. Other sites have minimums to be met before access to "features" is allowed. IIRC, this site has a minimum number of posts required in order to upload your own avatar (at least that is the way it used to be).

I am all for doing what we can to limit spam.

I can "put up with spam", but it defintely won't be willingly

they should have to have over 7,000 posts to use PM....just kiddin Carl.... :nervous:

they should have to have over 7,000 posts to use PM....just kiddin Carl.... :nervous:

actually 500 posts would do the trick. :nervous:

I am *STILL* trying to figure out where people get this kind of time. The money can't be that good. I guess they could have employed $1/hour people from India to do the work.

Mike, interestingly the guy who is behind the "ultimate rally" is Kim Schmitz, who is known for his computer-crime and insider trading...

BTW- Mike, did you ban the members we have turned in on the other thread about the bogus PM's?

All of the ones I know about... I guess these guys registered a ton of accounts a few months ago and are just now hitting all kinds of automotive websites.

Mike, interestingly the guy who is behind the "ultimate rally" is Kim Schmitz, who is known for his computer-crime and insider trading...

Ok, I found some info on this guy... He has a domain registered care of network solutions. He has hidden himself pretty well.

Edit: I am going to put this one to rest. There's no sense in going anywhere with it because I'm sure it will just get us attacked again. We will lock down the site a bit more to avoid this kind of thing in the future. It just makes me feel violated similar to being ripped off.

-- M

actually 500 posts would do the trick. :nervous:

I was thinking more like 5-10 posts. This would beat their automated system. It will also give me enough records to go after them.

I was thinking more like 5-10 posts. This would beat their automated system. It will also give me enough records to go after them.

I agree. I was just pulling Dogma420's chain.

duplicate post

triplicate post

Carl,

You are already way over 5-10 posts...

There are a great number of things that could be done, the most dificult part is designing them such that they get the job done without taking so much time to administer that the site suffers. No teeth, no claws, no change...

Will

I think Mike's original idea is a good one...just keep any requirements very minimal..that would slow down the junkers.