Forum unable to deal with spam

[stam]

Hi all

At this point there are at least 188 spam posts on the forum (I use the “new posts” function when I view the forum).

Clearly the catchpa being used for new users is not sufficient to deal with these as the forum has been constantly getting through with 1-post users being the dominant posters for some time.

A plea for @LiveCodeLtd: please look into changing the catchpa system to something that works if at all possible.
Relying on moderators to ban these posters and posts is akin to trying to plug many small leaks in a dam using your fingers and now you’ve run out of fingers!

[heatherlaine]

Hi Stam
The issue with the recent spam incidents is these mails are almost certainly sent by humans, not bots. This is very difficult to prevent. However, as of now I believe they have all been cleaned, I'll keep an eye on things for a while and consider what other measures can be taken.

Best Regards,

Heather

[stam]

Thanks Heather!
Since Catchpa is not the answer as it only prevents bots, I was wondering if there's an option to use Akismet or Cloudflare for spam management (I'm sure these work with phpBB) - but there may be a cost implication for a platform you may not be considering maintaining in the future...

[dunbarx]

Stam. Why would the forum go away just because (choke, sniffle) LC10 went away? What else would I do first thing in the morning?

Heather? Thoughts?

Craig

[stam]

Hey, I'd rather it didn't - there is a wealth of information hidden in this forum. But everything costs money...

[FourthWorld]

Hosting is a cheap commodity. The cost of spam management isn't the fixed cost of hosting (US$6-$10/mo), but the variable cost of the human effort to mitigate. Right now most of it's done by volunteers, so there's no cost to the company.

[stam]

Hosting is a cheap commodity. The cost of spam management isn't the fixed cost of hosting (US$6-$10/mo), but the variable cost of the human effort to mitigate. Right now most of it's done by volunteers, so there's no cost to the company.

Which is fine if the human effort can cope.
But one man can't cope with hundreds of spam messages that need to be removed one by one.

On the other hand there are systems that will monitor IP addresses, patterns of activity etc and will try to intelligently identify potential spammers. Nothing is perfect of course, but systems like these would make the human effort more manageable - but these systems, not the hosting, cost money.

When our few moderators lose the will to live and this forum then becomes inundated with thousands of spam posts it might be better for the company to lock the forums or shut them down rather than suffer the optics of abandonment.

[FourthWorld]

Bad actors online are one of the biggest threats we face, not just here but across the Internet.

Bot and troll farms are destroying the utility of all social media, exacerbating social divisions to dangerous levels, and spreading mis- and disinformation of a nature and scope that literally kills people.

This forum is the least of humanity's concerns on this, and does indeed exemplify the cost and risk we face across all online communications.

We do what we can with what we have.

[heatherlaine]

Folks, the rumours of the death of this forum have been greatly exaggerated. There is indeed a vast wealth of information here which we will go to considerable lengths to preserve. There was a relatively small, in the scheme of things, spamming incident which seems to have been successfully dealt with, although I will still be keeping a close eye on it for a while. My thanks to the dedicated moderators who ensure no spammer gets away with it for long.

Warmest regards and best wishes for a Happy Holiday Season to all here!

Heather