Spam Accounts

[mel]

Lately when I come here I notice that users online are quite plentiful.

I also notice that I don't know many of the user name handles being used. When you log on, look at the very bottom of the HT window in the section, "What's Going On" and "Currently Active Users". It seems many people come here to browse but posts are few.

As of this posting currently online are:

Most users ever online was 572, December 19th, 2008 at 05:01 PM.
mel*, agenensaulvaG, Atovatova, AVAIVADRANT, Brierpelisons, clukghij, Daussymearver, DexeseUpsence, Eteneable, hGqMoCoUjI, icgdebyhjd, Incannebynefe, Jaisulpillumn, Kadetasty, kukisis, lomarrils, lopqhicyzz, MaksHark, nv6dne, plalchernht, Prargodok, Preeviela, ReorgoGer, smistully, Swettedyday

So what are these people doing here?

[matapule]

As of this posting currently online are:



So what are these people doing here?

By the names, it looks like a virus or spam attack to me!

[mel]

Could very well be spam-bots, though one of the names is a regular here so not a spam-bot.

A few hours later more of these names:

mel*, addegebleft, DodydoraAdvof, Geasiainand, Honoruru, ignilassund, jaejvxvner, KapsSutslat, kgeokgoox, kukisis, Niseetrigue, oosjgksdfc, OvevyPeethy, pingfunddew, Pleangeab, SnoraMuroFrub, Utemeabetef, wf8jey

[Honoruru]

That regular name is me, I hope.

I've been noticing this (abundance of names) lately, too. They look like generated names, and one of those names is always the newest member. I've also noted the number of members is growing incredibly, so I took notes. On 11/21 the number of members listed was 12,070. Today it was at 15, 575. That's a gain of 3,505 over 11 days, 318 per day. Is that normal?

[mel]

That regular name is me, I hope.

Yes it is.

OK - gaining 575+ members in just a few days is a fluke. I'll notify admin. Someone or some site is bombarding this one.

And the mostly bogus names continue:

Most users ever online was 572, December 19th, 2008 at 05:01 PM.
mel*, darGeanna, DuseIndudge, Equagemug, flouskxgs, Gabstaula, igortoluyolow, Keydayhokkade, kukisis, MaksHark, qkmlgicd, ReorgoGer, saisaHibjap, sayenipljwea, surged-brooch, teatclete, VoincVemboymn, Wrolddarlyvox

Another set a few minutes later.

cotsAlethitte, feesspitafe, jaejvxvner, Jaisulpillumn, kukisis, LiniTible, ly1uja, ObsellHecex, pingfunddew, qkmlgicd, RuSpebropeCep, sayenipljwea, scoutKedNeuse, tikost, uggsje

Doing a quick Google search finds that there are several types of hacks being implemented against vBulletin boards.

[scrivener]

For the past few years, Ryan has been manually approving new memberships, so HT is mostly safe from the spam attacks I've seen on other boards. It's no fun to be him, I'm sure, with having to slog through the spam registrations in order to get to the legit ones. But I suspect he doesn't do that very often anyway.

[mel]

Manual or automatic membership approvals, the mostly bogus names are still showing up. As of this post:

Most users ever online was 572, December 19th, 2008 at 05:01 PM.
mel*, agenensaulvaG, atrollult, bloobeSeeri, fcwrtrfgsc, Frandinorgo, IcevaSectVove, ionidoapeli, Jaisulpillumn, kukisis, Memaeromjag, pingfunddew, quergeMet, ruineunnigraw, sayenipljwea, scoutKedNeuse, sedatives-monkish, Spaceneange, Stictaryday, teatclete, Temafloam

[admin]

Message boards, like blog comments and other web tools inviting people to post content, are frequently targeted by spammers. Even with CAPTCHAs and other 'are you human?' checks, the automated tools used get more and more sophisticated. Of course, I manually moderate all new memberships, essentially 'interviewing' anyone who minimally reads the instructions sent, so I ignore all these fake signups.

They've been coming in at a hundred or so a day at times, and I'm just deleting them outright periodically. But as you've noticed, the mere display of recent user signups (under 'who's online') gives them more exposure than they deserve, so I'll try and suppress that.

Of course, the total number of 'members' shown is also unreliable as a result, which is a pity.

[Kaonohi]

I was favorably impressed when I came here that an attempt was made to avoid sock accounts. I recall having to submit some kind of 'proof' (wasn't it my IRL?), and I approved.

Do fake accounts impact negatively? Take up memory? I'm not too Internet savvy.

[scrivener]

Their existences all by themselves aren't much of a drain on computer resources. But they can be a drain on time, since someone has to take the trouble to delete them, and that can be a pain. Also, if you're into the numbers of a website, they can skew data in an unpleasant way.

I almost never look at the "who's online right now" list because I don't really care, but that function is there for a reason, and if it's packed with meaningless spam bots, that reason is defeated.

[Walkoff Balk]

I almost never look at the "who's online right now" list because I don't really care, but that function is there for a reason, and if it's packed with meaningless spam bots, that reason is defeated.

It's for advertisers.

[Kaonohi]

Is it possible that these are people who have logged in and have failed to log off?
Perhaps we need an 'automatic log-off" function?
Just thinking.

[helen]

Unless an account is doing the Who is Online function, an account will time out from the HawaiiThreads website. And I just out that the Who is Online function has been disabled.

[Walkoff Balk]

How many of those usernames can get points in Scrabble?

[mel]

I wonder if the spam bots are still continuing, because the views on several topic threads are significantly high vs. the age or even participation level of the thread.

From the music section:

2013 Rock n Roll Hall of Famers
Walkoff Balk
December 12th, 2012 01:17 PM
by Ron Whitfield
3 2,982

Aloha `oe, Dave Brubeck
Leo Lakio
December 12th, 2012 12:21 AM
by lensperson
12 3,460

Zach Sobiech - Clouds
mel
December 10th, 2012 12:38 AM
by mel
0 1,154

Poll: The INXS Appreciation Thread
scrivener
November 23rd, 2012 08:32 PM
by Walkoff Balk
14 3,835

The Melvins 51st
Ron Whitfield
October 26th, 2012 03:02 PM
by Ron Whitfield
0 381

So cool! Music makes the world go around. ( 1 2 3 4 5)
Menehune Man
September 10th, 2012 02:48 AM
by Menehune Man
123 7,905

Diamond Head Crater Festivals ( 1 2 3 4 5 6)
scrivener
August 21st, 2012 09:03 PM
by Shop99er
133 22,051

The smaller number at the bottom represent the number of replies while the larger one next to it represent views.

re: 3,480 views for Dave Brubeck with only 12 replies. Thread is kind of new too.

Unfortunately the board display doesn't cut and paste very nicely into a quote.

So I guess the question would be are real people actually viewing the threads or is it only a bot just making a track through it and bumping up the view count?

[Walkoff Balk]

Look how much the views have increased in the movie threads. Is there a connection?

[memorylane]

I would be willing to help the boss out in getting rid of the no Aloha free ridding SOB's!!