Dark times may be coming...?

OmbooHankvald · 2005-10-21, 20:38

This is not to spark paranoia of any sort, but when you look at the SoB wiki and the DC.info wiki you'll notice that both of these are troubled by spammers and vandals.

I fear that sooner or later someone may try the same tricks on the mersennewiki.

Therefore I think we (mainly the SysOps) should start preparing ourselves for eventual vandals heading this way...

And another thing - Since there's no contents in the mersennewiki disclaimer I'll ask here: What policy should we have against vandalism?
I find the Wikipedia policy a little too "polite" (3 warnings, a 8-hour ban, that kind of stuff)..

We may want to discuss this issue over before anyone tries anything...

delta_t · 2005-10-22, 04:30

Are these sites being hit by bots mainly, or just individuals wrecking havoc?

OmbooHankvald · 2005-10-22, 06:31

I think it looks like bots...

fetofs · 2005-10-22, 13:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by OmbooHankvald

1) you'll notice that both of these are troubled by spammers and vandals.

I fear that sooner or later someone may try the same tricks on the mersennewiki.

2)Therefore I think we (mainly the SysOps) should start preparing ourselves for eventual vandals heading this way...

3)And another thing - Since there's no contents in the mersennewiki disclaimer I'll ask here: What policy should we have against vandalism?
I find the Wikipedia policy a little too "polite" (3 warnings, a 8-hour ban, that kind of stuff)..

1)

2) Could Xyzzy add something like image letters to avoid automatic sign ups? That way, we could work together to ban the users... Also, there should be a restriction on editing (only registered users)

3)After that, I think one warning is too polite, depending on what kind of spamming you're talking about. If someone was testing the wiki and messed up, indicaing the sandbox and reverting would be nice. If the spam is just clear deliberate spam, like those above, I would ban directly without asking.

P.S: Wonder why they haven't attacked mersennewiki yet?

alpertron · 2005-10-22, 16:30

The user creation process should have the now common anti-spam procedure, which consist in an image with letters that cannot be OCRed. Then the user has to type the letters as shown.

With this method, bots cannot get new user accounts, thus decreasing a lot the spam.

OmbooHankvald · 2005-10-22, 18:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by fetofs

2) Could Xyzzy add something like image letters to avoid automatic sign ups?

From what I know, I don't think that is possible on a MediaWiki. But I might be wrong

Quote:

Originally Posted by fetofs

Also, there should be a restriction on editing (only registered users)

Again I'm not sure if this is possible and I also think that this issue should be discussed among the community because it might be a huge jump in complicatedness for many n00b-users. But then again: I might be wrong

BTW: Who the **** would try that way of advertising? Do they really believe that people are going to buy stuff from them now?
If I learn how to take down websites jocelyn.ddo.jp and joia.com will definately be my first targets!

cheesehead · 2005-10-23, 05:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by fetofs

Also, there should be a restriction on editing (only registered users)

I agree, and that would have the added benefit (to me, at least) of preventing me from editing until I remember to log in !

Xyzzy · 2005-10-23, 14:50

I think I have it set to allow only logged in users to edit pages now... Please test it...

Sometime today I will upgrade the software to the newest current version...

OmbooHankvald · 2005-10-23, 16:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

Sometime today I will upgrade the software to the newest current version...

I guess that is now, because I can't login...

Xyzzy · 2005-10-23, 17:01

It should be up now... The upgrade was a lot more complex than I expected... We jumped from 1.4.9 to 1.5 which is apparently a big jump...

Some of the math images are messed up... I think if you edit the page and resave it the page will get fixed... I'm not sure really...

Math image caching is disabled right now...

I think image uploads are working...

I'm working on setting it so only registered users can edit...

Let me know what is broken...

The good news is this new version fixes a lot of security holes...

cheesehead · 2005-10-24, 06:26

I logged out, then tried to edit a page. It immediately told me I had to log in.

This is good.

2005-10-21, 20:38	#1
OmbooHankvald May 2005 Copenhagen, Denmark 17² Posts	Dark times may be coming...? This is not to spark paranoia of any sort, but when you look at the SoB wiki and the DC.info wiki you'll notice that both of these are troubled by spammers and vandals. I fear that sooner or later someone may try the same tricks on the mersennewiki. Therefore I think we (mainly the SysOps) should start preparing ourselves for eventual vandals heading this way... And another thing - Since there's no contents in the mersennewiki disclaimer I'll ask here: What policy should we have against vandalism? I find the Wikipedia policy a little too "polite" (3 warnings, a 8-hour ban, that kind of stuff).. We may want to discuss this issue over before anyone tries anything...

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2005-10-22, 04:30	#2
delta_t Nov 2002 Anchorage, AK 3×7×17 Posts	Are these sites being hit by bots mainly, or just individuals wrecking havoc?

2005-10-22, 06:31	#3
OmbooHankvald May 2005 Copenhagen, Denmark 17² Posts	I think it looks like bots...

2005-10-22, 16:30	#5
alpertron Aug 2002 Buenos Aires, Argentina 2·683 Posts	The user creation process should have the now common anti-spam procedure, which consist in an image with letters that cannot be OCRed. Then the user has to type the letters as shown. With this method, bots cannot get new user accounts, thus decreasing a lot the spam.

2005-10-23, 14:50	#8
Xyzzy "Mike" Aug 2002 2⁵·257 Posts	I think I have it set to allow only logged in users to edit pages now... Please test it... Sometime today I will upgrade the software to the newest current version...

2005-10-23, 17:01	#10
Xyzzy "Mike" Aug 2002 2⁵×257 Posts	It should be up now... The upgrade was a lot more complex than I expected... We jumped from 1.4.9 to 1.5 which is apparently a big jump... Some of the math images are messed up... I think if you edit the page and resave it the page will get fixed... I'm not sure really... Math image caching is disabled right now... I think image uploads are working... I'm working on setting it so only registered users can edit... Let me know what is broken... The good news is this new version fixes a lot of security holes...

2005-10-24, 06:26	#11
cheesehead "Richard B. Woods" Aug 2002 Wisconsin USA 2²×3×641 Posts	I logged out, then tried to edit a page. It immediately told me I had to log in. This is good.