ritchie58 Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 This General Forum is for the use of the Immunet community to submit questions about Immunet or share technical information. Not a billboard for you spammers who think otherwise. Administrators, I sincerely hope that you are banning these people for life for abusing the privilege to post here. Spammers, go somewhere else to peddle your GARBAGE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweidre Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 This General Forum is for the use of the Immunet community to submit questions about Immunet or share technical information. Not a billboard for you spammers who think otherwise. Administrators, I sincerely hope that you are banning these people for life for abusing the privilege to post here. Spammers, go somewhere else to peddle your GARBAGE!!! Agree! But it is up to us no-spamming members, when there is a spam post appearing, to click on the button "report" in the bottom left corner of the post and write a short reason for "banning". Then a mod or admin will delete the spamming post and place the spammer in the category "banned". A "banned" member can visit the forum, as everyone can, but a "banned" member cannot post any more posts = "read only". One way is to turn the forum into a "non-public" forum, but Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. can then not fetch any info from the forum. The presence of Google and other search engines are in fact promoting Immunet (provided, that we are not highlighting Immunet bugs too much!) When somebody applies for a membership into the forum, it is very difficult for Immunet to deny membership, unless the email address of the applicant already exists on the "banned" list! One way is to admit only Immunet users, who have paid for Immunet. (That means, that users of Immunet FREE should pay USD 5-10 for it. The name can be easily changed from FREE to BASIC, why not?!) A forum member, who has paid for an Immunet product will unlikely turn into a SPAMMER in its forum! Cheers, sweidre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OrlandoP Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Just returned from holidays, bad guys banned, I hope that spammers go to holidays. Orlando Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchie58 Posted August 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2011 I agree with that Orlando! I wish they all would take a hike! In retrospect the forum isn't getting spammed as often as it use to since it was agreed upon to start banning people for life. Sweidre, I do report any spam post that is submitted that I happen to catch. Then I'll submit a thread stating that the post has been reported. It really is up to all of us, administrators, moderators and forum users alike, to police, so to speak, the forum to try and keep the people with other dubious intentions out. Another good thing to mention again is to set your email to private within your profile settings as a safeguard from spamming. There certainly is no easy answer when it comes to eliminating spam entirely from within the forum is there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweidre Posted August 19, 2011 Report Share Posted August 19, 2011 I agree with that Orlando! I wish they all would take a hike! In retrospect the forum isn't getting spammed as often as it use to since it was agreed upon to start banning people for life. Sweidre, I do report any spam post that is submitted that I happen to catch. Then I'll submit a thread stating that the post has been reported. It really is up to all of us, administrators, moderators and forum users alike, to police, so to speak, the forum to try and keep the people with other dubious intentions out. Another good thing to mention again is to set your email to private within your profile settings as a safeguard from spamming. There certainly is no easy answer when it comes to eliminating spam entirely from within the forum is there. Hi, 1. Banning for life! Really good! (I have missed that very good action!) But, still a presumptive spammer can apply for a membership in the forum using a new email address! 2. Set email to private! Still, many members have not set the email to private. 3. My intention is not now to do any ad for IObit, but I asked an admin there, why the signature has been limited to only a few characters only. The answer was, that they had to do that, because to limit the increasing spam (The forum of IObit is huge in comparison to the forum of Immunet.) 4. It should be good, if admins, mods & other members will highlight measures, that we can/must take to mininimize the extent of SPAM! Cheers, sweidre PS. SPAM can be completely eliminated by turning the forum into a PRIVATE CLUB, but then the word "forum" has lost an important part of its meaning! DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedersen Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 Hey all. It is true that there have been a lot of spam lately and we have no simple way to end it. Making the forum paid accessible only is out of the question as we have a big free user-base and we want to be able to support those too. The best thing we can do would be to making all forum post invisible by default until a MOD or ADMIN acknowledge them and turn them visible. Well it will make posting slower as all can expect up to 24 hours waiting time before all can see their post. It wont protect for spam comments but would be a start. BTW they keep using different IP addresses so we cant ban them for good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweidre Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 The best thing we can do would be to making all forum post invisible by default until a MOD or ADMIN acknowledge them and turn them visible. Well it will make posting slower as all can expect up to 24 hours waiting time before all can see their post. It wont protect for spam comments but would be a start. BTW they keep using different IP addresses so we cant ban them for good. Hi Pedersen, Thanks for your proposals, but I think we need better ones, because 1. Making all forum posts invisible until MOD or ADMIN acknowledge them, prevents the possibility to see the post and "edit" it immediately after submitting. "Preview" before posting works, but not for changing of the heading of the thread, if the post is the first one in the thread (topic). (Personally, I use the "edit" function often, because I often miss to find errors/mistakes when previewing.) 2. Up to 24 hours between question and answer is unacceptable, especially if a reply of a question is urgent! 3. Do you mean, that it will take up to 24 hours until a mod or admin will visit the forum? Really bad! Is the interest of the forum so minimal by Immunet employees? Often other ordinary members will give proper replies (at least hints) immediately to help new or old members, provided that they have the correct knowledge. By hiding a question up to 24 hours makes this impossible (at least delayed). 4. If a post gets hidden, there is very likely that the poster will add the post again, because a post "hidden" means that the submittal of the post has not worked properly! A poster will maybe try several times, until he/she will finally give up. After 24 hours we will get several identical posts turning up in the forum. Even if the contents of the posts are OK, the vast numbers of similar posts will really be regarded as SPAM! 5. Different dynamic IP addresses most users have. So banning IP addresses will never work. Try instead to ban credentials to the forum: username & password. (Unfortunately, a banned spammer can apply for another membership using new credentials! ) 6. More ideas against SPAMMING are needed! Cheers, sweidre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweidre Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 Making the forum paid accessible only is out of the question as we have a big free user-base and we want to be able to support those too. Hi Pedersen again, There is a difference between Immunet product(s) users and Immunet forum members! It is correct, that Immunet has now an increasing big free user-base contributing to the very important "cloud", but only a minor fraction thereof is members in the Immunet forum. Let all members (FREE & PLUS) of the forum pay a minor fee for their memberships. Give only paying members read & write posting permission. Paying members will unlikely spam the forum! Non-paying visitors (like Google, Yahoo, etc) can only read posts (not write). Those Immunet FREE users, who do not want to pay for membership of the forum, can still write an email to support@immunet.com , if in trouble and hope/wait for an answer. Cheers, sweidre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweidre Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 Hi, First time posters (Newbes) - Anti-Spamming Proposal This post is about SPAMMING but with no relation to my previous posts above! I want to view the problem from another angle: The spamming posts, that I have come across in the forum, have always been posted by newbes as their first post. It is evident, that many new members have joined the forum not in order to discuss Immunet issues or overall computer security, but just to post any sort of forbidden SPAM (eg. ads, porn or/and links to them). So, in my mind, we should concentrate our anti-spam measures/proposals upon first time posters only. But many first time posters are really seriuos and have joined the forum to express some Immunet matters, that they have encountered. I suggest, that only first time posters should be controlled thoroughly by an Admin or Mod. (Posts by other old forum members, who know the rules, should not be subject to any extra control eg. hiding posts for up to 24 hours as Pedersen suggested above). When a new member apply for membership in the forum, he/she should be informed, that his/her initial posts will be thoroughly controlled by Admins or Mods in 24 hours prior to posting into the forum, because SPAM with ads & pornographic contents or links are strictly forbidden. (So, new members are obliged to read the rules of the Immunet forum and accept them, prior to joining!) Cheers, sweidre PS. Unfortunately, posts by presumptive new serious members with urgent Immunet problems have to wait long time for replies! (All proposals seem to have disadvantages). DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchie58 Posted September 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 It is true what Sweidre says, that the vast majority of spam comes from first time posters. Why couldn't you have brand new members go through a sort of "probationary period," say 60 days (or a time-frame you deem acceptable), where, as Pedersen suggested, their posts would be unavailable until an admin. or mod. views them for legitimacy. Have the probationary period start when a new member wants to post their first message. So you can't just wait for 60 days to expire and then spam the forum. After the probationary period has ended and a new member has demonstrated his or her willingness to follow the rules and use the forum responsibly he or she is granted the privilege of unencumbered access to the forum. I'm sure most if not all spammers aren't going to want to wait that long before posting his or her crap on the forum then. They like to hit and run but if a spammer was still that determined you could still use the ban for life option. That would also help to deter them using different email addresses, user names and passwords since they would have to wait another 60 days to post! That way legitimate, current Immunet forum users aren't penalized because of a few rotten newbee apples. Otherwise "everyone's" posts, urgent, good or bad, are stuck in limbo for hours or even days perhaps if it's a weekend or a holiday season. I think that would be a good compromise. What do you think administrators and moderators? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweidre Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Hi, First time posters in Immunet forum First time posters are of two categories: 1. SPAMMERS 2. NEWBES WITH IMMUNET ISSUES Proposal: First time posters should not have their posts submittd to Immunet forum. Instead should the "hidden" posts be emailed to usertest@immunet.com from where an appointed mod/admin should sort the emails into two piles: 1. Goats (SPAMMERS) Measures: 1a. Emails thrown into the waste bin (of course, no email replies to them) 1b. The posts will never be submitted to the forum board 1c. The spammers with email addresses, usernames, & passwords should be banned for ever. 2.: Sheep (NEWBES WITH IMMUNET ISSUES) Measures: 2a. The "hidden" posts should immediately be submitted to the Immunet board 2b. Emails should immediately be sent to them telling that their "hidden" posts are already submitted to the Immunet Forum board. The emails should contain an apologize, that this operation was an one-time measure to avoid spamming and this will not happen again, unless they will break the rules of the Immunet Forum The "hidden" posts should remain hidden during a short time only, because a SPAMMER not able to submit a post to the board will think that there is something wrong with the forum or has an extraordinary spamcontrol. Maybe he will try a second time and then finallly give up. This means, that the NEWBES WITH IMMUNET ISSUES will very soon get their posts submitted to the forum board & hopefully get an almost imminent help needed by forum members, mods or admins Note that many users who just have installed Immunet will very often encounter incompability with other softwares installed from before (eg. firewll, AV, or anti-spyware softwares or old OS. First time users of Immunet has no documentation (helpfile, FAQ, manual, guide, etc.) to read. They need to get help in the Immunet Forum by experienced members mods/admins. Cheers, sweidre PS. I haven several posts on this thread. Note, they are often contradictory, because I am trying to give different proposals commented/tested. Am I a spammer with more than 1000 posts in total? Is a frequent poster a spammer? Definitions of a spammer is missing! DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 All it takes is a few immunet staff or appointed moderators to monitor their specific forum area. These individuals should have the ability to immediately remove any posts that are suspect for more scrutiny. ( this should not take up much time or effort if forum areas are split between mods) Appointed forum areas should then be inspected say twice per 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedersen Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Well we already inspect all forums once, at least each day (2 moderator and some admins). But lately we have removed up to 10 spam post in one day so you must bare over with us, we simply cant keep it away from public in less than a 12 hours window. My reason for 12 hours is because we do have work and a life besides this like any of you but we tries to keep up as much as we can Privat forum for paid apps might be made in the future but is not likely to be done yet. we simply have a too small community yet. If you have any other ideas you might not want to share here, feel free to mail me at: pedersen@immunet.com or PM. best regards Pedersen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweidre Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Well we already inspect all forums once, at least each day (2 moderator and some admins). But lately we have removed up to 10 spam post in one day so you must bare over with us, we simply cant keep it away from public in less than a 12 hours window. My reason for 12 hours is because we do have work and a life besides this like any of you but we tries to keep up as much as we can Privat forum for paid apps might be made in the future but is not likely to be done yet. we simply have a too small community yet. If you have any other ideas you might not want to share here, feel free to mail me at: pedersen@immunet.com or PM. best regards Pedersen Hi, I have checked, that all Spammers are first-time posters, so if 12 hours are needed, this 12 hours rule should only be valid for first-time posters (real newbies). Please, do not extend the 12 hours further, because many newbies are not any spammers at all! They are newbies with imminent basic proplems to get solved. Often ordinary members can give satisfactory replies to them. Cheers, sweidre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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