Re: [boost] Problem with the Boost Wiki?

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-06-19 12:00:01

Jeff Garland <jeff_at_[hidden]> writes:

> David Abrahams wrote:
>> Jeff Garland <jeff_at_[hidden]> writes:
>> 
>>> David Abrahams wrote:
>>>> Jeff Garland <jeff_at_[hidden]> writes:
>>> Two reasons.  That requires a software upgrade including data conversion 
>>> to new wiki software.  Second, based on my discussion with other wiki 
>>> administrators it doesn't stop spammers -- they just register with a 
>>> free email address and off they go.  
>> 
>> Of course a few will do that.  But isn't most spam done by automatic
>> webcrawling software that seeks out open wikis and forums?  As long as
>> those abound, fewer spammers will bother with the protected one,
>> right?  
>
> Nope, from what I understand the email registration test just doesn't 
> work at all unless you want to put a human in the loop on all approvals, 
> which prevents the casual update. Remember, we are dealing with folks 
> that have hacked hundreds of machines, so a bunch of throwaway email 
> addresses isn't a problem for them.  A typical 200 page spam attack is 
> done from 15-20 different IP addresses with each one spamming at about 1 
> page every 5 minutes.  The reason they do this slowly is that many 
> wiki's added a feature to prevent robo spamming by only allowing a slow 
> number of changes per ip per unit time.  So the spammers adapted...

In that case, I wonder why we never see spam posts by first-time Boost
posters.

>>> Bottom line is that today's systeam takes me about 10 minutes per
>>> day.  The only bad part is that it sometimes takes a bit more time
>>> to roll back if I don't happen to be online.
>> 
>> As long as you don't mind doing the work, I appreciate it, and of
>> course it's okay with me.
>
> In my ideal world we would upgrade the software and it would enable
> a group of moderators to trivially manage/revert/stop spam.  We'll
> get there at some point, but the solution we have now is working
> well enough and I'm busy enough that I don't plan on pursuing this
> for awhile.

Understood.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com