Comments on: Using .htaccess to deal with a recent flood of trackback ping spam http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam Teaching, rebuking, correcting & training in righteous web design. Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:56:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Ted Carnahan http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2384 Ted Carnahan Mon, 07 Feb 2005 13:55:41 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2384 Wow, sorry Dean, didn't mean to be a prophetic "voice in the wilderness" about the referrer thing. It brings up an interesting point, though. At what point do we switch from defensively protecting our sites to actively going after (ie turning into the feds) people. Is it the point where spamming becomes/is replaced by a DOS attack, or is it somewhere sooner? How does our position as the church affect that? I wonder how current anti-spam laws would apply to Trackback spam. I hope you get everything straightened out. In Him, - Ted Wow, sorry Dean, didn’t mean to be a prophetic “voice in the wilderness” about the referrer thing. It brings up an interesting point, though. At what point do we switch from defensively protecting our sites to actively going after (ie turning into the feds) people. Is it the point where spamming becomes/is replaced by a DOS attack, or is it somewhere sooner? How does our position as the church affect that? I wonder how current anti-spam laws would apply to Trackback spam.

I hope you get everything straightened out. In Him,

- Ted

]]> By: How Now, Brownpau? http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2385 How Now, Brownpau? Sun, 06 Feb 2005 22:36:08 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2385 <strong>Trackback Spam Attack</strong> Yes, the spammers have figured out trackback, and are now pinging our trackback URLs repeatedly with multiple GET requests, posting hundreds of links to sleazy... Trackback Spam Attack

Yes, the spammers have figured out trackback, and are now pinging our trackback URLs repeatedly with multiple GET requests, posting hundreds of links to sleazy…

]]> By: salguod http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2383 salguod Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:32:30 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2383 Ok, I'm starting to get my head around this. Oh - and don't take my earlier comments as criticism. It's more a comment on my (lack of) knowledge. It's fun getting into this stuff and figuring out how it woks. Really. So, if I'm following this, it's a little like a blacklist in that it looks for certain terms (in the referrer? the post? the ??) and if they are found it blocks the post. Do I understand this right? Also, as I browse my site via FTP, I don't see any .htaccess file. Is that normal? Once I create one, where should I put it? I'm assuming in the top level folder (www.salguod.net) Thanks. Ok, I’m starting to get my head around this. Oh – and don’t take my earlier comments as criticism. It’s more a comment on my (lack of) knowledge. It’s fun getting into this stuff and figuring out how it woks. Really.

So, if I’m following this, it’s a little like a blacklist in that it looks for certain terms (in the referrer? the post? the ??) and if they are found it blocks the post. Do I understand this right?

Also, as I browse my site via FTP, I don’t see any .htaccess file. Is that normal? Once I create one, where should I put it? I’m assuming in the top level folder (www.salguod.net)

Thanks.

]]> By: Laurabelle http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2382 Laurabelle Fri, 04 Feb 2005 11:47:50 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2382 Hi! Thanks to linking to me, but I think we didn't have the same problem. I'm not using Parker's whole .htaccess file, just his spam_ref=yes concept and the associated Mod_Rewrite rules that deny based on that variable. So my problem was not that I blocked myself from posting, it's that I didn't block the requests that I wanted to block. Part of my problem turned out to be that my Movable Type installation is in a CGI directory, which is a separate document root. Yours and Parker's don't appear to be set up that way, so your root .htaccess rules apply for your whole site. I have to have (at least) two different .htaccess files. Good luck with fighting spam. I'm glad that we're all using different methods; it means that it's harder for the spammers to find one solution that catches all of us off guard. Hi!

Thanks to linking to me, but I think we didn’t have the same problem. I’m not using Parker’s whole .htaccess file, just his spam_ref=yes concept and the associated Mod_Rewrite rules that deny based on that variable. So my problem was not that I blocked myself from posting, it’s that I didn’t block the requests that I wanted to block.

Part of my problem turned out to be that my Movable Type installation is in a CGI directory, which is a separate document root. Yours and Parker’s don’t appear to be set up that way, so your root .htaccess rules apply for your whole site. I have to have (at least) two different .htaccess files.

Good luck with fighting spam. I’m glad that we’re all using different methods; it means that it’s harder for the spammers to find one solution that catches all of us off guard.

]]> By: Laurabelle http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2381 Laurabelle Fri, 04 Feb 2005 11:44:41 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2381 Hi! Thanks to linking to me, but I think we didn't have the same problem. I'm not using Parker's whole .htaccess file, just his spam_ref=yes concept and the associated Mod_Rewrite rules that deny based on that variable. So my problem was not that I blocked myself from posting, it's that I didn't block the requests that I wanted to block. Part of my problem turned out to be that my Movable Type installation is in a CGI directory, which is a separate document root. Yours and Parker's don't appear to be set up that way, so your root .htaccess rules apply for your whole site. I have to have (at least) two different .htaccess files. Good luck with fighting spam. I'm glad that we're all using different methods; it means that it's harder for the spammers to find one solution that catches all of us off guard. Hi!

Thanks to linking to me, but I think we didn’t have the same problem. I’m not using Parker’s whole .htaccess file, just his spam_ref=yes concept and the associated Mod_Rewrite rules that deny based on that variable. So my problem was not that I blocked myself from posting, it’s that I didn’t block the requests that I wanted to block.

Part of my problem turned out to be that my Movable Type installation is in a CGI directory, which is a separate document root. Yours and Parker’s don’t appear to be set up that way, so your root .htaccess rules apply for your whole site. I have to have (at least) two different .htaccess files.

Good luck with fighting spam. I’m glad that we’re all using different methods; it means that it’s harder for the spammers to find one solution that catches all of us off guard.

]]> By: mrben http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2380 mrben Fri, 04 Feb 2005 09:39:47 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2380 While I can understand that it may look like a DDOS attack, I seriously doubt that it is. I too receive a similar hit a few weeks ago, but my site is so minor I can't imagine anyone targetting me in this way. I think it is just a spambot that happens to hit hard. While I can understand that it may look like a DDOS attack, I seriously doubt that it is. I too receive a similar hit a few weeks ago, but my site is so minor I can’t imagine anyone targetting me in this way. I think it is just a spambot that happens to hit hard.

]]> By: Christopher http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2379 Christopher Fri, 04 Feb 2005 00:48:30 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2379 I need that dummies book too. I know enough to know I need the information in this entry but not enough to use it. Maybe this weekend. I need that dummies book too.

I know enough to know I need the information in this entry but not enough to use it. Maybe this weekend.

]]> By: Ted Carnahan http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2378 Ted Carnahan Thu, 03 Feb 2005 23:07:08 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2378 Dean - Delurking after reading HYCW for a long time - great blog. Question: you're depending on the User Agent to send you an appropriate Referrer HTTP header. What's to stop the bad guys from sending trackbacks (which, though I'm not a blogger, I assume are done by standard HTTP requests) with forged headers? Since mod_rewrite doesn't do any session handling, a bad guy can simply send you a forged trackback ping that includes the spammy link in the transfered data. Okay, admittedly, IANAB (I am not a blogger) so I may not understand how trackback works. Feel free to set me straight. It seems like some sort of verification on the part of the trackback-recieving post would be more effective, but I can't think of anything that isn't fairly easily falsifiable. Ah well, just some random thoughts. Thanks for a very encouraging and interesting blog. Dean –

Delurking after reading HYCW for a long time – great blog. Question: you’re depending on the User Agent to send you an appropriate Referrer HTTP header. What’s to stop the bad guys from sending trackbacks (which, though I’m not a blogger, I assume are done by standard HTTP requests) with forged headers? Since mod_rewrite doesn’t do any session handling, a bad guy can simply send you a forged trackback ping that includes the spammy link in the transfered data.

Okay, admittedly, IANAB (I am not a blogger) so I may not understand how trackback works. Feel free to set me straight. It seems like some sort of verification on the part of the trackback-recieving post would be more effective, but I can’t think of anything that isn’t fairly easily falsifiable.

Ah well, just some random thoughts. Thanks for a very encouraging and interesting blog.

]]> By: cindy http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2377 cindy Thu, 03 Feb 2005 19:43:56 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2377 I also mass block referrers based on the domain that they are leaving. It's pretty safe to assume that anyone referring to my domain from a .info, .biz or .ru domain is a spammer, at least for my site. RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} \.info [NC,OR] RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} \.ru [NC,OR] RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} \.biz I also mass block referrers based on the domain that they are leaving. It’s pretty safe to assume that anyone referring to my domain from a .info, .biz or .ru domain is a spammer, at least for my site.

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} \.info [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} \.ru [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} \.biz

]]> By: Gary Petersen http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2376 Gary Petersen Thu, 03 Feb 2005 18:52:52 +0000 http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2005/02/04/using-htaccess-to-deal-with-a-recent-flood-of-trackback-ping-spam#comment-2376 So Dean, are you going to post a link to a TXT version of your htaccess file for the rest of us to learn from? Oh, great guru of bloggedness. So Dean, are you going to post a link to a TXT version of your htaccess file for the rest of us to learn from?

Oh, great guru of bloggedness.

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