We're getting slammed

[Queequeg]

I just discovered (and perma-banned) the 10th spam-bot of the day.
If you spot any more, please PM me as I am not monitoring this site 24/7.
thx.

[William2]

Maybe there should be a procedure for being able to join the group. Back when I was on FB and had the second largest recorder forum, you had to be able to answer a simple question that any recorder player would know the answer to. If you answered it correctly, you were allowed to join. And I had a Board who could also review answers to the question we had. Now what kind of question could we use for this group LOL.

[Queequeg]

Maybe there should be a procedure for being able to join the group. Back when I was on FB and had the second largest recorder forum, you had to be able to answer a simple question that any recorder player would know the answer to. If you answered it correctly, you were allowed to join. And I had a Boar who could also review answers to the question we had. Now what kind of question could we use for this group LOL.

Good point, William.
We have such a procedure in place.
Bots are sometimes able to circumvent the process.

[Queequeg]

After banning 29 Russian bots overnight tonight I've created something of a bottleneck for new users to navigate.
Two new bots registered while I was in the process of banning the others.
This might slow the influx by adding one more hoop for legitimate members to jump through but it's the only way I can keep up with these machine-created accounts in this whack-a-mole world.

[jazzereh]

Greatly appreciate the work you do, Queequeg, so many thanks for looking after us. 

Since I've not had the misfortune to need to do this kind of thing, is it obvious where the bots come from?  How do you know?  Is there a way to pinpoint an origin?

[Queequeg]

Greatly appreciate the work you do, Queequeg, so many thanks for looking after us. 

Since I've not had the misfortune to need to do this kind of thing, is it obvious where the bots come from?  How do you know?  Is there a way to pinpoint an origin?

Good question, Jazz.
Yes, I can see their IP addresses when I log in as admin.
In one case, even though the username changed, several of the posts were sent from the identical IP address.
Over the course of the last week since this latest bombardment attack, almost all of them originated in Russia. A couple from Nigeria.

[lackstone]

AI is probably the new tool for curators of bad bots. Probably only going to get worse because their efforts will be made easier for them as we move into technology that goes around BBB counter measures (digital Maginot Lines).

May we all have a "...brave New Year" (I Believe In Father Christmas - Greg Lake)