[clug] [OT] spam-bot killer

[Kim Holburn]

I used a perl cgi script called wpoison which did the same sort of  
thing.  I'm not sure how useful it is.  If a spambot gets stuck forever  
on a page, which happened occasionally then the operator would ban the  
page.  Better is a robots.txt enforcer.  Once an IP has read robots.txt  
it is banned if it goes where robots.txt said not to.  Most spambots  
read robots.txt to find where you don't want them to go, then go there.

Simplest of all is to use the html code for "@"  which is @  AFAIR.  
  There was a study done a year ago or so that showed that spambots  
never decode even the simplest email obfuscation on web pages.

On 2004 Apr 8, , at 4:43 PM, Simon Burton wrote:

> On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 07:18:26 +1000
> Simon Haddon <simon at sibern.com.au> wrote:
>
>> Simon Burton wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> Has anybody seen this before:
>>> http://www.bfndevelopment.com/cgi-bin/home/Members/fMail/Contacts/ 
>>> 1213/List.html
>>>
>>> """Anti-Spam Notice:
>>> This page was generated to trap SPAM bots in an infinite loop. The  
>>> BOT will enter using the same link you used, and record every email  
>>> address linked on this page. Then it will follow the link at the  
>>> bottom in search of more email addresses. The link at the bottom is  
>>> a randomly generated URL that links back to this script. After  
>>> logging thousands of fake email addresses and filling the hosts  
>>> computer with GIGS of useless information, the BOT
>>>
>> Great.  So does this mean that it will fill the hard disks of innocent
>> people as most (if not all) spam has spoofed headers or has originated
>> from some unsuspecting sole.  Doesn't sound too good to me except to
>> chew more bandwidth usage and kill off other peoples machines.  True
>> people should not be running open relays and have their virus scanning
>> up to date...... but.... in reality...  you get what I mean
>>
>
> No actually, i have no idea what you mean...
> Are you saying that innocent people would do a web spider on one of  
> these pages?
>
> Simon.
>
> -- 
> Simon Burton, B.Sc.
> Licensed PO Box 8066
> ANU Canberra 2601
> Australia
> Ph. 61 02 6249 6940
> http://arrowtheory.com
>
>
--
Kim Holburn
IT Manager, Canberra Research Laboratory
National Information and Communication Technology Australia
Ph: +61 2 61258620 M: +61 0417820641
Email: kim.holburn at anu.edu.au  - PGP Public Key on request

Life is complex - It has real and imaginary parts.
      Andrea Leistra (rec.arts.sf.written.Robert-jordan)