This is somewhat off-topic with respect to travel, but I'm hoping some experts can tell me exactly what is happening.

I have a small web forum at www.thinclientforum.com. A requirement for posting is registration, but the BBS software that I use, phpBB, doesn't seem to have an email validation system. Usually, I don't have a problem with rogue users, but lately, I've been running into posters who make nonsense posts that have, in tiny fonts, what appear to be links to porn.

Of course, I delete the posts and ban the users and IP addresses.

What, exactly, do they accomplish by doing this, besides annoying the heck out of me?

The links are an attempt to increase their ranking in Google.

Basically, Google uses (amongst many other things) the interconnectivity of sites in their ranking routine, so they're hoping that your site will help bump them up in google searches.

A recent bit of information regarding this is here:
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/bl...rch-poisoning/

I thought phpBB has introduced various anti-spam features in later editions. Perhaps worth checking out their webpages - eg perhaps http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewt...f=46&t=1437125

Otherwise there are other forum softwares which often update their forum software to enable better control over rogue posters.

Ah, thanks!. I was afraid something truly malicious was going on. At least this is relatively benign. All of these seem to be coming from the same range of IP addresses (hosted in South Africa) and link to porn on a Polish website. I may just block the entire IP range -- it's simpler than trying to change the web forum software, though I will check the phpBB webpages for additional info.

phpBB is modular like most forums, isn't it? Meaning there are add-on options out there - things like spam catchers, or captcha requirements, and perhaps what you want - email / registration validation. Just did a google search and found phbbhacks.com, and the "MODs" forum on the phpBB website at phpbb.com/mods. Check those out if you haven't.

Thanks, I will.

There's something called "contextual verification" which is a module for phpbb. I use it and it cuts down the spam. You put in a question for them to answer. If they can't answer, its a bot. do a search for php and spam and you'll find quite afew resources available.

I'm pretty sure this isn't a bot, though I suppose it might be. The moron returned a couple of nights ago with a slightly altered ID but, since I monitor the board fairly closely, I just banned him again and deleted all of his posts (took 10 seconds or so). I'm busy this week, but when I get some time I'll look into the various additional modules available of phpbb.

Still sounds like a bot. Once a bot finds positive hit, it will keep trying over and over. Usually coming from a range of IP's. Bot programmers have gotten fairly sophisticated and with widely used bulletin board software packages like phpBB, vBulletin and others, bots just crawl the web looking for installed copies. It's always a race between bots and site admins.

Just ask some of the mods how much spam gets through and how much gets caught here on FT. There's plenty, I've happened upon some spam posts before they were dumped here.

Wow . . . this is depressing. I guess I'll have to check out the add-ins for phpBB. It almost makes it not worth it to run a small web forum.

I used to administer a couple of phpBB forums for my employer. One of them drew 40-50 spam messages a day, about 10x as many spam messages as customer messages! Eventually the company shut the spammy board down, because the spam was relentless.

The other issue with phpBB is its susceptibility to hacking. It's long been one of the most vulnerable scripts out there and the hackers can use its vulnerability to get root access on your server! Supposedly it has gotten better, but I've seen hackers get root through phpBB at two former employers, and it isn't pretty.

If you're serious about running a message board, spring for serious message board software, like vBulletin or Invision Power Board. You'll get much better tools to deal with the spam.

My personal blog's got some pretty good GoogleJuice thanks to a couple of articles I have. As a result, I get lots of spam. Since I installed my current spam filter, it's caught >50,000 spam comments. I've had about 300-400 legit comments.

You just need to find the right tools and let them do their job, just like e-mail filtering, only more so.

phpBB is provided as, basically, a one-click install by my ISP. I've been dreading wading into the swamp of technical forum administration, but it appears I may have no choice.