SteamedPenguin

I hate getting referrer spam. While I know that referrer spam is a fact of life for anybody hosting a website, I hate seeing my logs filled with crap. Being proactive about this log-jacking is hard, but I like doing something about it anyway.

After closing down comments and trackbacks I am cautiously opening up the ability to trackback and comment again. Drupal is coming through for me again and the wonderful Drupal module contributors are supplying the magic juju to keep spammers at bay.

I've been using the http:bl drupal module that plugs into HTTP:BL from Project Honeypot and it kicksass. It helps me blacklist and greylist IP addresses that look spurious or come from known spammers.

I also use the wonderful spam module by KernelTrap's Jeremy Andrews.

Whatever is left over goes to the Akismet module, although truth be told, after the http:bl and spam modules there isn't much left for the Akismet module to handle.

So now visitors can comment and trackback without moderation. Welcome.

I spent the last two days going through my Drupal logs to check on my favorite kind of pondscum: spammers. After gathering up the IP addresses I checked the the IP addresses are in and now I am keeping my own blacklist.

I know the usefulness of netblock blacklists is debatable. I am going to stop that debate by saying that I am doing this because it makes me feel better. I also know that blocking of whole netblocks is somewhat severe, but I have enough publicly available information so that the collateral damage can be mitigated. I am only using internet addresses that spammed me personally so that I have proof of the evil deeds.

Edit:

I am not maintaining a blacklist anymore. Too much work.

So apparently spammers do read the news. I wonder if one day we can draw broad strokes of history from what 419 scam emails have to say. This is one recently reported on in The Register:

My name is MRS LIGI SOLOMON; a contractor from ISREAL

The statistics shows that the Economy of your country is getting better and will be more profitable in few years to come.I am interested to invest in your country through you. I am now in London with the Sum of US$8,400 000.00 Dollars which I would like to invest in your country if possible?

Click Here

I made this money through one of the contract I handle in Jerusalem during the relocation of Gaza trip and I am not safe if go back to Gaza since we are not allowed to stay there again. I hope you can understand.

Please kindly get back to me as soon as possible.

Best regards, MRS LIGI SOLOMON
Tel: +44 7031923299
Email: ligisolo@yahoo.com

Say I just happened to walk through any random city selling, shoddy, unreliable, crappy, dirty, shitty, and just generally speaking bad stuff. Maybe I stop any adult I see and try to sell them stuff. So maybe the adults see me and block their doors, and close their windows, but many I just chat up to sell stuff. Maybe in my travels I run across playgrounds where children roam. Maybe I try to sell them my wares. I don't really mean to, but they are out there just as adults are, so fair game, eh?

This pattern of behaviour is basically the pattern spammers use. They send out their shit to any email address they can make up, fake, and get their hands on. It goes out blind hitting any available email address. Say you have kids. Ok. So now the kids can get this stuff just like any adult. It can be argued that as a parent it is ones responsibility to shield your children from this stuff. Ok I can see that point of view. How about this though? Go ask a spammer and they sit there polishing their glitter halos professing that they are just business people selling wares. It is a service they perform. Then they proceed to tel you stories about their dedication to the public by giving you chances to opt out, by wanting to give you access to great deals, and by doing this tirelessly 24 hours every day.

Wow, from that perspective I should be thankful, eh?

So now let's go back to our wonderful wandering salesperson who just bumped into a playground. How would a parent feel if he started selling pictures of naked women, naked men, dildos, breast enhancement pills, and penis enlargement opportunities? That's right. In barbaric societies these people go to jail, in civilized societies these people would be taken to the town square, manacled to a wooden platform, then have their soft tissues removed with a teaspoon, in public, as a lesson to any other fuckers out there contemplating the same thing. I know if some asshole tried selling any minors in my family such adult material and I got my hands on them I'd use a baseball bat on their kneecaps until they sing like a soft xylophone under the moonlight. Ping. Ping. Ping. And you know what? Ask any mother or father out there and they'll tell you the same thing.

So spammers profess not to know. 'We don't know! We just send off emails!' Oh poor them. Do I care if you personally make this shit or if you just sell it? Hell, as far as I am concerned the fact that you don't bother checking what you sell makes you an even dirtier asshole than I thought. Hmm, maybe just kneecaps isn't enough. Those elbows look nice... I digress and all that shit.

So where does this leave us? You end up with these parasites on civilized society wantonly spreading their noxious ooze upon people ill-equipped to deal with it. Let's ask them if we can sell dildos to their children at playground and see what their answer is.