One thing that might work (wouldnt be 100%) would be a method for identifying IP ranges of know abuse where legit collateral is minimal and keeping a database of these and auto-blocking them.
These IPs are typically those of: * known web-hosting services * Proxy Services * data-center providers * similar cases where risk of legit end user usage is minimal.
I know working with anti-spam efforts that there are several know ISP's that 99% of their traffic is spam. If something like this is implemented it could reduce spam by as much as 80% or more.
On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 5:19 PM, Al Johnson alj62888@yahoo.com wrote:
More brainstorming ideas about this...
A centralized DB would require a site requiring heavy use since it would be hit for each edit submission from every participating site. An alternative would be a subscriber model where the global list (or updates) is downloaded periodically by subscribers.
How long to block an IP? I'm not an expert in this area, but what if the IP is blocked for an extended period of time, such as ONE YEAR. If that IP ends up being reissued to a legitimate ISP customer and he gets blocked, that will alert that user that his ISP is either participating in spamming or is tolerating spammers user of their IPs which is affecting regular customers. This may sound harsh, but this could force ISPs to address the problem with their spammer customers. And, there is still a workaround for the legit user who can usually just reboot their modem to get a new IP address.
Just thinking out load... al
From: Al Johnson alj62888@yahoo.com To: MediaWiki announcements and site admin list < mediawiki-l@lists.wikimedia.org> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 2:41 PM Subject: Re: [MediaWiki-l] Wiki spam. Stronger fightback.
Maybe mediawiki sites can unite to keep a global list of these IP's and block them as soon as they are submitted. Each mediawiki site can auto-submit a spammer IP as soon as it's discovered to the global list. What are the problems with this idea?
Al _______________________________________________ MediaWiki-l mailing list MediaWiki-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l _______________________________________________ MediaWiki-l mailing list MediaWiki-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l