On Mar 20, 2004, at 11:29, Walter Vermeir wrote:
I have discovered there is now a robot active on I believe all Wikipedias whit the name "Proxy blocker".
It blocks automaticly all users who are using a open proxy server.
It looks like a action form the English Wikipedia.
Tim plugged this experimentally into the wiki in response to a massive spambot attack a few days ago that worked through open proxies. It's not a vigilante robot, but an automated part of the wiki that runs a check when a given IP address first makes an edit. (This should have been announced; if it wasn't, I hope Tim will remember to do so next time.)
Of course if any wikis decide they don't want this, we'll be happy to disable it for you.
I should point out that _proxies_ are not a problem, but _open proxies_ are often a serious security risk. They are usually simply misconfigured, and like open mail relays are taken advantage of by spammers and malware to disguise their attack vector. A proxy meant as a firewall but left completely open may also allow external attackers to get at internal servers which were intended to be better secured.
This is likely a violation of the blocking policy on most Wikipedias so inform your users about this and discuss it.
To trigger the Proxy Blocker go to http://www.publicproxyservers.com and use a "transparent" proxy.
-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)