[Mediawiki-l] repeated spambot attacks

[Andy Roberts]

Hi all, 
This is my first contribution, I have a few queries and I hope
somebody can help me find the solutions or information I need.

Problem:
I have a mediawiki running on a hosted  web server ( ie  not on my own
computer ) which is being repeatedly spammed by  a bot or bots which
not only edits multiple pages inserting hundreds of  porn links and so
on, but also creates lots of new pages and talk pages.

according to the version page, the wiki  is running on 

    MediaWiki (http://wikipedia.sf.net/): 1.3.5 
    PHP (http://www.php.net/): 4.3.10 (apache) 
    MySQL (http://www.mysql.com/): 4.0.24-standard-log

I can access the database using phpMyAdmin 2.6.3

The spammer(s) use IP addresses  which vary, but always begin with 69.50.   

So what I can do for now, after a spam attack, is to log in as
WikiSysop, block the individual IP number,  go through reverting all
the pages and deleting the newly created ones.
Then I go to the  phpMyAdmin page and run a few stored scripts which
delete all the unwanted edits  from both 'old'  and 'recentchanges' ,
empty  archive , and then the database is back to normal without
expanding unmanageably.

My main question is :

How can I block the entire range of  IP addresses  like 69.50.*  ??

Any help much appreciated, as I am determined to try and keep this
wiki open to all and not concede to the spambots.
 
-- 
Andy Roberts
http://blog.ultralab.net/~blogger/andy/
http://www.ukcider.co.uk