Spam robot

[Binky]

Found an agent called "EmailSiphon" in my stats which got me twitchin. At http://www-stu.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/n01.html I found the following:

We've taken care of it on this server by a little Rewrite rule added to the server which simply checks the UserAgent and returns an error if it is indeed EmailSiphon.

Can something like this be implemented here? What about other email spiders?

[Bi4Be]

I also have had that somewhere in my stats....

[Terra]

The email siphons are a real pita!

TAZ is the only server to actively deploy the front end rewrite rules that would trap them and redirect to a core 'no-harvest.pl' program that would send thousands of bogus email addresses...

SIX and NINE used to run the same until the extra overhead became too much...  Every request the server was expecting was run through the rewrite rule, and of those maybe 1% were siphons... I could no longer justify the high expense of siphons slowing down the content delivery...  Now there are a myriad of siphons on the market effectively compounding the problem by having to check for 20+ different siphons...  Keeping up with all this eventually became detrimental to time and resources...  The email siphons were also able to masquerade as legitimate browser Agents, and skating past the checkers...

Believe me, I was sadly dismayed when I finally had to deactivate the rewrite rules...  It was the absolute last thing I ever wanted to do...

--
Terra
--Email Siphons should be handled like munitions--
FutureQuest

[Bi4Be]

Ya, I see what you mean.

I have had them more on my auction site, but luckily the member addresses are in CGI. Alothough I was the main one getting spam, my spam increased dramatically until I started posting my address as http://www.bid4beanies.com/cgi-bin/n...id4beanies.com

You can find the simple script at http://www.notts.net (I think)

[Deb]

It's especially hard for email accounts that require 'proper format' in addition to needing to be public...

Our Sales & Support box, for example.  We must put them out there.. but the spam that arrives because of that fact is unbelievable.  

Targeted lists? pffttt -- because our Sales@ box is listed in so many host directories .. we get loaded down with offers to "Put Our Business On-Line For Only $19.95 per Month!" all the time.   When I get those I do not know whether to *sigh* or *grin* or simply start sending the host questions about whether or not they support CGI and if they would allow me to host another 1,000 sites on my domain (I would obviously want to take all you guys with me if I signed up hehe)

Deb