Captcha? Is this something new here? 1 1

[skypinkblu]

I just started a thread in the probation forum and I had to click on a bunch of mountains and hills. 

Has anyone else seen this? 

Edited November 8, 2017 by skypinkblu

[DeadOne]

I saw this late last night. One of those "are you a robot" things. Annoying as hell.

[skypinkblu]

2 minutes ago, DeadOne said:

I saw this late last night. One of those "are you a robot" things. Annoying as hell.

Thanks, I thought it was me...

It said something about checking for spyware, but my machine is checked a few times a day and there is nothing on here.

[DeadOne]

21 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

Thanks, I thought it was me...

It said something about checking for spyware, but my machine is checked a few times a day and there is nothing on here.

Mine as well.
I think it has something to do with the type of post. Mine happened when I was testing out a countdown timer (using an html link) in the test area. It looks like yours happened when you posted the probation update which has a ton of links in it.
I would gather that this is some kind of spam control that the boards have started using.
Here's a screenshot of what I see when it happens

 

I am also having trouble editing a post. Here's the message I get when this happens:

I honestly think these message boards are going to shut down soon. If anyone has important information saved on here, I'd make certain it's backed up elsewhere. 

@Architecht @Scott =)

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by DeadOne

[comicquant]

Are you talking about Captcha?  Thats just to ensure there aren't bots posting instead of humans.  Its used in most modern sites.

[skypinkblu]

27 minutes ago, comicquant said:

Are you talking about Captcha?  Thats just to ensure there aren't bots posting instead of humans.  Its used in most modern sites.

Thanks for the name correction, I knew what it was, I just always called it the wrong thing;) I've just been using a new "villains" name I made up instead of the correct one;)

As for the bots thing, you are correct, but Arch has mentioned bots on the guest list and those don't seem to have been changed by this, there are still a ton.  

Also, I've never seen this happen on the forum before in the more than 12 years I've been here.

So I was wondering if it was new, and if anyone else had seen it. 

Bryan said he has, so that answered part of my question.

[lizards2]

I haven't seen it....., here....., yet....., 

[comicquant]

22 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

Thanks for the name correction, I knew what it was, I just always called it the wrong thing;) I've just been using a new "villains" name I made up instead of the correct one;)

As for the bots thing, you are correct, but Arch has mentioned bots on the guest list and those don't seem to have been changed by this, there are still a ton.  

Also, I've never seen this happen on the forum before in the more than 12 years I've been here.

So I was wondering if it was new, and if anyone else had seen it. 

Bryan said he has, so that answered part of my question.

I'm sort of surprised its not used more often (posts etc)!  Always better to ask questions and be ready when it comes to securing your information.  I think the average web user would be surprised at whats out there when it comes to nefarious activity!  

[Architecht]

2 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

I just started a thread in the probation forum and I had to click on a bunch of mountains and hills. 

Has anyone else seen this? 

This is some added security we put on the site both to stop hack attacks if they are occurring, but also more specifically to cut down on the guest traffic from bots that was eating site resources for no reason.

This has significantly cut down on bot/spider traffic on the web site so it's achieving its goal. We've dropped about 27% of the bot-driven guest users on the site on our 2 day average. That's good news for performance of the site for real users.

There might be some legit activities though, that are getting swept up in the process. That's why we have it set to challenge a user with captcha as opposed to just blocking them. Since that appears to be the case, I just made two tweaks - I upped the allowed time on the site after solving a captcha to 1 hour, and I turned the security level down a bit to avoid catching real users at all.

Ideally we will identify the specific firewall rules that are catching legit site activity and adjust them or turn them off, so we don't have to just generically lower the security level. But we'll refine that over time.

For now, please let me know if this continues to happen frequently given the adjustments I just made.

Thanks!

[lizards2]

2 minutes ago, Architecht said:

This is some added security we put on the site both to stop hack attacks if they are occurring, but also more specifically to cut down on the guest traffic from bots that was eating site resources for no reason.

This has significantly cut down on bot/spider traffic on the web site so it's achieving its goal. We've dropped about 27% of the bot-driven guest users on the site on our 2 day average. That's good news for performance of the site for real users.

There might be some legit activities though, that are getting swept up in the process. That's why we have it set to challenge a user with captcha as opposed to just blocking them. Since that appears to be the case, I just made two tweaks - I upped the allowed time on the site after solving a captcha to 1 hour, and I turned the security level down a bit to avoid catching real users at all.

Ideally we will identify the specific firewall rules that are catching legit site activity and adjust them or turn them off, so we don't have to just generically lower the security level. But we'll refine that over time.

For now, please let me know if this continues to happen frequently given the adjustments I just made.

Thanks!

[skypinkblu]

18 minutes ago, Architecht said:

This is some added security we put on the site both to stop hack attacks if they are occurring, but also more specifically to cut down on the guest traffic from bots that was eating site resources for no reason.

This has significantly cut down on bot/spider traffic on the web site so it's achieving its goal. We've dropped about 27% of the bot-driven guest users on the site on our 2 day average. That's good news for performance of the site for real users.

There might be some legit activities though, that are getting swept up in the process. That's why we have it set to challenge a user with captcha as opposed to just blocking them. Since that appears to be the case, I just made two tweaks - I upped the allowed time on the site after solving a captcha to 1 hour, and I turned the security level down a bit to avoid catching real users at all.

Ideally we will identify the specific firewall rules that are catching legit site activity and adjust them or turn them off, so we don't have to just generically lower the security level. But we'll refine that over time.

For now, please let me know if this continues to happen frequently given the adjustments I just made.

Thanks!

@ArchitechtThanks for explaining:) Sounds like a good idea. In other news, I got a note from AOL saying they won't allow you to make random new IDs after some date in Nov.

[lizards2]

17 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

@ArchitechtThanks for explaining:) Sounds like a good idea. In other news, I got a note from AOL saying they won't allow you to make random new IDs after some date in Nov.

Yeah @Architecht so you better behave!

[lizards2]

18 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

@ArchitechtThanks for explaining:) Sounds like a good idea. In other news, I got a note from AOL saying they won't allow you to make random new IDs after some date in Nov.

Yeah @Architecht so you better behave!

Edited November 8, 2017 by lizards2
captcha got me that time, then a 504 error, then it let me pass without examination...,

[Logan510]

2 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

@ArchitechtThanks for explaining:) Sounds like a good idea. In other news, I got a note from AOL saying they won't allow you to make random new IDs after some date in Nov.

Uh oh, I know someone that won't like that

Too bad this place can't stop random ID's

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

3 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I haven't seen it....., here....., yet....., 

Have you tried to Captchadeez?

[lizards2]

44 minutes ago, The Resurrection said:

4 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I haven't seen it....., here....., yet....., 

Have you tried to Captchadeez?

Only for about the last eight years...., 

[Iceman399]

I'm pretty sure it's cause Sha posts nothing but spam and the boards finally picked up on it  

[skypinkblu]

1 hour ago, Iceman399 said:

I'm pretty sure it's cause Sha posts nothing but spam and the boards finally picked up on it  

That would work, except that DeadOne (Bryan) only posts good stuff;) 

[Get Marwood & I]

Great question @skypinkblu, but you should have asked it in the questions section, not comics general. At least that's what Arch keeps telling me. 

But wait, I see that Arch has answered your question. But he hasn't answered any of the questions in the questions section? 

How peculiar... 

 

[skypinkblu]

3 hours ago, Marwood & I said:

Great question @skypinkblu, but you should have asked it in the questions section, not comics general. At least that's what Arch keeps telling me. 

But wait, I see that Arch has answered your question. But he hasn't answered any of the questions in the questions section? 

How peculiar... 

 

Ummm...I'm not quite sure why you are writing this? Are  you complaining because I got an answer? I can't really help you there, but I'm glad he answered me. I have no idea what you asked, maybe it was not something that needed a general response?