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#1 2006-10-12 03:07:27
- Devantè
- Real Member
- Registered: 2006-07-14
- Posts: 6,400
Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
http://www.tectite.com/fmhowto/stopbots.php
Also, some more information on how to stop spambots and other bots.
Really smart Spam Bots may disable your required specification in your HTML form, thereby bypassing the image verification.
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#2 2006-10-12 06:03:56
- mathsyperson
- Moderator
- Registered: 2005-06-22
- Posts: 4,900
Re: Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
True, but Spambots smart enough to do that are rare. When MathsIsFun first put up the image verification thing, I was skeptical that it would work because it was a very basic one. I think there are only 2 possible codes that it can show!
But it seems to have kept spambots away so far, so he hasn't needed to upgrade the security yet. Yes, it's probably very possible for spambots to start attacking us again, but until they do, this system is fine as it is.
On a side note, This isn't Cool. 
Why did the vector cross the road?
It wanted to be normal.
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#3 2006-10-12 06:33:27
- Devantè
- Real Member
- Registered: 2006-07-14
- Posts: 6,400
Re: Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
I know, I like stupid things. I should've posted this in the Dark Discussions at Café Infinity forum.
But then again, a cool fact to know.
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OK, then a geeky fact to know.
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#4 2006-10-12 07:03:55
- luca-deltodesco
- Member
- Registered: 2006-05-05
- Posts: 1,470
Re: Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
the way the algorithm works to find out what the image contains, is extremely cool. I found a link a while ago where someone explained just how it works
The Beginning Of All Things To End.
The End Of All Things To Come.
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#5 2006-10-12 10:26:34
- MathsIsFun
- Administrator
- Registered: 2005-01-21
- Posts: 7,713
Re: Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
On the server logs it shows hundreds of forum posts every day, but only a fraction of those make it past image verification. So I think the spambots are busily trying to post and not succeeding. If someone does take the time to reprogram a bot so it gets through, I will just reprogram the defence 
"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..." - Leon M. Lederman
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#6 2006-10-13 09:27:08
- cray
- Member
- Registered: 2006-10-05
- Posts: 29
Re: Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
True, but Spambots smart enough to do that are rare. When MathsIsFun first put up the image verification thing, I was skeptical that it would work because it was a very basic one. I think there are only 2 possible codes that it can show!
I think that if you believe this, then you should realise that humans no longer write the best viral code. There are hackers out there who are using programs that write viral code and then instruct the user how to connect (Backdoor Trojan type programs). It is not a far cry from spambots and phisherbots. I deal a lot with computer security and know that the techniques you are describing are becoming more pervasive.
The FBI uses very simple techniques to infiltrate forums and personal computers (I will not post that technique here - Its so simple some of the clever boys and girls that inhabit this forum may get ideas, but believe me what the hackers have done is latched on to those techniques in a big way. A new generation of hacking techniques is about to emerge. I am just about to write about this on a blog that I set up for beginner level to intermediate computer users ( http://www.phibez.blogspot.com) (my blog there is in its very early stages I only started it two days ago so its a bit rough in all aspects).
Last edited by cray (2006-10-13 09:31:17)
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#7 2019-12-03 15:28:20
- Monox D. I-Fly
- Member
- From: Indonesia
- Registered: 2015-12-02
- Posts: 2,000
Re: Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
I know, I like stupid things. I should've posted this in the Dark Discussions at Café Infinity forum.
What's the difference between "This is Cool" board and "Dark Discussions at Café Infinity" board? They seem to be able to go either way and the explanations didn't help.
Actually I never watch Star Wars and not interested in it anyway, but I choose a Yoda card as my avatar in honor of our great friend bobbym who has passed away.
May his adventurous soul rest in peace at heaven.
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#8 2019-12-03 23:12:21
- Jai Ganesh
- Administrator
- Registered: 2005-06-28
- Posts: 48,425
Re: Spambots can BYPASS Image Verification
Devantè wrote:I know, I like stupid things. I should've posted this in the Dark Discussions at Café Infinity forum.
What's the difference between "This is Cool" board and "Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity" board? They seem to be able to go either way and the explanations didn't help.
This is Cool says 'Wonderful stuff you have discovered about maths, science or similar' and Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity says 'General discussions about life, the universe, anything'.
They are similar, yet they are two different topics.
It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.
Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.
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