Can anyone help me prevent spam?

[AnIrishman]

Hi guys. I’ve recently been bombarded with Russian spammers. They seem to have developed a way to bypass the image verification process and as a result, I’ve had to remove the option for guests to post to the site. At least when they have to register they get stopped by the email verification.

I’ve decided that I want to block all Russian IP addresses from the site through CPanel’s IP deny manager on my hosting account.

It gives me the option of entering a “range of IP address to ban and it gives the following example.

10.5.3.3-10.5.3.40

I’ve found a list of Russian IP addresses but I don’t know how to convert them to a range so I can just enter that.

Here is the list of IP addresses I want to block.

Code: Select all

217.116.48.0 217.116.63.255
217.116.128.0 217.116.159.255
217.117.80.0 217.117.95.255
217.117.112.0 217.117.127.255
217.117.176.0 217.117.191.255
217.118.64.0 217.118.95.255
217.118.176.0 217.118.191.255
217.119.16.0 217.119.31.255
217.119.80.0 217.119.95.255
217.144.96.0 217.144.111.255
217.144.160.0 217.144.191.255
217.145.16.0 217.145.31.255
217.145.144.0 217.145.159.255
217.146.32.0 217.146.47.255
217.147.0.0 217.147.31.255
217.147.48.0 217.147.63.255
217.148.48.0 217.148.63.255
217.148.192.0 217.148.239.255
217.149.16.0 217.149.31.255
217.149.176.0 217.149.191.255
217.150.0.0 217.150.63.255
217.150.192.0 217.150.207.255
217.151.16.0 217.151.31.255
217.151.64.0 217.151.79.255
217.151.128.0 217.151.143.255
217.151.225.40 217.151.225.47
217.151.227.0 217.151.227.255
217.151.230.0 217.151.230.255
217.168.64.0 217.168.79.255
217.168.240.0 217.168.255.255
217.169.80.0 217.169.95.255
217.170.64.0 217.170.95.255
217.170.112.0 217.170.127.255
217.170.208.0 217.170.223.255
217.171.0.0 217.171.15.255
217.171.64.0 217.171.79.255
217.171.144.0 217.171.159.255
217.171.224.0 217.171.239.255
217.172.16.0 217.172.31.255
217.172.44.192 217.172.44.199
217.172.45.208 217.172.45.215
217.172.49.136 217.172.49.143
217.173.0.0 217.173.31.255
217.173.64.0 217.173.79.255
217.174.0.0 217.174.15.255
217.174.96.0 217.174.111.255
217.174.160.0 217.174.180.255
217.174.181.64 217.174.191.255
217.175.16.0 217.175.47.255
217.175.128.0 217.175.159.255
217.194.240.0 217.194.255.255
217.195.64.0 217.195.111.255
217.195.208.0 217.195.223.255
217.196.96.0 217.196.127.255
217.197.0.0 217.197.15.255
217.197.112.0 217.197.127.255
217.197.240.0 217.198.15.255
217.198.80.0 217.198.95.255
217.198.160.0 217.198.191.255
217.199.208.0 217.199.216.255
217.199.218.0 217.199.223.255
217.199.240.0 217.199.255.255
217.212.248.0 217.212.248.7
217.212.248.16 217.212.248.23
217.212.248.64 217.212.248.159
217.212.254.0 217.212.254.255

Can anybody tell me how to convert these to a single range?

Many thanks in advance.

[Pit$Bull]

I've been using this MOD from day one without spam bot issue.
Since the phpBB.com site is down I can't give you a good link but will attach it here.

[AnIrishman]

Cheers mate. I’m having the site upgraded soon so I will probably add the Mod then. Do you know how to block the range so I can do that before the upgrade?

[Pit$Bull]

Blocking IP ranges will probably be useless. Add the MOD.

[pilotjourney]

I think you can also simply do *.ru in cpanel or htaccess?

[handyguy2]

I wonder about this under Security Settings:

Yes/No:
Check IP against DNS Blackhole List:
If enabled the user’s IP address is checked against the following DNSBL services on registration and posting: spamcop.net, dsbl.org and http://www.spamhaus.org. This lookup may take a while, depending on the server’s configuration. If slowdowns are experienced or too many false positives reported it is recommended to disable this check.

[AnIrishman]

I think you can also simply do *.ru in cpanel or htaccess?

I tried “*.ru” in CPanel but no luck. Is there simply a way of converting these addresses to a single range?

[3Di]

I think you can also simply do *.ru in cpanel or htaccess?

I tried “*.ru” in CPanel but no luck. Is there simply a way of converting these addresses to a single range?

try this: http://www.countryipblocks.net/ ..

also you could try the MOD linked in my signature.

[Lumpy Burgertushie]

the answer to your question is no.

each of those lines is basically a range of IPs.

once again. blocking/banning via IP is a complete waste of time because the spammers just use proxies and /or get a new IP everytime they go online.


robert