Referrer Spam Continues
I spent some time today adding IPs to the block list on the blog server’s firewall. Fun times. As fast as I could add one IP, another two would show up. I finally gave up and started looking at other options. The mod_evasive Apache module didn’t work because the referrer spamming program is smart enough to not hit the site from the same IP within 30 or more seconds. I’ve started looking at other options at the Apache level.
I’ve also enabled a few features on the blog server that should help, but only after the referrer spam has reached the blog application which can cause unnecessary drain on resources. The first of these options is that referring URLs containing various keywords are ignored and an error page is returned. This shouldn’t be an issue for any regular readers who read the Zymeta-based blogs via an RSS reader or a bookmark. The second option I enabled is Roller’s Linkback extraction, which means that if the referring URL doesn’t actually contain a link to the page being requested, an error page is returned. The downside to this option especially is that there will be a reduction in speed for accessing the page.
Regular readers shouldn’t notice much in the way of difference but if anyone encounters any problems, please let me know. Oh, and if any zombie network owners are going to be in Calgary anytime soon, let me know ‘cause my shotgun has a few words to say to you.
Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:57 Posted in Technology
