New Spam Tool: Email Domain & IP Banning at Sign-Up

[Eric Suesz]

We're no fan of spam at Ning. We know it can be an annoyance, especially for Ning Creators who choose not to moderate membership. While we can't solve for every type of spam attack, we have put in place a number of spam tools in the last two years that can make a difference. If you haven't turned all of those on yet, we encourage you to take a minute to make sure you're Preventing Spam in the best ways you can.

Today, we're releasing another spam tool that allows Ning Plus and Pro to perform both email domain and IP banning. 

IP banning is a request we've had over time from people here on Creators, so we are sure that a few folks who've wanted to see this will be happy that it's now available. The feature is fairly straightforward, and it's entirely optional. You'll see a new column in Member Management for IP addresses, and you'll see the option to block in the Sign-up/Sign-in area.

Block IP addresses at sign-up

You can prevent anyone coming from a specific IP address from signing up for your site. Just enter the IP address you want to block, and no one will be able to sign up from that IP address.

Block email domains at sign-up

Similarly, you can choose email domains that you want to block from signing up for your community. If you see spam coming from an email domain like [e-mail], you can block all sign-ups that come from the @sharklasers.com domain.

Of course, these are powerful tools, so we recommend using them carefully and thoughtfully. If you ban an IP that hundreds of thousands of people potentially use, you cut off access to thousands of potential members.

• These options are only available to the Network Creator; not admins.
• You can remove the bans you put in place at any time.
• If someone is unable to sign in because of these blocks, they will see a specific message. The specific message is located in the Language Editor and can be customized.
• If someone is unable to sign in, they can still contact you, provided you have not turned off that option. That option is located in your own personal Email Settings area (Feedback and problem reports).
• The reports you receive from members having trouble includes the email and IP address, as well as whether either is blocked.

One other thing to note about this feature is that you may see that an IP record is "unavailable" in your listings. In most cases, this will be because the member joined before we were able to capture their IP address (i.e., before this tool was turned on a few weeks ago).

Want to know where an IP is geographically located? Look it up on InfoSniper

You can read all about how to Block an Email Domain or IP Address from Signing Up in the Help Center.

[Damien Hannah]

Can someone look at this, maybe it can be used to track these spam bots?

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=31954

[Rajaji]

I am not sure email domain ban is working. I am still getting signups from @12minutemail.com

I have attached an image to show that signups are still taking place from @12minutemail.com even though I have banned that domain. 

You can see that I have already banned @12minutemail.com then why are they still able to create accounts using that email domain. 

[Apostle Solael]

If you notice - the IP address for @minutemail.com does not seem to have been blocked.  You have to block both the email address (@minutemail.com) and the IP address at the same time.  Take a look...where are the domains.  Since I do not see that you have multiple pages, I can only think that they have not been entered, or am I seeing it incorrectly with misunderstanding?

212.117.186.120

74.115.215.21

178.204.38.95

178.204.15.62

[Santosh Dawara]

Great news and I think this will work in blocking the numerous spam signups I get every day!

Incidentally, a number of the spammers are common across networks. Could I get a CSV of these IP addresses to block right away? Also, it'd be quicker if we had an action for this 'Suspend for Spam and block the IP address'.

Best regards,
Santosh Dawara (http://punestartups.org).

[Apostle Solael]

Most excellent of an idea!!!

[Sergio Schuler]

This is not that useful, since most spammers are @yahoo, @hotmail or @gmail

[mobile.ning.com]

Does the IP Adress Blocking work with variables ranges like 41.82.*.* since I would like to block some ranges, based on numbers I see.

		Name	Email	IP Address	Note	Suspended
		mary	[e-mail]	41.82.127.197	Spam	Nov 25, 2012
		diana modu	[e-mail]	41.214.47.42	Spam	Nov 25, 2012
		bernice appiah	[e-mail]	41.218.253.131	Spam	Nov 20, 2012
		favourdavid	[e-mail]	41.82.122.79	Spam	Nov 18, 2012
		jasmine	[e-mail]	41.82.106.157	Spam	Nov 16, 2012
		stacy	[e-mail]	41.82.83.24	Spam	Nov 12, 2012

[mobile.ning.com]

This 41.*.*.* is giving some headaches and probably I would ban the whole range, if the system allows for that. Blocking SIngle Individual IPs does not make to much sense, at least to me.

But if you block a Range of IP, the there should be exceptions.? But that is kind of difficult to implement on your side.

What is your saying about this?

[mobile.ning.com]

This 41.*.*.* is from Senegal. Looks like the Telco has a hole in its systems and Spammers are exploiting ti..

I understand NING should not block anyone, but there should be a kind of Public Board of Spammers reported. So we find them when you google for them at validation point.

Difficult problems require creativity, input and innovation. Not just excuses.

[mobile.ning.com]

Here is another one from IP 41.*.*.*

Tabeeb Readin

[e-mail]

41.222.209.77

Spam

Sep 15, 2012

[mobile.ning.com]

		Shannon	[e-mail]	41.82.110.70	Spam	Nov 2, 2012
		mr mordzifa frank	[e-mail]	41.218.255.82	Spam	Nov 2, 2012
		diana3modu	[e-mail]	41.83.14.52	Spam	Nov 2, 2012

[mobile.ning.com]

		marilina	[e-mail]	41.82.65.187	Spam	Oct 8, 2012
		mary	[e-mail]	41.82.151.165	Spam	Oct 4, 2012
		MR JOHN ARKO	[e-mail]	41.218.234.241	Spam	Oct 3, 2012