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.

[James Hawkins]

To everyone who would like to block individuals, IPs, ranges of IPs, or countries I would recommend looking into cloudflare.com I outlined some things in another discussion on spammers here. I included snips of various pages under Cloudflare's "threat control" panel for a website. This is a free program. Check it out.

James

EDIT: there is a premium upgrade but I use the free version and have since it was in beta.

[Riccardo Rossini]

In order to this impovement (good job guys!!!), I suggest one thing: to allow research by IP address in active members list... What do you think?

[dave]

Sounds Good Riccardo !!

[Apostle Solael]

Research what?  Research Where?  By giving us an application to see who the person is, who uses that IP address?  Could that not be done by searching on Bing (finding the app that does that), or what am I missing here?

[Riccardo Rossini]

If you go in dashbord, members you can use the search bar only by name, if it was possible to search by IP address it should be easier to descover double accounts

[Ramon Batista]

It looks is not working at all !!!

I have blocked this IP 210.51.60.183 and 3 times they have registered with spam... I tried by myself blocking my IP.   I can't create a new account using that IP, but I still get connected using that IP with other account already registered  :(

[Ramon Batista]

Here is my list for all of you

202.105.134.53
95.141.130.242
202.173.255.111
61.30.99.174
41.208.14.4
61.177.252.38
117.11.29.119
176.8.75.176
180.254.71.216
183.69.75.109
61.152.176.48
93.188.8.251
25.160.17.134
190.90.36.81
88.124.142.208
218.86.242.97
7.104.227.62
210.51.60.183
83.212.101.105

===============
222.32.84.52
61.189.53.197

===================

91.201.190.186
113.248.181.43
221.179.173.170
======================
60.250.78.151
121.61.118.160
78.131.55.82
====================
112.122.11.3
221.123.162.123
198.27.94.109
=========================

[Skye]

I have a question about dynamic IP's, will this adjust automatically for those or do we have to input every change? This is great for Static just curious about the Dynamic.

[sho allan]

I translated the Ning Anouncement :D

http://creators.ning.com/group/japan/forum/topics/notification-from...

[Eric Suesz]

Just wanted to jump in here. It seems like the purpose of this announcement post has been sort of re-routed. This discussion has turned into people sharing IP addresses they think are spammy. That's cool, but maybe those belong in their own discussion. Just a thought. 

I think that it's important to keep in mind that it's very easy to ban an IP that has legitimate, potential members living on it. Even though you may see a bunch of spam from Senegal, there could be some actual Senegalese people who want to join your community. Just something to keep in mind. While this feature and how you use it is entirely up to you, I would just say be careful about getting too ban happy.  

[Armani Rouse]

Excellent point Eric and I deleted a few members who I think now were legit members! This is the main reason I had no input on this forum until now. It's hard to say whos spam and whos not because it isnt just a default spam IP address so you dont actually know if youre blocking legit members. What I did was change from the captcha option in the sign up to asking a simple question they'd have to write an answer in and not select from a multiple choice list.

[Ramon Batista]

Erick, It looks is not working at all !!!

I have blocked this IP 210.51.60.183 (also, I deleted that account) and 3 times they have registered with spam... I tried by myself blocking my IP.   I can't create a new account using that IP, but I still get connected using that IP with other account already registered  :(