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.

[mark]

So I see, but yet it's Dec 4th, and here are few more spammers that clearly snuck thru using @12minutemail.com. Something's up. 


Since our network is US and CANADA based, I went ahead and opened a Cloudflare account and banned the offending countries using their free tools.

So long CHINA, INDIA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

Anyone looking to increase the speed of their network, and add an extra layer of spam protection, I highly recommend using the free service from Cloudflare. 

Eric, I would still like to get this situation resolved because unfortunately there are spammers (although rare) originating from the US. So having the ability to ban those "typical" spammer emails is still a top priority for me. So far I haven't seen if I can do that using Cloudflare. 

No word from suport today either.

[Apostle Solael]

China and Ukraine have been very busy on trying to get into my site.  However, who is not able to pass the Captcha?  That is an easy thing to do....but oh well, it is best that they can not.

[Eric Suesz]

We're still working on it, mark. We haven't forgotten and will keep updating you on our progress through the ticketing process. 

[mark]

Thanks Eric - I received an update via email as well. Good news is, Cloudflare has helped reduced spammers from specific countries. The no so great news is when a new spammer gets in, their IP address is masked because their path goes thru Cloudflare's servers. Still learning my way around CF, but so far the pros out weigh the cons. 

[James Hawkins]

Hi Mark,

Anyone can hide their IP address; here is a Google search result. Cloudflare isn't masking them. Have you gone through the threat control dashboard? There you will find the suspected threats that Cloudflare has challenged. If you click on one you will sent  to another page from Cloudflare that will show further info and has a link to "The Honeypot.org" website that will allow you to see much more info about the spammer or 'bot'. Check it out if you haven't already.

James

[mark]

Yes, James. The issue is Cloudflare reroutes the spammers IP address though. So masking might not of been the correct term. I understand that some get caught and reported in the threat control panel. That's not my concern. The problem is when spammers do get through, their IP address that appears in my Members list is Cloudlfare' servers, not the originating servers that appeared before I implemented Cloudflare. 

I banned 29 countries. My only issue now is the few spammers that originate in the US. 

[Laszlo Czinege]

Dear Eric,

I think that this feature does not work in the mini pack. However, it was useful to read. So I tried to decipher the English language. You should still report that the innovation is available with the mini package.

Regards, Laszlo

[Laszlo Czinege]

Thank you for your valuable response ...

[Chloe Prince]

This explains alot...

Sincerely,
[e-mail]

[John Valentine]

It is just constant at the moment, so much so I have now blocked all @gmail.com in desperation as they are using this email account. Obviously it is not great that I have had to do this.

[dave]

Eric i have been looking at member management and i only have 2 pages that show ip's the rest of the members pages say unavailable , even checking recent members that have been active on the site.

[Eric Suesz]

It is not retroactive. You may want to read this post a little more closely. If someone joined before this tool was built, their IP address won't be available. It's not based on activity; it's based on when they join.