Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Spam?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,495

    Spam?

    Hello,

    I am planning on opening up a instant free hosting site like geocities.com. I am offering

    1. MySQL
    2. PHP
    3. FTP Accounts
    4. and more


    The problem is, I have been told I may get a lot, and I mean alot of people signing up just to use the services to spam. Is there anything I can use to prevent this? I am not allowing anyone Mail services, as I know that would be a major fault. But I believe there are some things in PHP I would need to disable, otherwise someone can simply do it from the website itself.

    Any help?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Janesville, Wi
    Posts
    1,520
    If you want to be safe, turn PHP safe_mode to on. This will help fight against server exploitations and attacks. Furthermore, keep an eye on all of your logs. Just because you don't offer mail services doesn't mean they can't execute mail() in PHP.
    Jakiao

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,495
    Is there any way of just turning off mail() then. All they would lose are contact forms which are easily made in Html.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Nothing but, net
    Posts
    2,064
    Put mail in the disable_functions list.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Janesville, Wi
    Posts
    1,520
    You'll have to find a way to stop Perl from doing so as well. The HTML script they use has to connect to a Perl or PHP background. But yeah, LP-Trel is right about the disabled_functions list.
    Jakiao

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Flint, Michigan
    Posts
    5,766
    MySQL, php, cgi, etc.. should not be allowed at all IMHO.
    Mike from Zoodia.com
    Professional web design and development services.
    In need of a fresh hosting design? See what premade designs we have in stock!
    Web design tips, tricks, and more at MichaelPruitt.com

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,495
    @ Dollar

    I am gonna see how it goes, if I start to have problems such as spam and exploitations I will start taking away some things and also ban IP's.

    We'll just have to see...I am thinking of making people sign up with a real adress, no hotmail, yahoo etc. A Yourname@isp.com

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Flint, Michigan
    Posts
    5,766
    Originally posted by MegaGeo
    @ Dollar

    I am gonna see how it goes, if I start to have problems such as spam and exploitations I will start taking away some things and also ban IP's.

    We'll just have to see...I am thinking of making people sign up with a real adress, no hotmail, yahoo etc. A Yourname@isp.com
    There are thousands and thousands of free sites for e-mail, especailly in china, if you're doing instant activation it'll take you a few months to catch them all.
    Mike from Zoodia.com
    Professional web design and development services.
    In need of a fresh hosting design? See what premade designs we have in stock!
    Web design tips, tricks, and more at MichaelPruitt.com

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,495
    Yeah true. I've blocked all of China, lol. So no worries there.

    I have a huge list, over 300 so far and am adding to it as I find them. And also, there is an option to view all e-mail addreses. So I can see what sort've names there are and if I need to investigate them.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Flint, Michigan
    Posts
    5,766
    Well you definatley seem like you have this worked out quite well (wish I could say the same when I gave it a try). Knowing know what I knew then I would have done many things differently. One of the best things I did was exchange reseller accounts to individuals that were pretty tech-savvy in exchange for them helping out on the staff.

    Another tip is to tweak what can be done via .htaccess as I had many people trying to hide the banner with .htaccess.
    Mike from Zoodia.com
    Professional web design and development services.
    In need of a fresh hosting design? See what premade designs we have in stock!
    Web design tips, tricks, and more at MichaelPruitt.com

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •