SPAMed in PM

Ghery

Ghery

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
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10,903
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Olympia, Washington
Display Name
Display name:
Ghery Pettit
So, how do I get rid of a PM that is SPAM? This is a new experience on PoA.
 
Ghery said:
So, how do I get rid of a PM that is SPAM? This is a new experience on PoA.
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Uh sorry, I thought you would want to know how to lose a bit of belly fat using this one weird old tip.
 
Love to watch the staff slam the spam ...

hulk-hogan-pole-slam-army-guys-13585298096.gif
 
You got to give him good grades for effort though. Writing a script that puts 5 addresses in at a time got to be some work.
 
Maybe half an hour if you're skilled at scripting, not that big of a deal. If a form submission can easily be scripted on a page, it invites spammers. The best way to get rid of them is a very rigorous application process but then that deters real users from signing up. Another good way is to block certain IP ranges, such as everything from Asia. Afterall, this IS an American forum. :)
 
BigBadLou said:
Maybe half an hour if you're skilled at scripting, not that big of a deal. If a form submission can easily be scripted on a page, it invites spammers. The best way to get rid of them is a very rigorous application process but then that deters real users from signing up. Another good way is to block certain IP ranges, such as everything from Asia. Afterall, this IS an American forum. :)
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We got people from everywhere around here. Australia, Israel, South America, Canada, wherever Henning is these days, Texas....we don't discriminate.
 
murphey said:
We got people from everywhere around here. Australia, Israel, South America, Canada, wherever Henning is these days, Texas....we don't discriminate.
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We also have a lot of folks that travel around the world.
 
BigBadLou said:
If you travel, VPN is definitely your friend. Or maybe I should say "necessity".
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Quite true.

And (perhaps) one in ten users has the first clue of how to set up a VPN.
 
I've been known to cross a few borders from time to time. I don't make a practice of using a VPN, but when you can't even login to a University from a country, the need arises. Middle East is great for that. Cyber Ghost is your friend. Cheap, very effective, not a bad thing to say.
 
BigBadLou said:
If you travel, VPN is definitely your friend. Or maybe I should say "necessity".
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VPN is something I never figured out how to successfully setup for my situation. But realize it could be useful. Any "...for dummies" resources out there to get this going?
 
AggieMike88 said:
VPN is something I never figured out how to successfully setup for my situation. But realize it could be useful. Any "...for dummies" resources out there to get this going?
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Go to CyberGhost.com. Try it out for free (although it will be slow). If you like it, sign up for an account. It does require an install, but it's a very small program, and makes no changes to your computer.

Once you install the program you can still use the free (slow) service. If you want to pay, it's like $8 per month and you can choose non-recurring.

It has been the perfect solution for when I need one, but that isn't really that often at all.
 
AggieMike88 said:
VPN is something I never figured out how to successfully setup for my situation. But realize it could be useful. Any "...for dummies" resources out there to get this going?
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What do you want to use it for ? To get into your business network remotely ? Or are you just interested in appearing to be in the US when you are not ?
 
AggieMike88 said:
VPN is something I never figured out how to successfully setup for my situation. But realize it could be useful. Any "...for dummies" resources out there to get this going?
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VPN is something I occasionally hear is recommended but I'm not sure why.
 
weilke said:
What do you want to use it for ? To get into your business network remotely ? Or are you just interested in appearing to be in the US when you are not ?
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I'm just interested in appearing in the US.
 
Everskyward said:
VPN is something I occasionally hear is recommended but I'm not sure why.
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A Virtual Private Network (VPN) establishes an encrypted link from your computer all the way into the (hopefully) private network. Now all of your internet activity is encrypted through all the local infrastructure. So that guy sniffing the free WiFi at Starbucks can't read your traffic. Nor can the local ISP or the intelligence service of outer Slobolvia where you've got a 3 day layover. All your internet activity initiates from the private network on the other end, just as if you were actually on that local network.

It's a good security measure for networks which are public or not trust worthy-which nowadays is pretty much any public network. Wether to use one depends on what kind of surfing you do and how sensitive you are about your browsing habits being known. Looking for cat videos? Probably don't care. Accessing your bank account? Really good idea even though your banks website initiates an encrypted connection as soon as you start the login process (at least as far as I know they all do).

Jesse and Nate know far more about this than I do, but there it is in laymans terms.

John




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
jsstevens said:
Accessing your bank account? Really good idea even though your banks website initiates an encrypted connection as soon as you start the login process (at least as far as I know they all do).
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From what I can see, they are all on https before you even get to the login screen. Not that that is unbreakable, but neither is a vpn connection.


The other application of VPN is that you can make your computer part of your office or home network, even if you are sitting in that starbukski in outer Slobolvia. You can use information stored on your company server, print documents to your secretaries printer etc.

The publicly available services mainly function to safeguard your information and to make you show up as located somewhere else (e.g. the US) to get past internet blocking in some politically restrictive countries. Those services are easy to set up and often web based. A VPN set up into your company or home network takes a bit more work either involving dynamic DNS (ddns) or a static IP address and some configuration work on your firewall. The fact that your web traffic now enters the web at your home office address is only a side-effect.
 
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weilke said:
What do you want to use it for ? To get into your business network remotely ? Or are you just interested in appearing to be in the US when you are not ?
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Remote connection to office network.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Remote connection to office network.
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Who manages your network ?

VPN access into your network is typically configured through the firewall or a 'VPN router'. It involves a piece of software on your mobile computer that when activated establishes a secure 'tunnel' to your firewall and changes the network address of your mobile computer to one that is within your company network. All your company information remains within either your mobile computer, the company network and the VPN tunnel between them.

On the cheap end I have used this on a WRV200 router from linksys. Once you get into more sophisticated firewalls it is a standard feature, it still requires someone to set it up.
 
jsstevens said:
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) establishes an encrypted link from your computer all the way into the (hopefully) private network. Now all of your internet activity is encrypted through all the local infrastructure. So that guy sniffing the free WiFi at Starbucks can't read your traffic. Nor can the local ISP or the intelligence service of outer Slobolvia where you've got a 3 day layover. All your internet activity initiates from the private network on the other end, just as if you were actually on that local network.

It's a good security measure for networks which are public or not trust worthy-which nowadays is pretty much any public network. Wether to use one depends on what kind of surfing you do and how sensitive you are about your browsing habits being known. Looking for cat videos? Probably don't care. Accessing your bank account? Really good idea even though your banks website initiates an encrypted connection as soon as you start the login process (at least as far as I know they all do).

Jesse and Nate know far more about this than I do, but there it is in laymans terms.

John
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OK thanks. Sounds like something that wouldn't do me any good. I access financial sites on the road but I have no need to access my employer's network. We have a way of doing that using remote desktop but I would never route my personal browsing through their network even if it wasn't a slow as molasses. It might occasionally be convenient to appear to be in the US when I am in Canada since some sites (especially streaming sites) are blocked but I don't care about that enough to go to the trouble of setting up a VPN as has been described here.
 
Yeah, my main purpose would be to keep Netflix and xfinity streaming overseas.
 
weilke said:
Who manages your network ?

VPN access into your network is typically configured through the firewall or a 'VPN router'. It involves a piece of software on your mobile computer that when activated establishes a secure 'tunnel' to your firewall and changes the network address of your mobile computer to one that is within your company network. All your company information remains within either your mobile computer, the company network and the VPN tunnel between them.

On the cheap end I have used this on a WRV200 router from linksys. Once you get into more sophisticated firewalls it is a standard feature, it still requires someone to set it up.
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Behind the router, I guess I'm the one who handles the day-to-day network stuff. Currently very small business simple. A server with our yard management system, A gigabit switch, 8 workstations, and a wireless access point.

My desire is the ability to access the yard management system when I am out of the office, and do it more "directly" than using a connection like LogMeIn.com
 
AggieMike88 said:
Behind the router, I guess I'm the one who handles the day-to-day network stuff. Currently very small business simple. A server with our yard management system, A gigabit switch, 8 workstations, and a wireless access point.

My desire is the ability to access the yard management system when I am out of the office, and do it more "directly" than using a connection like LogMeIn.com
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Mike, there are some routers that can accomplish that, like the Sonicwall TZ-100/200 series. It's called VPN Endpoint. There are also some that can use OpenVPN (such as DD-WRT), which is open-source. The Sonicwall SSL-VPN works pretty well.

They work best if you have a static IP on your internet connection.

It does take a bit to set up right, but once set up is reasonably simple.

I'd consider segmenting your internal network & keeping stuff on the network behind protections like passwords in case someone breaches the firewall. Good idea even with what you have now.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Behind the router, I guess I'm the one who handles the day-to-day network stuff. Currently very small business simple. A server with our yard management system, A gigabit switch, 8 workstations, and a wireless access point.

My desire is the ability to access the yard management system when I am out of the office, and do it more "directly" than using a connection like LogMeIn.com
Click to expand...

I used to use LogMeIn (and another one, I forget which), but we now use RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), which is native to windows. Much, much better than LogMeIn, and no extra cost.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Behind the router, I guess I'm the one who handles the day-to-day network stuff. Currently very small business simple. A server with our yard management system, A gigabit switch, 8 workstations, and a wireless access point.
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The sonicwall TZ range of products has worked well for me. They are a bit above the 'super genie easy peasy' consumer grade products, but for what you want to accomplish, they should work well. As Bill noted, you can probably accomplish the same using open source products, but that is more of a geeky tinkerer thing, if you just want it to work and spending a couple of $$ for support is just another bill the business pays, I dont see the point.

While their support is off-shore, the indian kids I have talked with have been very helpful. If you give them access to the box and tell them what you want, they will set it up for you. After setup is completed, you change your login credentials away from what you gave them.

The first thing you need is some way to 'find' your network on the internet tubes. There are two ways to accomplish that. One is through a static IP that you rent from your ISP. The other is via dynamic DNS where a third party service keeps track of what variable IP has been assigned to your box and directs traffic to you. You would have an address like 'http://aggiemike.netgear.net or something along those lines and ddns translates that into the address you have that day. I use static IPs.

Sonicwall offers two kinds of VPN. One is SSL based and you log in with a web client. This is great if you work from different computers and you can't really install local software. The other is an IPSEC tunnel based VPN where you install a client with a file containing a key on your local computer. The cheapest unit they sell (TZ105) only has the SSL based VPN, the next one up (TZ205) offers the IPSEC based system. Unless you have two different ISPs and need to set up a failover system, you wont need the highest level (TZ215) in their range.

There are other companies that provide similar products. I was put on this by someone who helped me to build a network a long time ago and it has worked well.
 
Another device I have used is a linksys WRV200 router. Together with a VPN client software from linksys there is a fairly simple way to set up remote access. I now have moved to netgear for my low-end equipment needs, I believe they offer VPN via a web client. Their setup software is really straightforward and has a built-in DDNS client that takes seconds to set up. If you dont need the fancier stuff like configuring individual ports that a sonicwall offers, one of these consumer grade systems may be sufficient at a better price point.
 
weilke said:
Sonicwall offers two kinds of VPN. One is SSL based and you log in with a web client. This is great if you work from different computers and you can't really install local software. The other is an IPSEC tunnel based VPN where you install a client with a file containing a key on your local computer. The cheapest unit they sell (TZ105) only has the SSL based VPN, the next one up (TZ205) offers the IPSEC based system. Unless you have two different ISPs and need to set up a failover system, you wont need the highest level (TZ215) in their range.
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Good description, but one minor correction: the TZ-105 has IPSEC VPN as well as the SSL connection. I have a TZ-100 and use IPSEC with their Global VPN client, as well as using SSL with the Sonicwall client (SSL allows either a Sonicwall client or web access)- I avoid the web access.

The SSL VPN tends to do better through some firewalls and it works with mobile hotspots (I've found that ATT and Verizon sometimes block IPSEC pass-through in their systems, which is sub-optimal).
 
wsuffa said:
Good description, but one minor correction: the TZ-105 has IPSEC VPN as well as the SSL connection. I have a TZ-100 and use IPSEC with their Global VPN client, as well as using SSL with the Sonicwall client (SSL allows either a Sonicwall client or web access)- I avoid the web access.
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Just looking at the Dell website, it shows the TZ105 as

IPSec VPN clients (Maximum) 0 (5) SSL VPN licenses (Maximum) 1 (5)

The TZ205 is listed with

IPSec VPN clients (Maximum) 2 (10) SSL VPN licenses (Maximum) 1 (10)

So with their current bundling pricing, it looks like they dont provide the license, but you can of course for just a little bit of money :wink2: buy it from them. I have a TZ100, it didn't come with the license. Never bothered to ask what it would cost as I have other places to get into the network.

edit:
Just checked. To add one license for the IPSEC VPN client to the TZ100 would be $50. The MSRP for the TZ205 is only $50 more than the TZ105, so if one wants the IPSEC client, one is better off to get the bigger unit that has it licensed.

The SSL VPN tends to do better through some firewalls and it works with mobile hotspots (I've found that ATT and Verizon sometimes block IPSEC pass-through in their systems, which is sub-optimal).
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OMG, OMG they block a service that they also sell to their own commercial clients. Where is the net neutrality when you need it. Where is my pitchfork ?
 
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One warning about the SonicWall (cough... Dell) products...

We use them at work... They're severely rate-limited if you have them on fast pipes.

The TZ100/200 series will only push about 8 Mb/sec thru a VPN tunnel. If that's faster than your Net connection or as fast as you need to go, no problem.

They're much much faster in IPSEC mode vs SSL VPN mode. They're badly CPU-bound. Even their "corporate" firewalls are.

We're in the process of dumping them for Checkpoint. The thing to watch out for with Checkpoint is upselling. They'll try to sell you a firewall that could handle your entire ISP and three other companies. Finding a VAR who has real-world experience with throughput is worth many tens of thousands of dollars in saved costs.
 
denverpilot said:
The TZ100/200 series will only push about 8 Mb/sec thru a VPN tunnel. If that's faster than your Net connection or as fast as you need to go, no problem.
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Running a remote desktop on one of his workstations to get a screen with his inventory system is 100kbps or less.

I pull backups across a tunnel, lots of blinkenlights while that is running :) .
 
Fortunately the bps overhead will be low. While the IMS interface is GUI, it's all text and rarely any photos. And I do have a static IP.

Mostly I just want/need the laptop to behave like a workstation on the LAN when I am travelling to conferences and meetings.

Doing it through a web service like LogMeIn is a PITA and has its own set of hassles.
 
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