#197 Create moderation response guidelines for spam attacks
Opened 5 years ago by jflory7. Modified 5 years ago

Originally discussed in fedora-diversity#55.

Summary

Create recommended moderation response guidelines with IRC commands / methods to respond to sudden attacks by spammers

Background

Since December 2017, Freenode is hit intermittently with sudden spam attacks. Spammers flood a channel with tens of messages a second. Because it is sudden, it usually needs a quick and fast response.

There are "command sheets" out there for IRC, but commands differ across IRC server software and networks. It would be helpful to have a recommended set of guidelines for how a Fedora channel operator should respond appropriately with the right commands to quiet or ban a spammer.

Details

One issue I noticed before was issuing a ban before kicking the spammer / flooder made it impossible to remove them from the channel if they were using notices instead of regular messages.

Some sort of recommended steps would be helpful:

  1. How to issue a quiet by IP address / hostmask
  2. How to issue a kickban by IP address / hostmask
  3. How to undo a ban retroactively, if needed

This list is not exhaustive, but you can use your past experience and creativity to expand.

Outcome

Fedora contributors have a single resource to reference to respond to channel flooding and spam attacks without waiting for a Fedora IRC SIG operator to respond


In my experience, freenode has been quick to kline such spammers, so I am not sure trying to do anything is worth it, we should just let freenode quash them.

But perhaps there are other cases I am not aware of.

With the advent of the Telegram <=> IRC bridges and also Riot, some of us receive mobile notifications on our phones for the spam. In some cases, Freenode takes ten minutes to k-line one spammer, and then often another will appear after.

It would be helpful to have a quick response guide, to quickly silence any channel flooding like this in case there is a delay. I'm not sure what the best commands or methods for this are, but if I had a guide, I would use it.

if you control the bridge you can always take down the bridge until we han=
dle the channel=C2=A0contact one of us and we will handle the issue in the =
channel=C2=A0=C2=A0
On Monday, April 9, 2018, 4:09:22 PM EDT, Justin W. Flory pagure@pagur= e.io wrote: =20
=20
=20
jflory7 added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
With the advent of the Telegram <=3D> IRC bridges and also Riot, some of us receive mobile notifications on our phones for the s=
pam. In some cases, Freenode takes ten minutes to k-line one spammer, and t=
hen often another will appear after.

It would be helpful to have a quick response guide, to quickly silence any =
channel flooding like this in case there is a delay. I'm not sure what the =
best commands or methods for this are, but if I had a guide, I would use it=
.
``

To reply, visit the link below or just reply to this email
https://pagure.io/irc-support-sig/issue/197
=20

I run the bridge for some channels but not all. To deactivate a bridge, I have to have SSH access from a secure computer to shut down the bridge. The bridge was one example of why steps or best practices for handling channel flooders would be helpful for other channel operators to react quickly and swiftly.

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