Trackback Validator Plugin

Introduction

The TrackBack Validator plugin for WordPress performs a simple but very effective test on all TrackBacks in order to stop spam.

Legitimate TrackBacks are sent by people commenting on your weblog, accompanied by a URL that points to that commentary. Spam TrackBacks are accompanied by a URL that points to a pay-per-click affiliate website or other irrelevant material. The Validator exploits this key difference:

When a TrackBack is received, the plugin retrieves the Web page located at the URL included in the TrackBack. If the page contains a link to your weblog, the TrackBack is approved. If the page does not link to your weblog, the TrackBack is flagged as spam and rejected.

Because TrackBack spammers do not set up custom Web pages linking to the weblogs they attack, this simple test will quickly reveal illegitimate Trackbacks.

We are actively developing additional heuristics to add to the plugin; if you observe TrackBack spam that makes it past this plugin, please let us know.

Dan Sandler and Andy Thomas

Downloads

Installation

Prerequisites: You need an installation of WordPress version 1.5 or later.

Unzip the trackback_validator_VERSION.zip file; it will contain the file README.txt and the directory TBValidator. Move TBValidator to your <wordpress-directory>/wp-content/plugins directory. Using the WordPress administration interface, turn on the Validator from the “Plugins” page. The “Options” page will now have an additional tab, “Trackback Validator,” which allows you to configure the plugin and to see a graph of recent trackback classifications (see the screenshot).

Changelog

version 0.7.1 [21-May-2006]
Fixes a bug with WordPress 2.x blogs.
version 0.7 [17-May-2006]
Removed problematic dynamic link page detection. (Additional research will tell us what exactly we need to look for in order to defend against dynamically generated spam sites; since we’ve never seen any of these in the wild, it’s not currently a high priority anyway.) Improved the robustness of data reporting. Reports now use an HTTP POST interface and will submit data to trackback-db.cs.rice.edu, rather than a fragile IP address (!). Data reported by our users is crucial to the research process; see our forthcoming technical report to see how this data is used. Fixed the trackback history graph. It would silently fail on hosts without GD installed; the new version doesn’t require GD at all (and is therefore a lot simpler).
version 0.6 [announced 19-Nov-2005]
Added a simple check against spammers’ dynamic link pages. Simplified the data submission routines. Set up framework for PageRank comparisons. Cleaned up code.
version 0.5 [announced 24-Aug-2005]
first iteration

A plea for help

This is the subject of active research by the Computer Security Lab at Rice University. We ask you to enable the “Submit Data” option, to send data back to us for scholarly analysis. You’re free to use this plugin without reporting data, but your data is important to us as we attempt to understand the evolving attack profiles of weblog spammers.

Screenshot

[image]

Support

For the time being, just get in touch with us if you run into bugs (or false negatives/positives).

83 Responses to “Trackback Validator Plugin”

Trackback Spam Resources / Trackback Validator plugin v0.5 Says:

[…] http://idli.cs.rice.edu/~dsandler/trackback/trackback-validator-plugin/ […]

Matt Croydon::Postneo 2.0 » Blog Archive » Wordpress Trackback Validator Plugin Says:

[…] I just saw the WordPress Trackback Validator plugin fly by my aggregator and immediately installed it. I knew Dan online back in middle school, so with this endorsement, I installed it instantly: The Computer Security Lab at Rice just released the first public version of the Trackback Validator plugin for WordPress blogs. Since I’ve been using it, I’ve had 100% classification accuracy on Trackbacks (read: every legit Trackback makes it through, not a single spam Trackback). Maybe Trackback isn’t quite so dead after all. […]

Labnotes » Trackback Validator Plugin Says:

[…] If the page does not link to your weblog, the trackback is flagged as spam and rejected. Link: http://idli.cs.rice.edu/~dsandler/trackback/trackback-validator-plugin/ Tags: wp-plugins trackback spam […]

Flavor 8 » Dear Trackback Spammers Says:

[…] (PS, I just installed this groovy plugin to fight trackback spams. […]

icooltools.com » Stop Trackback Spam - Wordpress Plug-in Says:

[…] tool. No responses to ‘Stop Trackback Spam - Wordpress Plug-in’. RSS feed for comments and Trackback URI for ‘Stop Trackback Spam - WordpressPlug-in’. […]

έχω ζωη (Echo Zoe) » Down with Trackback Spam Says:

[…] I fought Comment Spam, and now I’m starting to get Trackback Spam in it’s place. This is a problem I haven’t really had to deal with much until now. Hopefully this will do the trick. If it doesn’t, I may consider turning trackbacks off, since they are rarely ever used anyway. –> […]

Archgrove - Implicit Definition » Comment/trackback spam (The weblog of Adam Wright) Says:

[…] A recent spate of trackback and comment spam has lead me to install some anti-junk plugins on this site. Specifically, I’m now using Trackback validator to delete anything from people who leave a trackback, but haven’t actually linked to me. […]

Paint the Tiger • Carve the Swan » Preventing Trackback Spam Says:

[…] Note to self: look at Trackback Validator Plugin over on Trackback Spam Resources. […]

dsandler.org ≡ Trackback spammers upping the ante Says:

[…] This is the first attack I’m aware of that specifically attempts to thwart backlink checkers like the Trackback Validator I helped with this past summer. When we started the project, we predicted that trackback spammers would either give up and go home (ha!) or they’d continue with the arms race and develop some kind of dynamic spam page in response. […]

Trackback Spam Resources / Trackback Validator plugin v0.6 Says:

[…] Trackback Validator 0.6 […]

Tom en onderwijs » Blog Archive » Spam Says:

[…] Daarna heb ik meteen de trackback validator plugin geinstalleerd. Deze plugin controlleert actief of een trackback ping verwijst naar een bestaande pagina. Deze methode zou in principe de Trackback spam van gisteren moeten detecteren. […]

Lost Highway » Trackback spam : y en a marre Says:

[…] Je viens de mettre en place un plugin pour contrôler les trackbacks, qui repose sur une idée plutôt simple, mais efficace : le plugin vérifie lors de chaque trackback, la page en référence contienne effectivement un lien vers mon site. […]

Porcelain » Blog Archive » Porcelain vs. Spam Says:

[…] lr2Spam to combat comment spam Trackback Validator to combat trackback spam. […]

Absolutely Delightful » Mike vs. Spam Says:

[…] We aren’t getting hit too hard with Spam here, but Porcelain has been getting slammed as of late. So I installed some anti comment spam (lr2Spam) and anti trackback spam (Trackback Validator) tools to try to take the heat off. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander (or something like that), so those tools are in effect here. Take that you slimy bastards. –>   […]

Never mind - me. » Blog Archive » Neue Antispam-Massnahme Says:

[…] Ihr erinnert euch evtl, dass ich mal Spam Karma installiert hatte. Leider hat dieses nicht zum gewuenschten Ergebnis gefuehrt und wurde sehr schnell wieder deaktiviert. Seither ist Spam Karma 2 erschienen, aber ich versuche mal etwas anderes. Seit eben gerade im Einsatz ist das Trackback Validation Plugin des Computer Security Lab an der Rice University. […]

WordPress Türkiye » Blog Archive » Trackback Says:

[…] Yeni baþlayalanlar, bu yazýyla doymayanlar , WordPress de kullanýmý hakkýnda daha detaylý bilgi almak isteyenler þuraya ve þuraya bi bakýn derim. WordPress kullanýcýlarýna geri besleme geçerlilik plugini de bu yazýnýn hediyesi olsun. […]

CentreSource: Blog » Eliminating (Most) Trackback Spam Says:

[…] Well, seeing as how this idea is so simple, I assumed rightly that I wasn’t the first to have it. Indeed, David Sandler has already written a fine plugin for Wordpress which does this exact thing. […]

My Quiet Life » dnsblcheck Says:

[…] I haven’t really had much of a problem with trackback spam since I installed this trackback validator plugin. However, as their plugin is written, even though it stops the spam, it still e-mails you about it, which is quite annoying (I gave up wading through the wordpress plugin architecture to figure out why it was still e-mailing). […]

Robert’s Photography Weblog » Blog Archive » TrackBack Spam Says:

[…] Robert’s Weblog has been hit with a flood of foul spam exploiting WordPress’ trackback capability. Legitimate Trackbacks are sent by people commenting on your weblog, accompanied by a URL that points to that comment. Spam Trackbacks are accompanied by a URL that points to a pay-per-click affiliate website or other irrelevant material1. […]

Trackback Spam Resources » Blog Archive » Trackback Validator plugin v0.6 Says:

[…] A new version of the Trackback Validator plugin is available! Download it here. […]

The Mind of David W.H. Swenson » Blog Archive » Frist p0st Says:

[…] For the main blog, I’m using Wordpress. This was mostly because an easy install of it was offered by my webhosting company, and I didn’t want to deal with the additional pain of installing it myself. The availability of plug-ins for it, and the fact that it is open-source, are also selling points for me. ***can it treat readers as users?*** I am using ***CAPTCHA*** to reduce comment spam. Trackback spam is being handled with the Trackback Validator Plugin, although I want to say right now that there is no guarantee that I’ll keep trackbacks operating, as I don’t see much point to them. […]

Mind Body Spirit Journal (sharing holistic how-to solutions since 1993) ? Blog Archive » Will this stop trackback spam? Says:

[…] Just installed the Rice University Computer Security Lab’s plug-in designed to stop that. It’s called Trackback_Validator. We’ll see how well it works. […]

Trackback Spam Resources » Blog Archive » New version 0.7. Says:

[…] We’ve just released version 0.7 of the Validator; this is a strongly recommended upgrade for all our current users. We have improved the reliability and robustness of almost all aspects of the plugin, including spam classification, administration, and data reporting. Go grab version 0.7 and be free of TrackBack spam! […]

Trackback spam and countermeasures like Akismet and trackback validation-- Avery J. Parker - Web site hosting and computer service Says:

[…] It’s a simple concept that I’ve seen implemented at the Washington Post blogs. It basically validates IF there is a link to your site in the post that’s “tracking back”. It’s called Trackback Validator Plugin and should work for anything around Wordpress 1.5 and up. Akismet looks to be available for other blog/cms as well. If you’re using another cms I’d look into a trackback validator. In theory, this should stop the rest of the trackback spam and likely take a bit of the load of akismet, because I would think it would filter things out before they get to akismet. Testing it on this site right now, will add to the others later. […]

Little Storping-in-the-Swuff » Little Storping Spam Attack Says:

[…] Update: Trying Trackback Validator. If it works, you know who to thank. […]

» Listener’s Excel Spreadsheet and about the comment spam… Says:

[…] I am experimenting with methods to prevent comment spam and trackback spam. I decided to use Anti-Spam Image, and Trackback Validator. The anti-spam image will simply ask for you to enter a series of letters/numbers in order to make sure that you are a real person, and not a spam bot. The Trackback validator will check the referencing URL to make sure that it is a legitimate trackback. So, I have turned off the requirement to register in order to comment, you may comment at will! […]

El Laboratorio del Dr. Yuri » Archivo del Blog » Plugin contra el spam: Trackback Validator Says:

[…] Decidido a tomar medidas más serias contra el spam mediante trackback, he dado con este plugin para Wordpress que parece bastante efectivo: Trackback Validator. […]

sheep.handturkeystudios.com » Blog Archive » Site updates: Spam prevention Says:

[…] Site updates: Spam prevention May 20th, 2006 by Groo We’ve been getting higher-than-average amounts of Comment and Trackback spam recently, so I’ve gone ahead and installed two WordPress plugins in an attempt to control the problem a bit better: Trackback Validator and Bad Behavior. […]

Trackback Spam Resources » Blog Archive » Bugfix release: 0.7.1. Says:

[…] Version 0.7.1 is now available for download. It fixes a bug on WordPress 2.x blogs: wp_post.comment_count wasn’t correctly updated when rejecting spam TrackBacks, causing the blog’s frontpage to show one too many comments (if the current theme features a display of the number of comments per post). […]

Pedro Cavaco » SPAM que ocultamente predura Says:

[…] Nos últimos dias (mas muitos) o meu blogue tem sido invadido por SPAM, aquele termo informático que muito directamente e sem deambularmos, significa LIXO. Não é que vocês o vejam, na realidade não vêm mesmo, todo ele fica retido e é sobre essa retenção que quero falar um pouco. Habitualmente o SPAM é feito de uma maneira muito básica, constroem-se robots de net que correm determinadas sequências de programação e atacam x alvos em rodada e de forma agressiva. Como não é novidade nenhuma o Wordpress, motor que uso na minha página pessoal a partir da sua versão 2.0 veio equipado com uma coisa chamada Askismet que reduz bastante esse tipo de lixo, no entanto a moda do SPAM expandiu-se e além dos habituais comentários, ataca agora também os Trackbacks e é ai que o Askimet me estava a falhar um pouco, em 15 deixava passar 4, que mais tarde tinha que eliminar à pata, dessa forma e porque fazer tal tarefa todos os dias é cansativa procurei por um complementar ao SPAM para o WordPress e foi assim que achei o Trackback Validator Plugin que é bastante eficaz e que recomendo a quem sofra do mesmo mal. […]

La Bitácora del Tigre » Antispam en la bitácora Says:

[…] También he añadido un complemento para evitar los spam mediante trackback. Se trata del Trackback Validator Plugin, que el propio Boriel recomienda en la entrada correspondiente a Captcha! […]

It’s all Good. » Blog Archive » A Satisfied Customer Says:

[…] I shut off trackbacks until a quick check of Google turned up a defense for WordPress users. […]

El Rincón de Boriel » Blog Archive » Trackback Validator Fix Says:

[…] Trackback Validator even thoug being a nice plugin that kills trackback spam, always emails you every trackback (even the filtered spam ones). It’s working very efficiently to me, anyway. There were two little issues with this plugin: until version 7.0, message counters in your blog were not correctly updated (instead, the plugin manages the WP database directly) and spam trackbacks are also mailed to you (so you might end up mail-flooded with spam as I did). This is the code related to this issue (at line #138 in file trackback_validator.php): <?php if(tb_run_checks($tb_info, $permalink)) { $tb_type="ham"; if($tb_options[’auto_approve’]) $wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->comments SET comment_approved = ‘1′ WHERE comment_ID = ‘$comment_ID’"); } else { $wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->comments SET comment_approved = ’spam’ WHERE comment_ID = ‘$comment_ID’"); $tb_type="spam"; } […]

Michas Schraubereien » Blog Archive » Spamfighting Says:

[…] Ab und zu aber doch. Meine anti-spam-Werkzeuge momentan: Die Wordpress-Plugins Akismet und Trackback-Validator. […]

Weblog Tools Collection » WP plugin: Trackback Validator Says:

[…] WP plugin: Trackback Validator Check back with the referring blog to make sure there is a link to your blog. Since there has been quite a splurge of trackback spam recently, this might come in handy. Technorati Tags: trackback validator wordpress plugin   Related Posts from the Past: […]

Jonathan Says:

This is a timely plugin. Thank you for developing it.

~Jonathan

Nuking the Trackback Spam « Jayant Kumar Gandhi Says:

[…] Its been only a few days since I have been posting stuff here and I am already getting a lot of trackback spam. I have just now installed the Trackback Validator plugin for Wordpress. It basically checks whether the trackback URL actually points to your blog or not, which spam sites atleast don’t do as of today. Nifty plugin!! […]

  WordPress Plugin: Trackback Validator Plugin by Blogging Pro Says:

[…] Check it out at Trackback Spam Resources. […]

Dr. Mike’s Blog » Blog Archive » WordPress Plugin: Trackback Validator Says:

[…] WP plugin: Trackback Validator - Check back with the referring blog to make sure there is a link to your blog. If yes, the trackback is approved. If not, it’s tagged as spam. […]

Wordpress 2.0.3 y luchando contra el spam Says:

[…] La frase “luchando contra el spam” se refiere al plugin Trackback Validator, incluído en nuestro wiki de plugins para Wordpress hace tiempo pero que he redescubierto gracias a Weblog Tools Collection y que funciona comprobando si los sitios que envían trackbacks a tu web la enlazan realmente. Recomendado. Etiquetado como plugins y Wordpress […]

Validera trackbacks at Bloggliv Says:

[…] Spam via trackbacks har blivit en allt vanligare metod. Här är en plugin som validerar trackbacks för att förhindra spam den vägen. Legitimate TrackBacks are sent by people commenting on your weblog, accompanied by a URL that points to that commentary. Spam TrackBacks are accompanied by a URL that points to a pay-per-click affiliate website or other irrelevant material. The Validator exploits this key difference: […]

Pandeblog » Plugin WordPress: Trackback Validator Says:

[…] Puedes descargarlo desde la web del desarrollador, pero si no entiendes ni papa de inglés te traduzco su explicación: Los trackback legítimos son enviados por gente que escribe sobre tu blog, acompañados de una URL que apunta a esa anotación. Los Trackbacks de Spam están acompañados de una URL que apunta a un sitio afiliado a un pay-per-click u otro material irrelevante. El Validator explota esta diferencia. […]

BillyG Says:

Hi. I just installed this plugin but I get an error for the SPAM table:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `wp_tb_spam`, it does successfully create the wp_tb_data table though.

I deactivated the plugin, dropped the data table and started over but same results: the spam table is not created.

Any ideas? TIA.

dsandler Says:

What error do you get? Does it prevent the plugin from working correctly?

The `wp_tb_spam` table is used by an older version of the plugin, so it’s just trying to tidy up.

SigT Says:

Trackback Validator para WordPress

Actualmente usando Akismet a veces se colaba algún comentario de SPAM en forma de trackback (e incluso un día 20 seguidos ya que Akismet estuvo fallando) voy a empezar a usar Trackback Validator el cual lo comentan en Weblog Tools Collection.

La ide…

ervdesign » Blinda tu bitácora en 3 pasos (WordPress) Says:

[…] También me aseguré que los TrackBack que enlazaran algún artículo, fuera reales. Para ello instalé Trackback Validator Plugin, y de momento no me arrepiento. […]

10 палок(ру) - Блог в помощь Says:

[…] ИнтереÑÐ½Ð°Ñ Ð¿Ð»Ð°Ð³Ð¸Ð½ поÑвилÑÑ Ð½Ð° Ñайте www.seclab.cs.rice.edu, он позволÑет не допуÑкать trackback’и Ñо Ñпамом. РаÑÑкажу подробнее, как Ñтот плагин выполнÑет Ñвою работу: […]

Bibliothek der reich bebilderten Verzweiflungen » Spam zum Frühstück Says:

[…] Ein Plugin gegen Trackback-Spam zu installieren. Da wäre mal das Akismet-Plugin, welches sehr vielversprechend klingt. Dazu müsste ich aber hier erstmal nach Wordpress 2.0 updaten, oder sollte ich. Mach ich vielleicht auch, nur nicht jetzt, irgendwann mal. Es gibt ja noch mehr Plugins: Den Trackback-Validator zum Beispiel. Dieser arbeitet so, dass die eingehenden Trackbacks überprüft werden, ob es wirklich diese Seite gibt, und ob dort der Eintrag zu dem der Trackback erfolgt, verlinkt ist. Bei Spam ist dies natürlich nicht der Fall, und so sollte dieser rauszufiltern sein. […]

Denken Über » 3 nuevos plugins para Wordpress Says:

[…] - Trackback Validator Plugin; que es una medida para frenar el spam-manual; ¿que hace? cuando un trackback llega a tu sitio, este plugin analiza la página que lo origina y revisa que efectivamente haya un link al blog.. si no lo hay el trackback no es aprobado. […]

What is trackback and is it abused? Says:

[…] For Trackback Plugin For Wordpress: http://seclab.cs.rice.edu/proj/trackback/trackback-validator-plugin/ […]

TheIndex.Agregador » Blog Archive » 3 nuevos plugins para Wordpress Says:

[…] - Trackback Validator Plugin; que es una medida para frenar el spam-manual; ¿que hace? cuando un trackback llega a tu sitio, este plugin analiza la página que lo origina y revisa que efectivamente haya un link al blog.. si no lo hay el trackback no es aprobado. […]

TheIndex.Agregador » Blog Archive » Wordpress 2.0.3 y luchando contra el spam Says:

[…] La frase “luchando contra el spam” se refiere al plugin Trackback Validator, incluído en nuestro wiki de plugins para Wordpress hace tiempo pero que he redescubierto gracias a Weblog Tools Collection y que funciona comprobando si los sitios que envían trackbacks a tu web la enlazan realmente. Recomendado. […]

Socialpreneur Blog Says:

Fighting trackback spam

I wanted to add a little more function to avoid both comments and trackback spams to my blog, and I looking down WordPress Codex page then found this trackback validator plugin.
For WordPress 2.x users, make sure to download version 0.7.1 or later.

Bloganbieter.de » Blog Archive » Wordpress Plugin: Trackback Validator Says:

[…] Wordpress Plugin: Trackback Validator Für alle Trackback-Spam-geplagten Blogger gibt es für Wordpress nun Abhilfe gegen das in letzter Zeit stark zunehmende Spamming per Trackback. Das Trackback Spam Resources hat hierzu das Plugin Trackback Validator veröffentlicht. Es prüft, ob der Trackback tatsächlich gerechtfertigt ist, also ob ein Link zum eigenen Blog in dem Trackback-sendenden Post vorhanden ist. Legitimate TrackBacks are sent by people commenting on your weblog, accompanied by a URL that points to that commentary. Spam TrackBacks are accompanied by a URL that points to a pay-per-click affiliate website or other irrelevant material. The Validator exploits this key difference: […]

Bibliothek der reich bebilderten Verzweiflungen » Spam! (mal wieder) Says:

[…] Eigentlich immer noch. Seit, etwa zwei Wochen versuchen hier des nächtens Spammer ihren Dreck abzuladen. Vorzugsweise als Trackback getarnt. Der von mir benutzte Trackback-Validator leistet hervorragende Dienste, und alle Spamattacken erfolgreich herausgefischt. […]

Neto Cury Blog Says:

TRACKBACK VALIDATOR

Neto Cury Blog » TRACKBACK VALIDATOR Says:

[…] Mas, a discussão valeu pra alguma coisa, então, a título de pesquisa, estou desabilitando o Akismet temporariamente e instalei o TRACKBACK VALIDATOR, um simples plugin que faz um trabalho monstruoso, bloquear essa enxurrada de trackback-spam de um modo muito simples: Ao receber um trackback-spam no blog, ele simplesmente “remete-se” ao blog proveniente do spam e verifica se existe um link “real” para o seu blog, se não houver (nenhum spammer linka suas vítimas), ele simplesmente recusa o trackback e o apaga. Tudo nesse plugin é simples, até a sua instalação, que é subir a pasta com arquivo e tudo pra dentro da pasta wp-content/plugins/ e habilitá-lo. […]

New Blog Anti-Spam Tools at The Musings of Chris Samuel Says:

[…] But this won’t stop trackback spam which seems to come in bursts, so I’ve also added the Trackback Validator Plugin from the Computer Security Lab at Rice University which visits the referrers of trackbacks received to ensure that there is really a link to you from that site in that page. […]

Trackback Validator Plugin Wordpress » XHTML CSS W3C Standard Says:

[…] In rete è possibile reperire altri plugin specifici, nel caso del Trackback Validator (http://seclab.cs.rice.edu/proj/trackback/trackback-validator-plugin/), ci sentiamo di informare che attivando quel plugin il numero dei trackback spam aumenta considerevolmente; blogger avvisati… […]

Basic Thinking Blog » Die sanfteste Methode gegen Werbemüll Says:

[…] Also her mit einer Methode, die eben nix in eine DB schreibt. Dem Hinweis von Michael bin ich gerne gefolgt und habe daher nun zwei neue Spamtools installiert. Eines davon hat Michael / Software Guide Blog selbst geschrieben: 1. Math Comment Spam Protection Plugin Er erklärt dort die Einzelheiten. Vorteil: Kein Captcha-Kram und der Kommentar bleibt erhalten, wenn der User einen Fehler begangen hat. Einen Fehler? Ja, eine simple Addition falsch berechnet. Klaro könnten das die Spammer knacken, aber hey… so what. 2. Akismet steht als Ausputzer in der zweiten Verteidigunsgreihe bereit, um seine Blutgrätsche gegen Dribbelkünstler auszupacken. 3. Gegen Trackback-Spam habe ich das ebenfalls von Michael empfohlene Trackback Validator Plugin installiert. Es checkt, ob der Spammer einen Backlink in seinem “Text” auf mein Blog gesetzt hat. Echte Spammer tun das nicht. Obwohl es mittlerweile findigere Spammer gibt, die via Tricks den Backlink tatsächlich einbauen, danach aber wieder rausnehmen. Und wenn schon, unser Ausputzer steht bereit. […]

The Spam fight turns to blogs….-- Avery J. Parker - Web site hosting and computer service Says:

[…] I’ve detailed some of the struggles I had for a bit with FLOODS of comment spam. Details of the issue and a fix which has been rock solid for Wordpress can be found in the following posts (reverse chronological order): Update on comment spam storms, trackback spam countermeasures such as akismet and trackback validation, another trackback storm, botnets spreading trackback spam?, Initial trackback storm. To sum up though, I’ve found 2 plugins to make for a rock solid combination here in wordpress. Akismet (which caught 99% or so of trackback spam) and The trackback validator plugin which caught everything else. (99% sounds good, but when you’re getting thousands of attempts a day?) […]

Pelkey’s Ponderings » Blog Archive » Ooops! My bad!!! Says:

[…] Well, for some reason, before I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress, I couldn’t locate where to moderate comments (RTFD, Bill!!!). Anyway, I was getting swamped by spam (I now hate anything poker, backgammon, or gambling-related, let alone the “discounted meds” and “enlargement pill/patches”), and just finished manually deleting 1,087 spam comments!!! But, now I’ve installed the WordPress plugin, “Trackback Validator”, and not only has the spam stopped, but my blog has gotten much easier to maintain. My apologies to those few who have made comments to my posts, and hopefully I’ve got a handle on it now.   [link] […]

Basic Thinking Blog » Spamabwehr Says:

[…] hatte am 06.07. meine Spam-Plugins umgestellt: 1. Math-Plugin von SW Guide installiert (diese kleine Berechnungsfeld in dem Kommentarformular), um Kommentarspam abzuhalten. Kommt ohne Datebank-Zugriffe aus. Klappt bisher perfekt! Kein Kommentarspam mehr. Die Datenbank wird geschont. Wehrt natürlich nicht den Trackback-Spam ab. 2. Spam Karma komplett aus wegen zu viel Last 3. Akismet ebenso aus Lastgründen deaktiviert, wird aber zeitweise aktiviert, um den Trackback-Spam zu entfernen, der sich angesammelt hat. Zumal sich dort hin und wieder false positive TB Spam verfängt. Nach dem Löschen der Spameinträge wird Akismet wieder deaktiviert. 4. gegen Trackback-Spam habe ich den Trackback Validator eingebaut. Der läuft wie das Math-Plugin ganz ohne eigene DB-Tabellen. Blockt TB Spam so, dass es nicht in den Kommentaren angezeigt wird. Kleiner Nachteil: Da ich bei jedem neuen Kommentar bzw Trackback eine Mail bekomme, erhalte ich nach wie vor auch eine Mail, wenn TB Spam eingeht. Ist aber zu verschmerzen, da man das in einen Mailordner automatisiert via Mailregeln wegfiltern kann. […]

Wordpress Antispam Plugins Says:

List of all Wordpress Antispam Plugins.

Christian’s weblog » Blog Archive » Trackback Spam Resources » Trackback Validator Plugin Says:

[…] Trackback Spam Resources » Trackback Validator Plugin […]

eds blog Says:

WordPress und Trackbacks

Heut fand ich einen Link auf ein Trackback-Validator-Plug-In und dachte mir “Das ist ja toll!”. Denn so etwas hatte ich schon länger vermißt.

Und dann schaute ich mich mal bei b2evolution genauer im Admin-Bereich um – und stellte fest: Das gibt es…

Shazbot Blog » Blog Archive » This blog is now protected from trackback spam Says:

[…] This blog is now protected from trackback spam by  trackback validator. […]

snowcounty » Trackback Validator Plugin Says:

[…]  Here is the link: http://seclab.cs.rice.edu/proj/trackback/trackback-validator-plugin/ […]

hollemann » Blog Archive » Bugfixes Says:

[…] Mal wieder ein paar Worte zu Wordpress-Plugins. In den letzten Tagen war mein Layout im Internet Explorer zerschossen, worauf ich allerdings erst hingewiesen werden mußte (Danke!), weil ich ausschließlich Firefox verwende. Nach längerer Suche konnte ich das Problem identifizieren: Lange URIs in den Kommentaren, die durch GetRecentComments angezeigt wurden, waren Schuld. Dieses Plugin ließ sich auch wegen einer seltsamen Fehlermeldung über die Redeklaration der Funktion kjgrc_subpage_exclude_cat() nicht mehr konfigurieren, aber in einem Forum fand sich dafür eine Lösung. Danach war es natürlich ein leichtes, die Einstellung zum Umbrechen langer Wörter anzupassen, auch wenn ich zunächst erfolglos versucht habe, hier den LinkTruncator zu verwenden. Weil ich gerade dabei war, habe ich auch noch den Trackback Validator installiert. Der nervige Trackback-Spam hatte in letzter Zeit doch etwas überhand genommen. […]

The Mindful Geek » My list of essential Wordpress plugins. Says:

[…] Trackback Validator helps prevent trackback spam. Between this and Akismet it should control most of your spam. […]

TrackBack Validator has been installed | Blogs Says:

[…] The TrackBack Validator plugin has been installed which performs a simple but very effective test on all TrackBacks in order to stop spam. […]

Trackback Validator - fighting spam comments | Email Monitoring & Email Filtering Blog | Blogs Says:

[…] - Onlywire - RawSugar - reddit - Scuttle - Shadows - Simpy - Spurl - tagtooga - TalkDigger - Wink - Yahoo MyWeb- […]

bueltge.de [by:ltge.de] Says:

WP - Trackback Validator Spam Cleaner (Plugin)

Ich nutze den Trackback Validator schon lange Zeit und bin mit dem Ergebnis recht zufrieden. Allerdings gab es einige kleine Sachen, die mir nicht gefallen haben: unter anderem wollte ich die Einträge in der Datenbank nicht unnötig groß halten und z…

trackback spamek meneküljetek :: kobak pont org Says:

[…] Immáron sokadjára a komment és trackback spamek a téma. Adott egy ötletes plugin, a trackback validator. Ennek a lényege, hogy minden olyan trackback-et automatikusan spamnek jelöl, ahol a származási oldalon nincs link (backlink) hozzánk. Ez tök jó, ámde lehetne a dolgot picit még tovább fejleszteni. […]

For Her » Blog Archive » Get rid of Trackback Spammers Says:

[…] Here is a plugin for trackback spamming . For those who dont know what is trackbck, click here. […]

For Her Says:

Nice plugin. I think this will be of great use for me. Great work.

WP - SpamViewer zum Löschen und Retten von Spam - bueltge.de [by:ltge.de] Says:

[…] In einem älteren Beitrag - Trackback Validator Spam Cleaner Plugin - hatte ich bereits auf ein Plugin hingewiesen, mit dem ich die Einträge verwalte, die das Plugin TrackbackValidator erkennt und speichert. Es kommt doch immer mal vor, dass korrekte Trackbacks als Spam erkannt werden und so nicht den Weg in den Kommentarbereich von WordPress finden. Das Plugin kann die falschen Einträge retten und unnötige Einträge in der Datenbank löschen, um diese klein zu halten. Nachdem ich dann mit einigen WordPress-Nutzern, Danke dabei an Michael, Matthias, Robert und Fabian, am testen war, sind gleich mehrere Wünsche hinzugekommen und so musste ich das Konzept umstellen und hier ist nun ein Plugin für alle WP-user, die ihre Datenbank pflegen wollen und leidlich von Spam geplagt sind. […]

Leserblog der HNA Says:

Maßnahmen gegen Spam in WordPress

Ich hatte es bereits in einem anderen Beitrag geschrieben: Das HNA-Blog wird derzeit von Kommentar- und Trackbackspam geradezu überflutet. Was also tun? Kommentare nicht zuzulassen ist keine Lösung (muss ich nicht erklären, oder?). Manche gehen sogar…

iBot's Blog-Spot Says:

Spam Protection

I used Akismet for spam protection so far and it worked well in the way that all spam comments were filtered and not displayed. But why letting spam come in if it’s also possible to block it already before. So I just installed the Math Comment Sp…

Trackback Spam Resources » Trackback Validator Plugin Says:

[…] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your ownsite. […]

Web Hosting Reviews, Web Site Hosting Says:

Web Hosting Reviews, Web Site Hosting

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting

Affiliate Best Programs Says:

More Wordpress Plugins and Where to Find Them

Wordpress is the most popular blogging software for domain based blogs. While Blogger and Blogspot still encompass the vast majority of blogs on the internet, both of the afformentioned free services are too cluttered with spammy blogs and blogs that …

Spam Filter Free Spam Says:

Use A Spam Filtering Tool To Manage Spam And Save Hours Everyday

For most of us, changing our primary email address to get rid of spam is not really an option. This is because our email addresses are known and used by many of our contacts and may also be printed on business cards and other material. We certainly don…

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