Re: echo text - anti-spam-spider measure

http://themfund.com/snippets/test.php Has %HEX, &#entity;, and even a entity version of the hex! On 2/28/07, Richard Lynch <ceo@l-i-e.com> wrote:

On Wed, February 28, 2007 1:20 am, Stut wrote: Of all the possible methods, entities are the easiest for bots to handle. They just need to decode the entities. More reliable methods involve using javascript to write out the mailto: tag. Do it in several statements. But even then, some of the smarter spiders will execute simple javascript like that. You can make it better by using onload to execute the javascript which means the spider will need to implement that, which I don't believe they do at the moment. Of course the best way is to use an image and don't link it. If it's just a way for visitors to contact you, use a contact form. You don't expose the email address and can control it a lot better. I'm no expert, but as far as I can tell from my readings on this subject, the reality is that spammers just don't bother to harvest them. Ongoing studies, older studies, newer studies. Everybody knows that the spammers *could* decode HEX or even the JS fairly trivially, but they don't. There are many theories [*] as to why that is, but the empirical evidence is that the obfuscation is very effective at reducing spam dramatically, no matter how silly that seems. * Maybe it's too much low hanging fruit. Maybe they don't want to risk hitting honey-pot emails. Maybe anybody smart enough to obfustcate is too smart to fall for the stupid spam anyway. ... -- Some people have a "gift" link here. Know what I want? I want you to buy a CD from some starving artist. http://cdbaby.com/browse/from/lynch Yeah, I get a buck. So? -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php