A quinta-feira, 28 de setembro de 2023 à(s) 18:49:20 UTC+1, WADP escreveu:
> Is it just me or are the rest of you experiencing this too, the removal of spam? I went through and marked as spam roughly 300-350 messages and when I checked to see if any more have been posted I discovered that all but four marked as spam have been removed. The four are marked as I having reported them as spam.
It happened to me, too. Thank God. The newsgroup has been saved.

On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?

Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.

Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.

taf

I'm VERY VERY VERY glad that to be wrong about the death of this group and that action has been taken to remove the spam and block the spammer. I feel hopeful about the group's future. Even though I seldom post (I haven't been doing much genealogy lately, although still VERY interested) I do check it daily to see if there is anything of interest to me.

I see the last four pieces of spam from the recent attack have been removed. I'm very pleased to see this has been done and that the group can return to medieval genealogy.

Op 29-09-2023 om 13:47 schreef WADP:

> I see the last four pieces of spam from the recent attack have been removed. I'm very pleased to see this has been done and that the group can return to medieval genealogy.

And now it's so quiet that I don't even know whether the group actually
works ...

On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:11:26 PM UTC+1, taf wrote:
> On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> > I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?
> Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.
>
> Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.
>
> taf

theyve moved on to other usenet groups now. anyone know how it stopped here? just reporting it?
It does seem someone went to a lot of trouble to create this spam which evaded filters for some
days. And although it pretended to be thai it seemed to emanate from vietnam. It didnt seem
like spam, more like as some suggested an attempt to disable the usenet group. Did anyone
experience computer problems after exposure to this? Some of the computers in my library
had to be rebooted and repair their start up files after this; maybe it was just a coincidence,
i'm not savvy enough to con what actually happened.

Mike

A sexta-feira, 6 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 23:59:42 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:11:26 PM UTC+1, taf wrote:
> > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> > > I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?
> > Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.
> >
> > Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.
> >
> > taf
> theyve moved on to other usenet groups now. anyone know how it stopped here? just reporting it?
> It does seem someone went to a lot of trouble to create this spam which evaded filters for some
> days. And although it pretended to be thai it seemed to emanate from vietnam. It didnt seem
> like spam, more like as some suggested an attempt to disable the usenet group. Did anyone
> experience computer problems after exposure to this? Some of the computers in my library
> had to be rebooted and repair their start up files after this; maybe it was just a coincidence,
> i'm not savvy enough to con what actually happened.
>
> Mike
What other Usenet groups are they targeting now?
Anyways, yes, it appears that the spam disappeared because we reported it.

On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 4:49:05 PM UTC+1, Paulo Ricardo Canedo wrote:
> A sexta-feira, 6 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 23:59:42 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:11:26 PM UTC+1, taf wrote:
> > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> > > > I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?
> > > Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.
> > >
> > > Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.
> > >
> > > taf
> > theyve moved on to other usenet groups now. anyone know how it stopped here? just reporting it?
> > It does seem someone went to a lot of trouble to create this spam which evaded filters for some
> > days. And although it pretended to be thai it seemed to emanate from vietnam. It didnt seem
> > like spam, more like as some suggested an attempt to disable the usenet group. Did anyone
> > experience computer problems after exposure to this? Some of the computers in my library
> > had to be rebooted and repair their start up files after this; maybe it was just a coincidence,
> > i'm not savvy enough to con what actually happened.
> >
> > Mike
> What other Usenet groups are they targeting now?

Well i hope its just that google hasnt got round to U in the alphabet of usenet, cos
uk.sci.weather is still getting it.

> Anyways, yes, it appears that the spam disappeared because we reported it..

i dont think its really spam or anything to do with betting or vietnam, just cover.
has it targetted any groups that arnt in english?

Mike

On Sunday, October 8, 2023 at 5:30:36 AM UTC-5, mike davis wrote:
> On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 4:49:05 PM UTC+1, Paulo Ricardo Canedo wrote:
> > A sexta-feira, 6 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 23:59:42 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:11:26 PM UTC+1, taf wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> > > > > I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?
> > > > Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.
> > > >
> > > > Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.
> > > >
> > > > taf
> > > theyve moved on to other usenet groups now. anyone know how it stopped here? just reporting it?
> > > It does seem someone went to a lot of trouble to create this spam which evaded filters for some
> > > days. And although it pretended to be thai it seemed to emanate from vietnam. It didnt seem
> > > like spam, more like as some suggested an attempt to disable the usenet group. Did anyone
> > > experience computer problems after exposure to this? Some of the computers in my library
> > > had to be rebooted and repair their start up files after this; maybe it was just a coincidence,
> > > i'm not savvy enough to con what actually happened.
> > >
> > > Mike
> > What other Usenet groups are they targeting now?
> Well i hope its just that google hasnt got round to U in the alphabet of usenet, cos
> uk.sci.weather is still getting it.
> > Anyways, yes, it appears that the spam disappeared because we reported it.
> i dont think its really spam or anything to do with betting or vietnam, just cover.
> has it targetted any groups that arnt in english?
>
> Mike
I don't understand what pleasure people get out of spamming our groups. It is so annoying having to report all of these messages. If they have that much time on their hands, use it for good. Seems like there are just too many people now days out to do harm. Rant of the day!

On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 12:01:23 PM UTC-4, Lori wrote:
> On Sunday, October 8, 2023 at 5:30:36 AM UTC-5, mike davis wrote:
> > On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 4:49:05 PM UTC+1, Paulo Ricardo Canedo wrote:
> > > A sexta-feira, 6 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 23:59:42 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> > > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:11:26 PM UTC+1, taf wrote:
> > > > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> > > > > > I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?
> > > > > Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.
> > > > >
> > > > > Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.
> > > > >
> > > > > taf
> > > > theyve moved on to other usenet groups now. anyone know how it stopped here? just reporting it?
> > > > It does seem someone went to a lot of trouble to create this spam which evaded filters for some
> > > > days. And although it pretended to be thai it seemed to emanate from vietnam. It didnt seem
> > > > like spam, more like as some suggested an attempt to disable the usenet group. Did anyone
> > > > experience computer problems after exposure to this? Some of the computers in my library
> > > > had to be rebooted and repair their start up files after this; maybe it was just a coincidence,
> > > > i'm not savvy enough to con what actually happened.
> > > >
> > > > Mike
> > > What other Usenet groups are they targeting now?
> > Well i hope its just that google hasnt got round to U in the alphabet of usenet, cos
> > uk.sci.weather is still getting it.
> > > Anyways, yes, it appears that the spam disappeared because we reported it.
> > i dont think its really spam or anything to do with betting or vietnam, just cover.
> > has it targetted any groups that arnt in english?
> >
> > Mike
> I don't understand what pleasure people get out of spamming our groups. It is so annoying having to report all of these messages. If they have that much time on their hands, use it for good. Seems like there are just too many people now days out to do harm. Rant of the day!

Yep, it seems to be back ...

I've counted only 67 pieces of spam compared to at least 300 or more pieces the last time.

On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 6:29:44 PM UTC-4, WADP wrote:
> I've counted only 67 pieces of spam compared to at least 300 or more pieces the last time.
Make that 70 pieces of spam and counting.

On Mon, 9 Oct 2023 09:01:21 -0700 (PDT), Lori <walker.lorij@gmail.com>
wrote in soc.genealogy.medieval:

>I don't understand what pleasure people get out of spamming our groups. It is so annoying having to report all of these messages. If they have that much time on their hands, use it for good. Seems like there are just too many people now days out to do harm. Rant of the day!

This sounds like some tiktok challenge for brainless kids...

On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 9:06:06 PM UTC-7, medi...@none.invalid wrote:
> On Mon, 9 Oct 2023 09:01:21 -0700 (PDT), Lori <walker...@gmail.com>
> wrote in soc.genealogy.medieval:
> >I don't understand what pleasure people get out of spamming our groups. It is so annoying having to report all of these messages. If they have that much time on their hands, use it for good. Seems like there are just too many people now days out to do harm. Rant of the day!
> This sounds like some tiktok challenge for brainless kids...

It seems to have stopped again. I only got three new messages overnight

On Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at 2:26:47 PM UTC+1, Will Johnson wrote:
> On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 9:06:06 PM UTC-7, medi...@none.invalid wrote:
> > On Mon, 9 Oct 2023 09:01:21 -0700 (PDT), Lori <walker...@gmail.com>
> > wrote in soc.genealogy.medieval:
> > >I don't understand what pleasure people get out of spamming our groups.. It is so annoying having to report all of these messages. If they have that much time on their hands, use it for good. Seems like there are just too many people now days out to do harm. Rant of the day!
> > This sounds like some tiktok challenge for brainless kids...
> It seems to have stopped again. I only got three new messages overnight

It seems to have restarted on google at least just in the last hour.

Mike

My revised estimate of the amount, so far, of this spam attack is roughly 300-350 and counting.

On Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at 4:33:36 PM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> My revised estimate of the amount, so far, of this spam attack is roughly 300-350 and counting.

If I knew who was responsible, I'd forward every message to them.

A domingo, 8 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 11:30:36 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 4:49:05 PM UTC+1, Paulo Ricardo Canedo wrote:
> > A sexta-feira, 6 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 23:59:42 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:11:26 PM UTC+1, taf wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> > > > > I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?
> > > > Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.
> > > >
> > > > Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.
> > > >
> > > > taf
> > > theyve moved on to other usenet groups now. anyone know how it stopped here? just reporting it?
> > > It does seem someone went to a lot of trouble to create this spam which evaded filters for some
> > > days. And although it pretended to be thai it seemed to emanate from vietnam. It didnt seem
> > > like spam, more like as some suggested an attempt to disable the usenet group. Did anyone
> > > experience computer problems after exposure to this? Some of the computers in my library
> > > had to be rebooted and repair their start up files after this; maybe it was just a coincidence,
> > > i'm not savvy enough to con what actually happened.
> > >
> > > Mike
> > What other Usenet groups are they targeting now?
> Well i hope its just that google hasnt got round to U in the alphabet of usenet, cos
> uk.sci.weather is still getting it.
> > Anyways, yes, it appears that the spam disappeared because we reported it.
> i dont think its really spam or anything to do with betting or vietnam, just cover.
> has it targetted any groups that arnt in english?
>
> Mike
I asked Todd via email on 7 October about the possibility that it wasn't actually spam but an attempt to bring down the groups and he told me:
"Intentional vandalism is always a possibility, but usually when it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. It is not uncommon for a spamming attack to devolve into whac-a-mole, repeatedly shifting to a new venue as each one gets shut down, because the identity of the target is one of the tools used to identify repeated spam and remove it, so moving is a way of dodging the spam filters. Even the fact that it is Thai, but reportedly being sent out of Vietnam, is not strong evidence that it is a Trojan horse. Much of the spam that is sent comes from hacked computers sometimes continents away from where the spammer operates, with the owner of the sending server not even aware their computer has been hijacked."

On Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 2:20:36 PM UTC+1, Paulo Ricardo Canedo wrote:
> A domingo, 8 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 11:30:36 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> > On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 4:49:05 PM UTC+1, Paulo Ricardo Canedo wrote:
> > > A sexta-feira, 6 de outubro de 2023 à(s) 23:59:42 UTC+1, mike davis escreveu:
> > > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:11:26 PM UTC+1, taf wrote:
> > > > > On Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 5:36:04 AM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> > > > > > I agree that unfortunately the newsgroup is beyond saving due to all the spam that has suddenly appeared within the past 24 hours. I estimate there is at least about 200 pieces of spam. Is there anyway that the archives could be saved?
> > > > > Reports of this newsgroup's death are greatly exaggerated. These things happen periodically. A spammer discovers the existence of Usenet and goes hog wild. It takes a few days for the problem to be reported to competent sysops, who then track down the injection-site server and, one way or another, see that the spam is blocked (by getting the site's sysop to do it, by blocking the site, or at a minimum, by adjusting their own spam filters to recognize the new threat and both remove it from their own servers and send out deletion messages across Usenet), and then it is back to business as usual. Already, most of the posted messages have been removed (actually removed, as opposed to simply being replaced with a banner saying 'you marked this post as spam', as typically happens), which means the situation is being addressed and will likely be resolved shortly.
> > > > >
> > > > > Is it possible this one bad actor brings down s.g.m. on Google Groups? yes. Is it likely? no.
> > > > >
> > > > > taf
> > > > theyve moved on to other usenet groups now. anyone know how it stopped here? just reporting it?
> > > > It does seem someone went to a lot of trouble to create this spam which evaded filters for some
> > > > days. And although it pretended to be thai it seemed to emanate from vietnam. It didnt seem
> > > > like spam, more like as some suggested an attempt to disable the usenet group. Did anyone
> > > > experience computer problems after exposure to this? Some of the computers in my library
> > > > had to be rebooted and repair their start up files after this; maybe it was just a coincidence,
> > > > i'm not savvy enough to con what actually happened.
> > > >
> > > > Mike
> > > What other Usenet groups are they targeting now?
> > Well i hope its just that google hasnt got round to U in the alphabet of usenet, cos
> > uk.sci.weather is still getting it.
> > > Anyways, yes, it appears that the spam disappeared because we reported it.
> > i dont think its really spam or anything to do with betting or vietnam, just cover.
> > has it targetted any groups that arnt in english?
> >
> > Mike
> I asked Todd via email on 7 October about the possibility that it wasn't actually spam but an attempt to bring down the groups and he told me:
> "Intentional vandalism is always a possibility, but usually when it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. It is not uncommon for a spamming attack to devolve into whac-a-mole, repeatedly shifting to a new venue as each one gets shut down, because the identity of the target is one of the tools used to identify repeated spam and remove it, so moving is a way of dodging the spam filters. Even the fact that it is Thai, but reportedly being sent out of Vietnam, is not strong evidence that it is a Trojan horse. Much of the spam that is sent comes from hacked computers sometimes continents away from where the spammer operates, with the owner of the sending server not even aware their computer has been hijacked."

I dont think it really is trying to bring down groups, its just that they are an easy target and this
is a tryout for something to come. They are using googles own gmail to flood them with
pretend spam.

i had a brief look through other groups, many with much higher traffic and users than this 1, and the picture
was rather mixed. some hadnt been targetted at all, others even with quite low use were full of it.
some had been attacked but were now clear, while others like this group, it kept coming back.
some are now using latin characters, others using indonesian language but its clearly the same
source. i dont think its spam at all, but its clearly abusing googles gmail and it seems they cant
keep up with the bots which are constantly creating new accounts then sending out the spam.
the worst thing you can do it seems is reply to it and try and send it back.. the bot then increases
the attack. I think google are aware of it, but so far keeping very quiet. I think this is a soft attack
for now which is possibly a test run for something much more serious like an attack on email
servers by the usual suspects.

Mike

On 12/10/2023 01:59, pj.ev...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at 4:33:36 PM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
>> My revised estimate of the amount, so far, of this spam attack is roughly 300-350 and counting.
>
> If I knew who was responsible, I'd forward every message to them.
Genealogists have always had to be patient. I am sure we can all manage
to wait out the disruption.
Personally, I blame it on The Register who ran an article recently
pointing out that usenet was alive and well despite it's age. Some fool
was bound to take that as a challenge!

On Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 2:03:31 PM UTC-6, tahiri wrote:
> On 12/10/2023 01:59, pj.ev...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at 4:33:36 PM UTC-7, WADP wrote:
> >> My revised estimate of the amount, so far, of this spam attack is roughly 300-350 and counting.
> >
> > If I knew who was responsible, I'd forward every message to them.
> Genealogists have always had to be patient. I am sure we can all manage
> to wait out the disruption.
> Personally, I blame it on The Register who ran an article recently
> pointing out that usenet was alive and well despite it's age. Some fool
> was bound to take that as a challenge!
Maybe nothing, but it appears the list tags legitimate conversations as spam, and the real spam as normal. Or, I could be looking at it oddly.

Cheers,
Kevan

My current estimate of the number of spams sent to this group is 400-500 pieces.

On Friday, October 13, 2023 at 8:11:12 AM UTC-5, WADP wrote:
> My current estimate of the number of spams sent to this group is 400-500 pieces.
Cannot this group somehow block any message not in English? That would certainly help with the spam.

On Friday, October 13, 2023 at 9:23:46 AM UTC-7, Lori wrote:
> On Friday, October 13, 2023 at 8:11:12 AM UTC-5, WADP wrote:
> > My current estimate of the number of spams sent to this group is 400-500 pieces.
> Cannot this group somehow block any message not in English? That would certainly help with the spam.

This group cannot block ANY messages.

I've noticed that some of the spam contains more spam.