Could New Site Users Be Hackers?

  • Hello Everyone:

    I’m new to this forum and a technical IDIOT who just set up my first fledging WP blog about 2 weeks ago. Here’s my concern. I’ve noticed that even though my site has no content yet and was just indexed probably 3 days ago, 10 users have signed up over the last 10 days or so. Most of them signed up (8) on the same day last Tuesday.

    1. How would people even find a site b4 it gets indexed in search engines?

    2. Why would users sign up with a website that’s empty without content anyway? Unless they’re hackers or spammers.

    3. Why would none of the 10 who signed up leave a comment or any other note?

    4. Is there any way to tell from WP interface or an email trace or anything of that nature if these folks have a history of spamming or hacking?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

  • 1. As these are probably bots, they simply go around looking for specific filenames.
    2. No one said that bots were clever. ??
    3. See (2).
    4. No – not really. Why not just turn off new user registration via Settings -> General?

    Thread Starter CrissieLuckey

    (@crissieluckey)

    Thanks for the tip, Esmi. I’m ashamed to say I never even thought of shutting user signups off until I’m up and running right.

    Here’s questions that come to mind, though.

    1. WHY didn’t my Akinset (or whatever it’s called) anti-spam plugin block those bots?

    2. I just installed Bad Behavior this morning. Will THAT plugin prevent bots from getting in?

    3. WHO launches bots to go out and look for sites?

    4. WHY didn’t my Conditional CAPTCHA plug-in prevent automated devices from signup in the first place?

    5. WHAT are the purpose of such bots? If they don’t leave comments on the site, what DO they do to harm my site? What gain do bots bring their owners?

    6. I got an invite from a Referral Key.com member the same or next night after I got EIGHT new signups without comments on my site that was less than 1 week old at the time. Is this coincidence or what?

    7. Can you recommend a reputable web design provider with reasonable rates to help me “tweak” my site into full gear?

    Thank so much Esmi and excuse my technical IDIOCY that causes need for so many questions.

    Best Regards,

    1. Because they are registrations (which some people want/need on their site) – not comments. Akismet only works on comment spam.

    2. It might do but, unless you have an over-riding reason for wanting people to register on your site, I’d just turn registrations off, if it was me.

    3. Search me! Some bots will simply just complete any and all forms that they encounter.

    4. Captchas are useless. They were cracked within weeks of their first invention and can never be relied upon.

    5. Again, I have no real idea. Perhaps some are released in the hopes that a later comment spambot will be able to post comments on sites that restrict commenting to registered users.

    6. Sorry – I couldn’t really comment either way.

    7. Oh – I so wish you hadn’t asked THAT question! It’s not something we allow here because of potential problems with “hire me” spammers. All I can suggest is that you try https://directory.codepoet.com/ or https://jobs.wordpress.net/

    This topic now has to be closed as per the Forum Rules. If you have any further questions, please feel free to post a new topic.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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