More about New Registrations

[Bufferstop]

It seems to be time for another reminder to would be members. Please don't try to join us from a public PC, by which I mean one in a college or school open access area, the public library, or an internet café. As part of the checks we make we a look at what the computer ( or at least its IP address) has been up to recently. A load of entries on one of the public blacklists is an immediate no-no. Sorry but UK libel laws amongst others mean we have to have a traceable person as the source of any post as our defence. We keep it at arms length as far possible, and unless you have willingly used your own name in a post we will try never to divulge it short of a visit from MI5 or the CIA, or maybe the CID with a warrant
If you are in the position of not having a suitable computer or smartphone to use but know one of our long term users you could try asking them to tell us about you.

[dubdee1000]

A load of entries on one of the public blacklists

interesting - what's this?

[Bufferstop]

There are sites which record ID's and IP addresses that have been used to access various websites that indulge in shady activities we use them when verifying new registrants. You probably know that the whole world comes to the UK because of the strength of our slander and libel laws. Unlike some sites once you are enrolled we allow you to post without it waiting to be vetted so if we accept your enrolment we can only trace you by your IP and email addresses, if we can't trace you because you obfuscate your IP address we become complicit in any libellous post you make. So if we can't rely on the IP Address you use and even worse if it's one that many people can use unchecked we don't process the application. Telling someone exactly why there application was refused defeats the object, hackers and phishers know why and just leave us alone. Those who don't know that their computer is set up to hide their real address can be a liability, hopefully the friend who set it up for them will point the way for them.
You might remember that a couple of years ago the UK "asked" 30 Russian diplomats to go home, in the weeks leading up to their leaving we were getting forty or fifty unacceptable registration request per week, strangely from the day after they went it dropped to five or six. I doubt they were interested in using our website but it's a fair bet that their families had one or two junior hackers amongst their number.

[Mountain]

Prehaps the Russian diplomats liked model railways?

[dubdee1000]

Thanks for taking my question in the way it was intended. I was genuinely interested and your reply was fascinating. How does the system deal with spoofed IP addresses (and feel free to decline if it risks security)? I could imagine that if the IP shows the address is Kenya, it might raise an eyebrow, but if i spoofed it to another address within the UK, it must be hard not to dismiss it as legit. It must be the same with email addresses. Perhaps we need a register of email addresses that record how long its been in active use, although i can see other consequences of this.....

[Ironduke]

Does this mean don't use a VPN?

[Bufferstop]

It's surprising how you develop a nose for dodgy users, mine got really well tuned after a dozen years running a network in an F&HE College. It starts twitching as soon as I see some combinations of ID and Email address, If you are interested in on line security Google "The Onion Router" how it obfuscates the source of a message at the same time as telling you that it has. At which point I think I'll shut up

[Bigglesof266]

Does this mean don't use a VPN?

VPN IPs work fine with NRM Forums, at least for already registered established users. CBF creating a fake new user ID to test out if it would impact. It shouldn't. Regardless, Bufferstop explains his legitimate point and reasons for thereof.