How to get rid of spam on Hesk Desk using ZB Block.

[MOB]

Hey everyone!

I'd like to let you all know that I've been using Hesk Desk for several years. And in the past it used to get heavily spammed. It seems that even the recent support of reCaptcha on Hesk Desk did not help stop the auto-bots from spamming.

So I found and started to use a third party script (free) called:ZB Block http://www.spambotsecurity.com/zbblock.php

Ever since I added this script, Spam came to a halt on Hesk Desk and other PHP based software I run on my server (i.e. phpBB, Wordpress, and etc.).

For those interested, if you have questions on how to install it and make it work with Hesk Desk, please post your questions below or also use their own support forum at: http://www.spambotsecurity.com/forum

I'll do my best to guide you in installing it on Hesk Desk--which is a very simple process.

Special thanks to Klemen for allowing me to share this piece of information.

[Klemen]

Thanks for sharing!

It would help to let users know how you enabled it in your HESK installation

[MOB]

Okay, it's fairly simple.

Here are the steps: (keep in mind that there is a PDF manual with instructions inside the download).

1. First when you download ZB BLOCK, you create a folder on the root (public_html) of your server named: "zbblock" and you transfer all the zbblock files inside this folder. -- Keep in mind that during the installation of zbblock, it will reorganize your zbblock folder by making a sub-folder and so on.
2. Then you run the installation:

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   http://www.yoursite.com/zbblock/setup.php

   -- basically the setup will try to find the best method for you to put a hook in your php files so it protects them.
3. You should get a screen that looks like this, where you select the number that gives you the "BEST" method. (see image below--notice the red arrows)
   
   
4. Once you select one of the methods marked "best" in green, it should give you a final page with the "hook" code you place on the top of any php file you wish to protect.
   
   
5. This zbblock hook, you must put on the very top of any php file before "<?php"--you need to do this manually, it's not an automatic process. For example: for phpBB users common.php is the only file you need to add this hook to, and for Hesk Desk, the file I placed this hook was on

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   inc/common.inc.php

   . (see pic below where I place my hook in Hesk Desk).
   
   
6. NOTE: If you have more than one type of php software that you wish to protect on your server (i.e. phpBB, hesk desk, WordPress and etc.) you use this same zbblock hook for all of them, yes, one for all! No need to install zbblock independently for each type of software.

Let me know if you got lost somewhere?

Next you should subscribe to this subforum: http://www.spambotsecurity.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5 -- keep in mind that you must have a registered account in that forum so you can subscribe to that sub-forum.



That sub-forum is where the zbblock developer provided updates to zbblock, where you only download a zip, and after you extract it, you simply find and replace those files in the zbblock folder/sub-folder you created. These files simply update your zbblock so you are always up-to-date with the latest security threats. And it's all free.

These are usually the three files for each update to replace the existing ones on your server:
bannedips.csv
bannedips.nfo
signatures.inc

For those who have balls of steal, can try to use the beta signature scripts, but for the rest, I recommend you just keep up with the public releases. So when you subscribe to that sub-forum, please pay attention if the signature script is either a beta or not.

[Klemen]

Thanks for the guide, definitely something to try if you are having problems with SPAM.