Suspicious Activity Detected

[clutchc]

Why did Toms Hardware suddenly block me and show a "Suspicious Activity Detected" page and tell me I had to run a Java to get back in again? My system is clean as a whistle. Malwarebytes and Microsoft Securities Essential is always running in the background, and I do regular scans. I installed JAVA temporarily so I could get back into the site. It's disabled now.

 

[i7Baby]

PM a mod

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Part of the anti-spam, anti-crawl system. All it means is that you're a long way from the typical viewer of the site, and it thinks you might be a bot.

You shouldn't need Java, but almost everything on the web needs Javascript, including the Captcha. Please don't confuse the two.

 

[clutchc]

PM a mod

Part of the anti-spam, anti-crawl system. All it means is that you're a long way from the typical viewer of the site, and it thinks you might be a bot.

You shouldn't need Java, but almost everything on the web needs Javascript, including the Captcha. Please don't confuse the two.

I'm not confusing anything. And I'm totally aware of what JAVA is. The warning read "Note: This website may require JavaScript. If you have JavaScript disabled, please enable it before attempting to return to http://www.tomshardware.com."
So, I did what was asked so as not to get blackballed from the forum. I've been an active member of this forum since 2009.
I simply want to know how to avoid this in the future.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

tell me I had to run a Java to get back in again?

You definitely said Java - sorry if that's a typo.

Apparently reloading or trying a different page could get you around it. Not sure.

We've asked the higher-ups to dial the settings back a bit, but I don't really know what will come of that.

 

[clutchc]

OK. Fair enough. Thanks for the reply.
And yes, I just noticed I used the word java when I should have used javascript. My bad.

 

[rojer64]

Just happened to me. I found out that Tom doesn't like spoofing. Try and pick another profile in your random agent spoofer or whatever your browser is using as for anonimity.

If you don't have such extensions installed, we did not share the same experience.

Regards,
Someone, somewhere else

Why did Toms Hardware suddenly block me and show a "Suspicious Activity Detected" page and tell me I had to run a Java to get back in again? My system is clean as a whistle. Malwarebytes and Microsoft Securities Essential is always running in the background, and I do regular scans. I installed JAVA temporarily so I could get back into the site. It's disabled now.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Try and pick another profile in your random agent spoofer or whatever your browser is using as for anonimity.

If you have cookies enabled (which you need to or you can't post), having one of those is completely worthless.

I think it's mainly to prevent people using tools like wget or curl to either scrape large amounts of content, or post spam.

 

[hmp_goose]

Happens every couple'a pages, and has staged up to words from three-number combos …

:-(

 

[Someone Somewhere]

If you're using Ghostery, enable Distil Networks. If you're using the Tom's Hardware Chrome plugin, disable it.

 

[clutchc]

If you're using Ghostery, enable Distil Networks. If you're using the Tom's Hardware Chrome plugin, disable it.

Not using either one of those. Or any thing like those.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

All first-party cookies enabled?

Javascript enabled, not just enabled when you need to pass a captcha?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Why did Toms Hardware suddenly block me and show a "Suspicious Activity Detected" page and tell me I had to run a Java to get back in again? My system is clean as a whistle. Malwarebytes and Microsoft Securities Essential is always running in the background, and I do regular scans. I installed JAVA temporarily so I could get back into the site. It's disabled now.

Slightly off topic but i think still relevant, you should remove MSSE, and install something like avg free. After i did this avg found a ton of stuff missed by msse. Recent reviews of antivirus pretty much say MSSE gets less than 70% of viruses/malware.

 

[SGM26]

This just happened to me. Was reading an article then all of a sudden I get punted to the 'Suspicious Activity Detected' page.

What gives? I've been here for months and this is the first time it's happened. My computer is clean and I'm not using a VPN or anything like that.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

If you read the rest of the thread...

Ensure you're not blocking any cookies or Javascript, and that you don't have Ghostery blocking Distil Networks.

 

[SGM26]

I did and I'm not doing any of the above. The only extensions I have enabled are adblockers. Have been using those since I've been here and this is the first time the 'suspicious activity' has happened.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Many ad-blockers' default lists include stuff they consider to be trackers. Distil counts under that.

It's possible they had a definition update.

 

[pocketdrummer]

tell me I had to run a Java to get back in again?

You definitely said Java - sorry if that's a typo.

Apparently reloading or trying a different page could get you around it. Not sure.

We've asked the higher-ups to dial the settings back a bit, but I don't really know what will come of that.

Well, they need to just get rid of it. I've NEVER been banned from a website for using a privacy addon. NEVER. I've been going to Tom's for over a decade and this new measure will probably be the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

You haven't been banned.

You're being rate limited and forced to go through extra confirmation that you're human.

If you want to point the finger at someone, point it at Ghostery. They're blocking you from accessing our site by stopping you loading the JS needed.

 

[pocketdrummer]

You haven't been banned.

You're being rate limited and forced to go through extra confirmation that you're human.

If you want to point the finger at someone, point it at Ghostery. They're blocking you from accessing our site by stopping you loading the JS needed.

What kind of information is being collected by Distil Networks to prove that I'm a human?

 

[Someone Somewhere]

As I understand it, it checks that you execute Javascript and set cookies based on that. Also probably checks that you don't do things like change user agent or IP while using the same cookies.

I don't know more; I don't have access to their proprietary code.

 

[dmuir]

I am using a VPN, and am being blocked. What kind of crappy service is Distil anyway, and why do I need to have JavaScript enabled? If you care about accessibility, then the site should function without JS. I also do not want to give away my details to some 3rd party. That's just ridiculous.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

AFAIK, we don't give away your details to third parties. I don't believe Distil does either; they only use the cookies to determine that you're not a bot. Many of these privacy protection tools are a little on the paranoid side.

Do you really want to go back to the days of the site to be inaccessible because content scrapers are saturating the servers?

We don't do anything based on you being connected through a VPN, except you've possibly got a higher chance of the IP being banned from posting due to past activity.

 

[geofelt]

On tomshardware.com, I get a blank page.
At one time, it said to enable javascript, and that I would be redirected in 5 seconds.
Or, click on a link to refresh now.
Neither worked.

Bottom line:-------------------------------------
What do I need to do to get back on the forum?

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Use www.tomshardware.com, not tomshardware.com. The latter should work, but it doesn't always.

What happens if you try to load the page?