Hi Sparklers,
Earlier this evening I received a couple hundred (fake) form submissions over about 30 minutes. Surely it is spam. I’ve never encountered such a mass of spam submissions since using Sparkle. Is it possible the Sparkle App form submission security protocol was breached?
Of course, the server techs immediately suggested adding a ‘Captcha’ inconvenience. But instead, for now, I secured website access using cPanel’s Directory Privacy feature, which stopped the form submissions. The server error messages however indicate s/he/it (pun intended 
) continued to attempt access for a time. But, of course, the drastic measure prevents everyone from accessing the web site.
Suggestions?
Is this something for @duncan ?
Thanks!
Yes @PPEmail, I think it is best to talk to @duncan about this.
Email him on feedback@sparkleapp.com explaining the situation, snapshots of the generated errors and also your Sparkle project file.
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Thanks, @FlaminFig.
Duncan responded in his usual quick and clear way. It was (probably) a bot breach due to not updating the site recently. That site was created using Sparkle 4.5 and they updated the anti-bot protocols on Sparkle 5.1.
Also, a good chance here for some unsolicited plugs:
a) remember to update your sites regularly and
b) enrol in Sparkle’s subscription service so spam-prevention features remain current. 
2 Likes
I’ve also experienced a similar problem on some of my sites. You can see in Analytics (attachment) that the attacks all came from Poland. By the way, since the programming code received a major update where SPARKLE files had to be saved under a different name, I’m wondering whether it would be better to re-publish my dozen or so sites with the new format, as I’m afraid some things on the site might break. I’d like to know what policy the SPARKLE agencies have adopted regarding software updates?
1-Do you republish all your sites online or do you only do so if there are changes to be made to the site?
2- Have you encountered any problems when republishing old 2020 sites?
Thank you very much for answering my questions.
@Frenchie, I understand that when Sparkle has been upgraded (and it always comes with a lot of improvements under the hood) it is a good time to open your older project(s) in it and check that all is good in Preview mode.
Once all good it is a good idea to republish your websites with the new underlying improvements.
So the answer your points…
- Yes and yes
- I have a few 2021 sites and with upgrading the project file within the new Sparkle I have had no issues
