Short but sweet example of why you need to really pay attention to your logs.
Firefox has made it so that any one can forge refererrer headers all you need is a little javascript knowledge and the right plugin.
Step One: Install Firefox
Step Two: Install the refspoof extension
Step Three: Copy the threadwatch script [ no relation to the messageboard] to your server. Change the extension to html.
Step Four: Enter the url you want to spoof in the URL section of the threadwatch script. in the following format spoof://[ADDRESS HERE];ref://[FAKE REFERRER HERE]
Step Five: Click Watch It!
Watch as the script refreshes a zillion times. This was accomplished with a about 12 lines of javascript and a free plugin.
What does this illustrate ?
When your looking at your logs you need to look for odd patterns. This could just as easily have spoofed referals from google to get you to beleive your optimization for your keywords was going great. Using the standard analysis programs you likely wouldn’t find this. Use a script like Kmatu’s Relax to monitor your logs daily to spot odd trends.
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| Filed under: General, Misc, Web Technologies — Scott @ October 24, 2005 5:30 pm |
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