Socket Errors In Scripts

[Linebacker59Z]

Hey All. I'm addressing the more seasoned members of the Shaiya Community with a question about scripts that involve Captchas. Many of us use it in our Registration scripts, among others.

My issue presented itself the other day when I attempted to create an account using a reg script I'd been using for a long time.

After entering the Recaptcha Security code, I get a "Cannot Open Socket" error.

I assumed it was a port I had closed that was causing things to go awry.

However, after rigorously checking ports/security/firewall exceptions and whatnot, I realized that the Captcha itself could be a problem.

So, with due diligence, I proceeded to remove the captcha from the script, and voila, all was good.

However, due to the holes in security that the lack of a captcha provides, I'm at a standstill. I cannot do without the captcha (or an alternative), however, I cannot seem to make the captcha work. I've tried new keys, and captcha alternatives, but to no avail. The Cannot Open Socket Error persists.

I suppose what I'm asking here is the following:

Is there any way to maintain security without the use of a Captcha or Captcha Alternative? A trustworthy way of closing up the strings to prevent SQL security holes?

Is there a way to fix my current captcha script? Or at least to see what needs to be changed to allow the socket to open? I've reviewed the code myself and tried it on different comps, and of course, it works just fine. But on the computer in question, I've eliminated port errors and conflictions.

Any Ideas?

I thank all who contribute in the future. Condescension isn't helpful. Help is.

- Linebacker59Z

[-Torben-]

Recaptcha is a free captcha from google.
I personaly dont like it, just because often its hard to read whats displayed in that picture. But because of that its a very secure captcha one.

It depends for what usage you need different security about captchas...

But to explain: A captcha cant never replace general security on database, website or servers! Its only an anti-spam/anti-bot tool !

Means: it prevents website-spam-bots to register 1000 accounts automaticly
or it helps with brute force attacks where bots try to find the login from other players while trying out every combination of login and password automaticly....

....Nothing more, nothing less.

I used a self made captcha. Its not hard to make one, if you know a little php.. for example here are some tuts and examples:




you will se that its realy easy to make one, and you can implement your own custom shaiya background image in it.

(or just google for it, you will find a big bunch of nice selfmade ones,which are easy to customize)

[Linebacker59Z]

Torben, I completely agree with what you're saying above. Like you, I understand the usefulness and anti-spam protection provided with human input, in this case, a captcha.

However, I believe that the problem I'm currently facing is that recaptcha isn't allowed through PHP for some reason. My belief is that someone attempted to use a simple SQL injection method for malicious purposes, but failed, and in the process, my security measure automatically closed off the entry of the captcha mechanism. I'm not sure how to fix the problem at the moment, so if you have any ideas on the subject, feel free to share.

- Linebacker59Z

[-Torben-]

I think most people here dont know what a captcha can do and what it cant. And i really dont want to tell anybody what he dont know, i just want to clearify whats the truth about captcha...

- It cant detect any sql injection nor
- it cant close any php connection to anywhere and also not to sql or database

sorry, idk why the google ReCaptcha is throwing this special fault message, but i know it has nothing to do with your server security.
Just with your captcha implementing and maybe registering at google for one year thing?

Sorry if my answer didnt help you further, but i understood your question as one also for altenative solutions for ReCaptcha, so i answered as well.

[Linebacker59Z]

No problem Torben. I absolutely understand where you're coming from.

And I'll figure it out at some point. Its funny, all of the things that can possibly go wrong, and we always look for the one way to get it right.

I appreciate all your above postings. If you think of something else, you know where to find me.

- Linebacker59Z