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Source: https://www.todhost.com/blog/spam-management-on-a-joomla-website.html

Eliminating web spam or reducing the capacity of spammers to hurt web operations has been the concern of webmasters and server managers all over. Spam damages the reputation of a network and comes with a penalty. For the website owner, spamming could lead to a suspension or a complete deletion of your website.

In this article, we will examine the case of the Joomla website, a very widely used Content Management System(CMS), and take you through a step-by-step process of addressing spamming on a Joomla website.

Brief Overview of Joomla

Joomla is simply an open source web development tool available freely on most Linux servers. On Todhost, Joomla can be freely installed in the software section of the website control panel. It is CMS and so it can be used to achieve simple and also very complex tasks. With Joomla, you can develop a website within minutes.

Joomla and Spamming

One of the drawbacks of most Content Management Systems including Joomla is the possibility of exploitation. This is possible with outdated Joomla versions, plugins, modules and components(all known as extensions). Joomla uses plugins, components and modules to achieve functionality and attraction to a website. The extensions are developed by an active community of developers and made available freely or for a fee.

Because Joomla runs periodic upgrades on its core files, the current is version 3.4.4, some of the extensions are usually not compatible with recent versions and so will require upgrade. This incompatibility creates a loophole which can be exploited by skilled spammers to send messages from a porous Joomla website. Most of the time, this is done, using the Joomla contact us form or the member registration form.

But there are ways to address this issue and i will take you through very simple steps that you can use to control Joomla exploitation and spamming on your website.

1. Login to your Joomla administrator section.

2. Install a Hacker Protection Plugin: The Siteground JHackguard plugin has been most effective in this regard. It is available for free and can be downloaded from the Joomla community website and directly from the Siteground website - completely free.

3. Enable Captcha-Recaptcha on your Joomla Website.

From the Global Configuration page, you can enable captcha-recaptcha. This feature is available with all recent Joomla versions. Next, you will need to access the plugin section of your Joomla website and click on "Captcha-Re-Captcha" to enable it. Enter the private and secret keys as required. You should have obtained the keys from Google. If you do not have the keys, there is a link in your Joomla website in the plugin section which leads you to the page where you can create the captcha keys with Google.

You can now safe your work. Now you can be sure that your website will no longer be available for spammers. Keep in mind that the safest way to stay online is to run the recent Joomla software versions and to be sure all your extensions are up to date.

Author: Fegalo Nsuke