I have a page with an email address visible (so humans can print the page if necessary). I used the following to code to obfuscate the email. When I view the page source in my browser it appears all is well, but I was told today by the SEO person at our web developer that the email address is not obfuscated on this page. He had a printout with the email address clearly visible after some obfuscated text. So, is the following incorrect in some way I just can''t see? Email: <%= mail_to @post.employer.email, @post.employer.email, :encode => "javascript", :subject => ''request for information: ''+ @post.title %><% end %> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
Frederick Cheung
2011-Mar-23 08:37 UTC
Re: obfuscated email not really obfuscated. but why not?
On 23 Mar 2011, at 04:39, "sol.manager" <sol.manager-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> I have a page with an email address visible (so humans can print the > page if necessary). I used the following to code to obfuscate the > email. When I view the page source in my browser it appears all is > well, but I was told today by the SEO person at our web developer that > the email address is not obfuscated on this page. He had a printout > with the email address clearly visible after some obfuscated text. >What does the output look like if you view the HTML source in your browser? Fred> So, is the following incorrect in some way I just can''t see? > > Email: <%= mail_to @post.employer.email, @post.employer.email, :encode > => "javascript", :subject => ''request for information: ''+ @post.title > %><% end %> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. > To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org > For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en. >-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
sol.manager
2011-Mar-23 14:29 UTC
Re: obfuscated email not really obfuscated. but why not?
For example, on the web page the following Email:
joe.public-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org
had the following source code.
<li>Email: <script
type="text/javascript">eval(unescape(''%64%6f
%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d
%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%6a%6f%65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d
%61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3f%73%75%62%6a%65%63%74%3d%6a%6f
%62%25%32%30%61%70%70%6c%69%63%61%6e%74%25%32%30%72%65%73%75%6d
%65%25%32%30%66%6f%72%25%32%30%70%6f%73%74%25%32%30%6f%6e%25%32%30%6a
%6f%62%66%69%6e%64%65%72%75%73%61%2e%63%6f%6d%25%33%41%25%32%30%53%6f
%6c%75%74%69%6f%6e%73%25%32%30%41%73%73%69%73%74%61%6e%74%22%3e%6a%6f
%65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d%61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e
%27%29%3b''))</script></li>
To me this seems obfuscated, but the SEO person produced a print out
with something similar above but looked more like:
after the </script> and before the </li> his print out had
href="mailto:joe.public-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org?subject=job
%20application">joe.public-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org
I didn''t know if this was a difference in web browsers or how he was
able to see this, but he did.
On Mar 23, 4:37 am, Frederick Cheung
<frederick.che...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:> On 23 Mar 2011, at 04:39, "sol.manager"
<sol.mana...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> > I have a page with an email address visible (so humans can print the
> > page if necessary). I used the following to code to obfuscate the
> > email. When I view the page source in my browser it appears all is
> > well, but I was told today by the SEO person at our web developer that
> > the email address is not obfuscated on this page. He had a printout
> > with the email address clearly visible after some obfuscated text.
>
> What does the output look like if you view the HTML source in your browser?
>
> Fred
>
>
>
> > So, is the following incorrect in some way I just can''t see?
>
> > Email: <%= mail_to @post.employer.email, @post.employer.email,
:encode
> > => "javascript", :subject => ''request for
information: ''+ @post.title
> > %><% end %>
>
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to
rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org
> > For more options, visit this group
athttp://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
--
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Bryan Crossland
2011-Mar-23 14:57 UTC
Re: Re: obfuscated email not really obfuscated. but why not?
On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 9:29 AM, sol.manager <sol.manager-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> For example, on the web page the following Email: joe.public-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org > had the following source code. > > <li>Email: <script type="text/javascript">eval(unescape(''%64%6f > %63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d > %22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%6a%6f%65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d > %61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3f%73%75%62%6a%65%63%74%3d%6a%6f > %62%25%32%30%61%70%70%6c%69%63%61%6e%74%25%32%30%72%65%73%75%6d > %65%25%32%30%66%6f%72%25%32%30%70%6f%73%74%25%32%30%6f%6e%25%32%30%6a > %6f%62%66%69%6e%64%65%72%75%73%61%2e%63%6f%6d%25%33%41%25%32%30%53%6f > %6c%75%74%69%6f%6e%73%25%32%30%41%73%73%69%73%74%61%6e%74%22%3e%6a%6f > %65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d%61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e > %27%29%3b''))</script></li> > > To me this seems obfuscated, but the SEO person produced a print out > with something similar above but looked more like: > after the </script> and before the </li> his print out had > href="mailto:joe.public-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org?subject=job > %20application">joe.public-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org > > I didn''t know if this was a difference in web browsers or how he was > able to see this, but he did. > >That''s a good question. What browser and version did he produce that on? B. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
sol.manager
2011-Mar-23 15:33 UTC
Re: obfuscated email not really obfuscated. but why not?
The problem seems to be that use was using Firebug add-on for Firefox and was viewing the page in debug mode, so essentially he was seeing the "front" and the "back" at the same time. Robots don''t crawl the front, the crawl the source. So in the end, I believe this was operator error and not incorrect obfuscation of an email. On Mar 23, 10:57 am, Bryan Crossland <bacrossl...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 9:29 AM, sol.manager <sol.mana...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote: > > For example, on the web page the following Email: joe.pub...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org > > had the following source code. > > > <li>Email: <script type="text/javascript">eval(unescape(''%64%6f > > %63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d > > %22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%6a%6f%65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d > > %61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3f%73%75%62%6a%65%63%74%3d%6a%6f > > %62%25%32%30%61%70%70%6c%69%63%61%6e%74%25%32%30%72%65%73%75%6d > > %65%25%32%30%66%6f%72%25%32%30%70%6f%73%74%25%32%30%6f%6e%25%32%30%6a > > %6f%62%66%69%6e%64%65%72%75%73%61%2e%63%6f%6d%25%33%41%25%32%30%53%6f > > %6c%75%74%69%6f%6e%73%25%32%30%41%73%73%69%73%74%61%6e%74%22%3e%6a%6f > > %65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d%61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e > > %27%29%3b''))</script></li> > > > To me this seems obfuscated, but the SEO person produced a print out > > with something similar above but looked more like: > > after the </script> and before the </li> his print out had > > href="mailto:joe.pub...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org?subject=job > > %20application">joe.pub...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org > > > I didn''t know if this was a difference in web browsers or how he was > > able to see this, but he did. > > That''s a good question. What browser and version did he produce that on? > > B.-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
Philip Hallstrom
2011-Mar-23 16:09 UTC
Re: Re: obfuscated email not really obfuscated. but why not?
On Mar 23, 2011, at 8:33 AM, sol.manager wrote:> The problem seems to be that use was using Firebug add-on for Firefox > and was viewing the page in debug mode, so essentially he was seeing > the "front" and the "back" at the same time. Robots don''t crawl the > front, the crawl the source. So in the end, I believe this was > operator error and not incorrect obfuscation of an email.This is also true if you use Safari/Chrome''s developer inspector. A pure view source will show you the javascript mess. Inspecting the element will show you the result of the javascript call... -philip> On Mar 23, 10:57 am, Bryan Crossland <bacrossl...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote: >> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 9:29 AM, sol.manager <sol.mana...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote: >>> For example, on the web page the following Email: joe.pub...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org >>> had the following source code. >> >>> <li>Email: <script type="text/javascript">eval(unescape(''%64%6f >>> %63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d >>> %22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%6a%6f%65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d >>> %61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3f%73%75%62%6a%65%63%74%3d%6a%6f >>> %62%25%32%30%61%70%70%6c%69%63%61%6e%74%25%32%30%72%65%73%75%6d >>> %65%25%32%30%66%6f%72%25%32%30%70%6f%73%74%25%32%30%6f%6e%25%32%30%6a >>> %6f%62%66%69%6e%64%65%72%75%73%61%2e%63%6f%6d%25%33%41%25%32%30%53%6f >>> %6c%75%74%69%6f%6e%73%25%32%30%41%73%73%69%73%74%61%6e%74%22%3e%6a%6f >>> %65%2e%70%75%62%6c%69%63%40%67%6d%61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e >>> %27%29%3b''))</script></li> >> >>> To me this seems obfuscated, but the SEO person produced a print out >>> with something similar above but looked more like: >>> after the </script> and before the </li> his print out had >>> href="mailto:joe.pub...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org?subject=job >>> %20application">joe.pub...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org >> >>> I didn''t know if this was a difference in web browsers or how he was >>> able to see this, but he did. >> >> That''s a good question. What browser and version did he produce that on? >> >> B. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. > To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org > For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en. >-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
Michael Pavling
2011-Mar-24 09:09 UTC
Re: Re: obfuscated email not really obfuscated. but why not?
On 23 March 2011 15:33, sol.manager <sol.manager-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> The problem seems to be that use was using Firebug add-on for Firefox > and was viewing the page in debug mode, so essentially he was seeing > the "front" and the "back" at the same time. Robots don''t crawl the > front, the crawl the source. So in the end, I believe this was > operator error and not incorrect obfuscation of an email.Really, don''t even bother. Firstly, you''re wrong in your assertion that "Robots don''t crawl the front, they crawl the source" - nice simple robots may well only look at the source. But it''s well known that the big search engines can determine if sneaky JS or CSS methods have been used to stuff keywords into source, but hide them from view. Secondly, you have no idea what *nasty* robots are doing - and I assume they''re the ones you don''t want getting the email addresses from your page (for spamming, etc). There''s no reason not to assume that robots don''t view your whole site exactly as users do, including ignoring robots.txt files - in fact, a robots.txt file is the first thing I would look at if I want to know where the juicy stuff might be... Just work under the premise that whatever works for your users will work for robots - if the user can click a mailto link, or read a legible email address, so can a robot, whatever obfuscation you''ve tried. In fact, rather than foiling robots, your method discriminates against real users who don''t have JS-enabled browsers. If you *really* want to delay spammers, then render email addresses like "pavling(at)gmail(dot)com" - or some similar method that is deducible by humans, but unfamiliar enough to not be easily parsed by scripts (until loads of people use the method, and it''s worth having the script look for matching patterns too...) - of course, users can no longer click-to-send, and I don''t think it''s worth the hassle. Life''s too short - use a good spam filter, and don''t worry about it. :-) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.