Detecting spam users automatically with a neural network
Spam Stopper
© Lead Image © Kirsty Pargeter, 123RF.com
Build a neural network that uncovers spam websites.
Website builders – online hosting services that provide tools for non-technical users to build their own websites – are frequently exploited by spammers looking for a convenient launching pad. Checking thousands, or sometimes millions, of web pages manually to look for evidence of a spammer is both tedious and inefficient.
In this article, I show how to build a suitable spam-searching neural network with help from Google's TensorFlow machine learning library [2] [3] and TFLearn [4], a library with a high-level API for TensorFlow. Even if you don't spend your days searching for spammers, the techniques described in this article will give you some insights on how to harness the power of neural networks for other complex problems.
Training Day
The neural network needs both positive and negative samples in order to learn. This solution starts with a manually compiled list of sample users divided into spammers and legitimate users, taking care to distribute both types in equal numbers. Alongside this classification (spammer or not spammer), the data set contained the user's name or the website that belongs to the user, the IP address with which the site is registered, and the language version associated with the site.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.