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by elorant 4344 days ago
Best thing to do to avoid clickbombing is to write a script that will not allow multiple clicks from the same IP/cookie. Judging by the fact that the guy who clicked your ads didn’t even bother to change his IP chances are he wasn’t a hacker, just someone who holds a grange towards you and tried something utterly stupid to avenge you.
1 comments

It was a user with a grudge that was banned from the service. They attempted to use a number of online point and click tools to attack the site, until I eventually banned their IP address, and then talked with them and threatened legal action.
This whole thread people discuss technical mitigations, and I'm thinking "man, this is such a clear case where a bit of law and the tiniest amount of civil damages totally would fix the situation, as long as the attacking person lives in a country with a level of rule of law." What a waste of resources trying to make something impossible, rather than just illegal. (I was thinking mostly of the anticompetitive acts and the title.)

Your comment actually shows a clear example, of how actually threatening legal action makes someone come to their senses, whereas any level of technical measures just gamified the situation.

This is just a case where we can collectively enter an arms race for technical solutions, or just use a bit of law and live in a sane society where this isn't on the competitive menu.

Trouble is a lot of attacks come from places like Russia where it is not convenient to travel to file a legal case.