Protecting Our Server: The Story Behind Anubis

We're seeing this message because our administrator has set up a security system called Anubis to safeguard our server from the threat of AI-powered website scrapers. These aggressive bots are constantly seeking to exploit and drain the resources of websites, causing downtime and making them inaccessible to everyone. While it may seem like an inconvenience, Anubis is a necessary measure to protect our online presence.

Anubis operates on a Proof-of-Work scheme similar to Hashcash, which was initially designed to reduce email spam. In theory, this system works at individual scales without causing significant additional load. However, when faced with mass scraper attacks, Anubis makes scraping much more expensive and time-consuming. It's essentially a "good enough" placeholder solution that allows our administrator to buy more time for further research and development.

The ultimate goal of Anubis is to identify and fingerprint headless browsers – browser-like applications that don't display content on the screen, but can still interact with websites. By targeting these hidden threats, we hope to improve the security of our server without disrupting legitimate users who are already equipped with modern JavaScript capabilities.

However, there's a catch: Anubis requires the use of modern JavaScript features that many plugins, such as JShelter, may disable or block. If you're using these plugins on our website, please consider disabling them to access the challenge proof-of-work page. And yes, this means you'll need to enable JavaScript to pass through Anubis' security checks.

We understand that this requirement can be frustrating for some users, but it's a trade-off we must make in light of the rapidly changing social contract around website hosting. As AI companies continue to push boundaries, our online security measures must adapt to stay ahead. While a no-JS solution is still under development, Anubis remains an essential step towards safeguarding our server and protecting the integrity of our online presence.