[RESOLVED] Web site access

[Rekusu]

What ho one and all,

I don't know if this is the correct section, but here goes.

Here in the UK, I have a paper subscription to a national newspaper (Daily Telegraph) which if I log-on, allows me to see the edition on-line.

Until yesterday when I received the following screen, which makes no sense.

Telegraph1.jpg

I am using Firefox on a W7 desktop but also have R3dFox and Opera installed. None of them will access the Telegraph site, all give the same message. I had a web chat (waste of time) this morning and was told that FF no longer allows the Telegraph to work and that I should install Chrome. I don't plan to install Chrome, and given that FF is quite widely use, I see no reason for it to be blocked.

However, what exactly does the message mean? I have never seen it before and a web search does not exactly explain what is happening .

Grateful for any suggestions. Unable to post a Telegraph web site link as I only receive the above message!!!

[Steve R Jones]

Are you using this URL-> www.telegraph.co.uk

Does clicking on my link produce the error?

[jdc2000]

The info that Firefox no longer works would seem to be incorrect. Google might display the same error. It is an anti AI-scraping system that is thinking, incorrectly, that you are AI.

From AI:

This error occurs when a website's anti-bot system, likely managed by TollBit, detects a web scraper, crawler, or bot and blocks access due to a missing or invalid authentication token. To fix this, you must acquire a valid token from the content provider or whitelist your user agent in the TollBit dashboard.
TollBit
TollBit
+2
Steps to Resolve the TollBit Error:
Identify the Source: Your web scraping script, API request, or bot has been identified by a CDN (e.g., Cloudflare/Akamai) as a bot, and traffic is being redirected to a TollBit subdomain.
Generate a Valid Token: If you are the authorized data consumer, you must use TollBit's API to generate a valid, active token for the content you are trying to access.
Update Your Request: Include this valid token in your request headers as required by the publisher's documentation.
Check User Agent: Ensure your script is not using a generic or blocked user agent string.
Validate Token Expiration: Ensure the token you are using has not expired.
TollBit Documentation
TollBit Documentation
+4
If you are a normal user browsing the web and seeing this error, it may be a false positive from a web scraper blocker; clearing browser cookies or disabling browser extensions might help.

[Rekusu]

Thanks for the explanation and yes, that is my default web address.

While I do understand the 'clean browser cookies, etc' I have FF set to clear on closing, so there should not be any. However, I have just now, cleared manually from the setting tab, retried the Telegraph and still the same message.

Not happening on any other link and certainly not from any newspaper link.

[Rekusu]

As an aside, I reiterate that I am using ESR version of FF on a W7 OS. Certainly, owing to the age of the OS, I am unable to upgrade FF to the latest ESR version, but the one I have works fine.

Just tried the Telegraph web site on my wife's computer, also FF ESR on W8.1 and no problems whatsoever.

[fink]

On my older Windows 7 media server I get that same error message from all of my browsers, firefox and Chrome except when I use the latest updated version of R3dfox ver 148.0. That one seems to work ok for that site with or without extensions disabled incl the ad blocker.

Worth noting is that all of my browsers on that computer including Firefox ESR no longer update because it's Win 7 with the exception of R3dfox which is still being updated with functional and security fixes. It needs to be manually updated... does not do it automatically.

[Midknyte]

Are you using https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/

Make sure you are using https

I tried it on Firefox ESR 115.33.0.

[Rekusu]

Gentlemen. Many thanks; as usual, really great advice.

My FF ESR is the max version that I can install with W7. That was why I tried r3dFoxESR to get access to something. My current installed version is 128 which is giving the same Telegraph / Toolbit warning.

So installed r3dFox v148 and the Telegraph web site is up and running. Will now, uninstall the ESR software.

Again, many thanks.