multiple connections to same thread - possible hack or script?
 

I recently banned a user and I am now getting multiple connections to the thread discussing the ban. At times this can be over 40 connections on a site where I only have about 20 active users so I'm almost certain that its not genuine reads of the thread ! the connections happen almost every minute or 2 which also suggests a script rather than genuine reads

I've moved the thread to a logged in member only forum but the guests attempt to connect to its id as in showthread.php?t=xxxxx so all that happens is they get stopped from viewing but are still connected. Connected IP addresses are changing all the time so I'm assuming its some kind of script setup to run from multiple computers??

is there any way to stop the connections without deleting the thread? what can i do to prevent this happening again?