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Dear WCF users,As you probably know, this site was hacked this past weekend by a Turkish hackers or a group of hackers. This was done through a back end exploitation, meaning it was a security hole on the server where this site is hosted. It wasn't due to the forum software itself. I've tried to get things set up the way they were previously for the most part, including posts made up until the time of the hacking itself. One of the things the hackers did was to erase the memberlist and I didn't have a backup of this except for one dated about May 1. Therefore, if you signed up between May 1 and today you'll likely have to register again. Further, you may possibly experience errors on this forum, and if you do please send me a PM so I can try to fix the problem. I appreciate everyone's patience and I hope we can get back to what we enjoy doing - discussing history.Let me know if you have any questions.
It's inexcusable what they did, and retaliation would be satisfying, but probably not the wisest thing to do since they are obviously more advanced in their computer knowledge than us. I hope somebody hacks them though one of these days so they can know what it feels like to be hacked. >:(
Actually I'm not sure how advanced they really have to be. At least I don't think your modern web page defacer hacker has nearly the same skill set as the classic 1980s-era hacker who could do things while leading authorities on a goose hunt. From what I understand you just basically need to know a command line to enter (perhaps even hearing about this on some forum) which exploits some security hole. There's really no point to defacing a site like mine….no point I can gather except a brief ego trip.
There's really no point to defacing a site like mine....no point I can gather except a brief ego trip.
Duh...look what I did....can I pet the rabbits now George? (say it like Lennie from Of Mice and Men.)
Duh…look what I did….can I pet the rabbits now George? (say it like Lennie from Of Mice and Men.)
Not to get off topic or anything and turn this into a history-related thread (the gall!) but I was recently asked where the saying "the best laid plans of mice and men..." originated. I didn't know the answer. The title of the Steinbeck book is actually from earlier prose, and we thought it sounded sort of Shakespearean. It turns out it came from Robert Burns, 19th Century Scottish poet.
Yes, I will try to get that back up in a few days. It can be risky re-installing add ons since the underlying database upon which it is based can act funny sometimes, especially in this case where the shop/bank is still partially installed (as you can see because the money count for each person is still in their profiles). I therefore have to be careful when I try to reinstall the shop/bank…but I think it can probably be done.
I've noticed that the “Users Online” count at the bottom is wrong. It's not showing all the visitors to the site on the index page. Only when you click on it does it shows all current visitors to the site (members, guests, spiders/robots). I'll have to investigate.
Maybe it's because the bank is still off line but I notice when you post your credits dont increase either.
Right, I don't understand exactly why that is. But I have noticed that there's something kooky about those numbers.
When you look at the most online it seems to be stuck at 10. I counted 16 when I posted this.
That has been bothering me and I think it has to do with a particular file that is bad. I'm afraid I'm not quite sure which one. It seems that this forum is being held together very lightly...kind of like a tank being patched up with siding from coffee can tops and chicken wire. One of these days I may have to rebuild the thing from scratch so it will all work together.
I think at that time, when I re-do the forum, I can reinstall the shop and everything else. Basically, the forum is made up of a database (which contains all the important stuff like text of posts, member names, board names, etc.) and software files (which contain the instructions how the pages display on this site). If the software files are tainted the site will not display correctly; however, since these can be fixed or replaced it's not such a big deal. If the database is tainted, however, it becomes more difficult to bring things back to normal. Now there is a new release of the SMF software v 2.0 beta which will come out in the Fall, and hopefully it will improve things even more. However, I'd like to get things squared away here before then. I'll let people know how things go.
