Hackers

[Paul S]

I noticed that either hackers have broken into the site or some idiot with a program exploited the "guest posting" option and posted the 'car insurance nonsense'. This has happened on other boards I participate in, I hope whoever is in charge of protecting this board can delete the offending post and prevent further from joining.

It is, I guess, random, and they are not even aware of the nature and content of this place. Reasoning won't work, emailing them won't help.

[MartyT]

Hi Paul,

I've just now deleted the car insurance post -- I just wish I would have spotted it earlier in the day. I'm on this site all day, every day, but sometimes I get caught up in reading or responding in some of the forums, and once in a while I miss these annoying entries. I suppose we've been fortunate up till now -- in our three years with this hosting service, it's only been in the last month that hackers have begun posting here, and I've picked up and deleted four of them so far this month. I have the same problem with my Grief Healing site. It just amazes me that people would come to sites aimed at the bereaved to hawk their products, but I think it's done in some sort of automated way. At times like this, I guess we just need to focus on all that's positive about the Web (such as this site, where we're able to connect with one another in our grief and offer a helping hand to others).

If ever you (or any of our other members and visitors) notice a post that needs to be deleted immediately, please feel free to e-mail me or send me a private message, and I will take care of it as quickly as I can. This site belongs to all of us, and I am most grateful for your vigilence.

Hugs,

Marty T

[Maylissa]

Marty,

Just noticed this thread and have one suggestion, though it's not the best solution for sincere guests just thinking of joining. This kind of thing also happened on another site, and w/o constant deletion, it rapidly escalated w/i a week to what I can assume were automated posts every night....sometimes 10 or more/night, many of which were quite horrible and exploitative in nature.

What the site founder finally had to do was require registration before anything at all could be posted....so no more unregistered 'guests' were allowed. Just a thought if this continues and can't be managed otherwise.

[MartyT]

Thank you for that suggestion, Maylissa -- I thought that's what we do here, but then again, I am not the tecchy person here

I have alerted Steve G and I know that he will follow up on this. In the meantime, as I said to Paul, I will count on everyone to keep a watchful eye on things and keep me informed.

You haven't posted for a while, dear one -- how is your precious kitty? You are in my heart . . .

Marty T xoxox

[Paul S]

I agree with Maylissa. Perhaps the only solution is to suspend/disable the 'guest posting' option and require people to register. I see no reason why people shouldn't register, "Guests" can browse until they feel comfortable with participating, but registration will enable them to fully be a part (PM'ing, email, profile, etc.)

I dunno, I'm just a dumb shmuck who simply wants people to be respectful .

[Guest SteveG]

Maylissa, Marty, and Paul,

Thanks for pointing out these messages. It might be that we have to go to a "closed forum" if that kind of activity escalates. Last thing I want to do as there are people out there shyer than the bunch of us.

Before the message is deleted, Marty, alert me to it so that I can do a little "reverse hacking," i.e., use http://www.dnsstuff.com to find out more about the source of the message. For instance, I was monitoring the site this am from the admin console and was watching the list of people come and go when I saw "Google.com".

Started to get a little perturbed.

Checked to see if this rascal left any messages behind. None. Then went to an admin function that allows me to quiry the IP address associated with the name. I was told that th IP address resolves "crawl-66-249-66-162.googlebot.com".

This is not a bad thing! It tells me that this particular suspect was a "spider" indexing the forum for use in Google.com.

In this case, that visit may bring greater awareness to the community.

Again, let me know when these appear and I'll do my best to hustle after them.

SteveG

[Maylissa]

Dear Marty,

Thanks for asking about my gal-pal, and yes, that's why I haven't had time to really post of late - too much research and general taking-care of her to do more than read here once in awhile. I've also been reading your e-course on Pet Loss, to prepare myself for the worst, whenever that's going to be.

She's not in as terrible shape ( at least outwardly ) as she was a week ago, thank God, but it's still pretty touch and go and I've had nothing but vet calls, appt's and trying to check with others who know more than I about details on what to look for. Generally, my husband and I have been in full-blown anticipatory grief lately and just trying to cope with all those all-too-familiar emotions on a daily basis. I'm also trying to work on coming up with flower essence combo's for both her and me, to help us both through this stressful time.

Frankly, I've wanted to post under animal loss, but aside from having too little time, it's been hurting so much that I couldn't bring myself to do so anyway...it's enough just to experience everything I feel in any one day. Funny, though....I've been getting more support, even from some of the old friends who bombed-out on me on my Mother's and brother's deaths, for this.....strange, but true, and most certainly welcome. Just keeping a few people updated on her condition takes time, but I'm not refusing the task as I know how vital a supportive network is! ( another way to take care of myself, too ) Again, thanks for caring what's happening in my own little world.

Glad, too, that you and Steve are really trying to keep a tight wrap on this hacker stuff. I'd just die if anything bad happened to THESE boards! ( I simply left the other one this happened on, as it was too much to handle )

[Buzz]

Hello all,

I own a hosting company and may be able to offer something or other to this community in future. I know that's very vague, I'll give it some thought once my minds cleared up a bit! I'm sure there's something I can do/offer in the near future