Homesteadingtoday forum users

[admin]

Originally Posted by flatwater

What type of a person would want to hack a homesteading forum ?what would they gain ?

What type of person would post graphic pornography in a prayer request thread?

That's what one of our hackers did some months back, which is why we moved to this software and instituted strict security for all new registrations.

Some of these people are sick...they'd have to be to post what they did here...but most hackers are from eastern Europe or Asia. They're looking for ways to take over software and computers so they can send their phishing and"enlargement" and "cheap watches" and other such spam.

The really sad thing is that if people were not responding to the scams and making these folks rich, they wouldn't be doing it.

These days, everyone must have first rate security software on their computer, must keep it updated, and should run daily scans or they run the risk of having their machine turned into a zombie -- remotely controlled by the bad guys.

If that happens, pray they only use your machine to send spam. There are folks in prison right now whose computers were used, without their knowledge, to store and send child porn. If the cops trace such stuff back to your machine...and they can...you are pretty much screwed.

A few years ago, I built a website to help one victim, a teenage boy, fight the charges. The site is now retired, but anyone who's interested in what could happen to you, start here:

In Child Porn Case, Technology Entraps the Innocent

You'll find links in the piece to even more info.

Then go spend the money on Norton or McAfee or other top of the line Internet security software. The peace of mind is worth every penny.


Oliver

[Faye]

Hackers don't care who they hurt so I agree we have to protect ourselves. I don't understand why folks fall for these scams. Most of the time a child could see through them. Thank you for your hard work on this site Oliver. This and HT are the only place I go anymore.

[Terri]

They are now hoping to have the board running on November 7th or so, as they tweak it to make it less vulnerable,

[NCLee]

Thanks for keeping us updated, Terri.

Lee

[sonshine]

Timebomb2000 is also down and from what I understand its the same kind of problem as Homesteading Today. TBK2 also has a facebook page.

Judy

[GoldenCityMuse]

Wow, not until 7 Nov. Sigh, I so like that forum. Hope the best for them.

[WisJim]

I just tried to go to Homesteading today, and I got a pop-up box asking for my user name and password, but nothing happened when I entered the user name and password, except the box popped up again. Any clues?

Also, I belong to a lot of on-line groups, and Homesteading Today seems to have a lot more problems than all the rest of them put together. Why is that? I don't think that the subjects discussed are more controversial than some other groups that I participate in.

[PaulNKS]

Personally speaking....

I also got the same box. When they are back up and running you will most likely have to sign in again if you don't normally logoff.

Why do they have more problems? That could be for several reasons. One thing can be the size of the forums. They would naturally be more of a target. Also, they may not have the latest updates to the software (which I'm sure they do), or they may be just now learning about the importance of security as our admin learned not too long ago.

There are many reasons. I'm sure they will be back up soon.

Paul

[Teg]

Originally Posted by WisJim

I just tried to go to Homesteading today, and I got a pop-up box asking for my user name and password, but nothing happened when I entered the user name and password, except the box popped up again. Any clues?

Also, I belong to a lot of on-line groups, and Homesteading Today seems to have a lot more problems than all the rest of them put together. Why is that? I don't think that the subjects discussed are more controversial than some other groups that I participate in.

Hopefully you didn't get phished, check over at the facebook site and see if they say anything.

[cinok]

The site is back up as of this time but it seems to be running real slow. I thought it might be my computer but other sites along with BWH are loading at regular speed

[Luna]

I get the main page listing all of the forums and I can see that people have posted today, but all I get are "database error" when I click on anything.

[NCLee]

Luna, it appears that they are still having some problems getting the new system stabilized. Don't have any idea if the root cause is the server capacity or the database.

Sometimes when I visit it's extremely slow. At other times, it'll throw up an error message.

I'm sure they're working on the "tweaking" what's needed to get it operating smoothly again. Wish I could strangle the people who are responsible for crashing the site.

Lee

[nhlivefreeordie]

They are fixing it, it seems the more you use it, the quicker it gets, it is a lot better than it was a day ago already.

[GoldenCityMuse]

I was able to post a few minutes ago, and reload the pages I had been viewing. But yes, it is a bit slow still.

[DiggerDirect]

I just went to the site and was able to get on it & read some posts, so I registered, at first it came up database error, then 'invalid referrer', then 'please enter password' (lol, i forgot to reenter it on the third try), fourth time it took, am waiting for the email!

Looks like another great forum and I was interested in the 5.00 off bwh magazine subscription! Hope to hear from them soon.

[DiggerDirect]

That was quick, confirmation email was there when I checked, so I completed registration. Site seemed to work fine for me now. the other day I went there after reading this thread and just got the pop up box to.

It is a shame what these scammers/hackers do to sites, I had a web site that was compromised a couple months ago I had hosted on godaddy.com, I had purchased auction software and installed it, had a forum set up, ready to launch my grand opening, one morning the whole forum was filled with unsavory material as well as the auction site had over a hundred listings for MY domain name! took the wind right out of my sales, so I closed it down for the time being.

GoDaddy couldn't explain how they managed it, (atleast not in english I could understand) Its to bad these hackers/scammers couldnt put their talent to good use, the net would be a better place.

[PaulNKS]

Originally Posted by DiggerDirect

It is a shame what these scammers/hackers do to sites, I had a web site that was compromised a couple months ago I had hosted on godaddy.com, I had purchased auction software and installed it, had a forum set up, ready to launch my grand opening, one morning the whole forum was filled with unsavory material as well as the auction site had over a hundred listings for MY domain name! took the wind right out of my sales, so I closed it down for the time being.

GoDaddy couldn't explain how they managed it, (atleast not in english I could understand) Its to bad these hackers/scammers couldnt put their talent to good use, the net would be a better place.

This may be a bit off topic, but there are things a website owner must do for security of his/her site. The host only has security to a certain point.

Paul

[DiggerDirect]

hi Paul, that was it in a nutshell! So I closed the site down while I get some education, there is certainly alot to website security and it is ever changing!