Members - Please Check/Reset Forum Password

[angellionel]

There have been numerous hacking attempts on member accounts since last night. The attacks appear to be a brute-force password hacking attack, where all member accounts are passed through a password hacking software. If your password is a weak one it is possible that a hacker may be able to access your account.

All members are advised to check the strength of their password. You can test your current password at this THIS SITE.

The American Detectorist team will be on the alert for any breach of member accounts.

The American Detectorist Forum Administrators

[jkress]

Yes, as Angel has pointed out, there has been a lot of hacking activity recently. My account was one on the list of attempts. I took the opportunity to strengthen my password from his link and feel much more confident with my new one.

I would also encourage you all to do the same.

[coinnut]

Yep, Done

[SeabeeRon]

What sort of indicators did you see to know you had attemped hacking??

[angellionel]

What sort of indicators did you see to know you had attemped hacking??

The logs contain hundreds of attempts to access member accounts via dictionary attacks (attempting to guess member passwords), PHP and SQL code injection exploitations, etc. The attempts have originated from numerous locations, Russia, China, Sweden, Korea, to name just a few. These have been greatly reduced after additional security measures were implemented. However, while such measures attempt to ensure the forum's security features are not circumvented, there isn't much we can do about weak member passwords other than to react to a breach if and when a member's account is compromised.

[Cheap Thrills]

Thanks Angel Mine was rated weak now it's strong .

[angellionel]

Thanks Angel Mine was rated weak now it's strong .

Nice! For me it is a 'better safe than sorry' type of situation. It has been a battle in the background, but we are making headway against the spambots and other miscreants.

Thank you for taking care of that Sheik. thumbsup01

[SeabeeRon]

...spambots and other miscreants...

Sounds like the plot to a good Sci Fi movie!!!

[channelmaniac]

Spammers and scammer suck.

They post all kinds of crap in the guise of selling illicit pharmaceuticals, diet materials, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services (Spam to increase your search engine rankings...)

You'll see forum attacks on the rise after the arrests and shutdowns of several major spam operations in the US and East Block Europe/Russia. For the first time EVER in the history of the internet the amount of global spam has dropped over the past several months. It usually just keeps on increasing.

RJ

[fastfwd]

Have you been able to do a reverse trace route on the jerks ? Probably some 14 year old pimple faced twit !

[angellionel]

Have you been able to do a reverse trace route on the jerks ? Probably some 14 year old pimple faced twit !

I have. These were not just script kiddie types of attacks, and it was not just one or two individuals. The attacks originated from many countries, and were coming from hundreds of different IP addresses. Most attacks were attempts at breaking into member accounts, but there were also many attempts at hacking into the forum via the upload of images, files, and code injection. Several security measures have been implemented to complement what had already been in place, and they have greatly reduced the activity of spambots and other hacking attempts, but it is an ongoing battle.

[fastfwd]

I have. These were not just script kiddie types of attacks, and it was not just one or two individuals. The attacks originated from many countries, and were coming from hundreds of different IP addresses. Most attacks were attempts at breaking into member accounts, but there were also many attempts at hacking into the forum via the upload of images, files, and code injection. Several security measures have been implemented to complement what had already been in place, and they have greatly reduced the activity of spambots and other hacking attempts, but it is an ongoing battle.

wow ! now you got me paranoid about all my other web sites ! Keep up the good work.