Forum Status

[MattW]

Hi Everyone,

Opening the forums back up again, as we believe the source of the attack has been identified.

We have reverted to a backup of the site, so a few posts have been lost.

As a precaution I'd strongly advise changing your password, especially if you also use the same one on any other site, in which case you should also change those. We don't believe the attackers gained access to that or any other personal information, however we can't say for sure at this stage.

Discard any email you might have received and do not click the link.

 

[Umair7]

Hi Everyone,

Opening the forums back up again, as we believe the source of the attack has been identified.

We have reverted to a backup of the site, so a few posts have been lost.

As a precaution I'd strongly advise changing your password, especially if you also use the same one on any other site, in which case you should also change those. We don't believe the attackers gained access to that or any other personal information, however we can't say for sure at this stage.

Discard any email you might have received and do not click the link.

Any specific reason why they hacked PC?

 

[Velocity]

Any specific reason why they hacked PC?

They're probably just like any hacker who would want to hack for no apparent reason

 

[Biggs]

As a precaution I'd strongly advise changing your password, especially if you also use the same one on any other site, in which case you should also change those.

Good time to remind everyone:

• Never use the same password across multiple sites/forums/social media.
• Use a dummy/alternate email address, not a primary one you check often or have personal information sent to for all sites *especially* forums and social media.

Great job on getting the forum up and running so fast!

 

[AliB]

Great job on getting the forum up and running so fast

He's Matt, so I expected that even after seeing that group has even hacked Nigerian goverment's website.

Thanks for the advices, I'll try to think of 60-70 password patterns.

 

[Targaryen]

He's Matt, so I expected that even after seeing that group has even hacked Nigerian goverment's website.

Then, I assume, you might be knowing that it was fixed within few hours?

Great job! I did expect that Matt would fix it when he wakes up early in the morning only to find the forum being hacked.

Any specific reason why they did it?

 

[AliB]

Any specific reason why they did it

Hackers generally want to break the security we purchase. Nothing reasonable but to be Frank they do just for fun!!

 

[Targaryen]

Hackers generally want to break the security we purchase. Nothing reasonable but to be Frank they do just for fun!!

I just felt like I was reading some sort of definition while I was reading your post.

 

[sanjeevaloria]

attacker's where the members of Nigerian Cyber Army a hacktivist group. they called theme self voice of People's.
but I if they want to become voice of the people then they need to work in people destroying few websites is not revolution.

 

[LittleBigPlanet]

Yes well done to the guys at planet cricket.com for a very speedy 'bounce back' .

Just on why hackers hack a seemingly innocuous site like this, it's because they can get access to things like email address's, passwords and sometimes peoples real names and birth dates. When they have access to this info they can divide and split peoples personal details and on sell these details onto other hackers that specialise in all sorts of nasty illegal scams. So basically they do it to make money for themselves by selling bits and pieces of personal details onto other hackers, and those other hackers are the guys who will try and get fake credit cards, loans, phone plans, etc etc. So yeah it might seem innocuous at the time but it can 'possibly' lead to individuals being put into very stressful and unfortunate monetary situations.

My gf had it happen to her once with a Vodafone phone plan that she never knew she had until we received an overdue bill worth $800, and it wasn't real easy to prove that it wasn't her that created it. Trust me, No one wants a cranky, stressed out gf haha

 

[TheGentleman]

Hi Everyone,

Opening the forums back up again, as we believe the source of the attack has been identified.

We have reverted to a backup of the site, so a few posts have been lost.

As a precaution I'd strongly advise changing your password, especially if you also use the same one on any other site, in which case you should also change those. We don't believe the attackers gained access to that or any other personal information, however we can't say for sure at this stage.

Discard any email you might have received and do not click the link.

If I may ask, I assume that you guys store just the password hashes and not the actual password, right?
And did they attack and take down the database or were they able to get the source code as well?

 

[MattW]

If I may ask, I assume that you guys store just the password hashes and not the actual password, right?
And did they attack and take down the database or were they able to get the source code as well?

Just the hash.

I can't say for certain what they accessed, however it seemed to be purely functions possible by gaining admin control panel access, not server or database access.

 

[Targaryen]

Edit: Apologies, everything working fine.

 

[Neo 7]

@MattW I found something weird just now. Was looking at the quick identity of @Cereal Killer and ended up with this:
View attachment 172570
I don't think Cereal Killer would want to see his account in such condition.

You entered wrong username

@CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

Edit: Apologies, everything working fine.

You had me for a second