RPG Board deactivated for the time being

Artimidor Federkiel

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RPG Board deactivated for the time being - not anymore

« on: 23 May 2013, 19:41:17 »

If you're an RPG player or have followed shoutbox or Facebook posts, you might know that the RPG board has been hacked. Yesterday even Google picked up on it and marked it as an attacking site. The problem is that through a security hole files are being replaced every day, even if I replace them as soon as I notice the problem. There were a couple of good suggestions from the SMF guys, which we've followed by now, but today the board was still hacked. So these measures weren't enough.

However, our host now got a hot lead in the case, and I've made sure to eliminate that hole. This evening I will replace all the files again, so that the RPG board is restored to normalcy. Then we'll have to wait at least a couple of days to see if an attack happens again. Only when I'm sure that the hacking situation is resolved completely I'll request Google to remove the warning. Once that happens, the RPG board will be opened up again. Until then feel free to explore the site or the Dev board, because it's only the RPG board that has been compromised.


« Last Edit: 28 May 2013, 14:38:21 by Artimidor Federkiel »	Logged

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Coren FrozenZephyr

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Re: RPG Board deactivated for the time being

« Reply #1 on: 23 May 2013, 19:58:46 »

Malicious parasites!


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Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: RPG Board deactivated for the time being

« Reply #2 on: 24 May 2013, 03:39:37 »

Report on the current status: Pages are back again (as has been done before already half a dozen times), except the main page, which stays deactivated for now. We'll wait and check tomorrow if the hacker has managed to hit again. I guess we've got good arguments on our side now

After that and in case we were successful in locking the hacker out we'll wait at least two more days until we request Google to remove the warning. Then we'll switch back.

In the meantime I advise Santharians to make a malware check on their computers whenever possible, just to make sure that there are no exploits on your machines. I foyu don't have any antivirus software you can download Microsoft Security Essentials for free or Malwarebytes. This is especially advisable for everyone who has FTP access to the site and uploaded files that way. E.g. pictures for the RPG forum, stuff like that.

Also: If you once had FTP access to the site, you will now not get in anymore, as all password have been changed in the process of securing the site. If someone needs access he/she/it needs to request it again personally, but I'll hand one out only once the hacking stuff is over. For now I won't let anyone else in but me


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Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: RPG Board deactivated for the time being

« Reply #3 on: 24 May 2013, 19:30:07 »

Status report: No hacking occurred last night, so things look good on this front for now. Another security scan by the host will be done today, then we'll wait some more to see if it stays that way.


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Re: RPG Board deactivated for the time being

« Reply #4 on: 26 May 2013, 14:55:54 »

Ok, next status report: No hacking for the past three days, so from what I can tell the situation is entirely back to normal

Next steps:

1) The host still needs to send me the results of the latest security scan (I've requested that now). This is important to make sure that I didn't forget to replace any files that had been compromised.
2) Once I have that I'll officially request Google to remove their warning message.
3) Once that happens I'll make the RPG board open for the public again.


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Kareesh Valendar

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Re: RPG Board deactivated for the time being

« Reply #5 on: 27 May 2013, 11:40:59 »

Oooh! Can't wait.


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Re: RPG Board deactivated for the time being

« Reply #6 on: 28 May 2013, 04:16:02 »

I've made the RPG Forum accessible again, but Google's process to remove the warning is pretty slow, so no idea when they'll do so. However, the RPG Forum is safe now already and has been so since three days. You won't get any hacking/malware warning by Microsoft Essentials, despite the Google warning on top if you click the link to ignore it. You can also play it completely safe and wait with entering until Google officially confirmed that the Forum was removed from the blacklist. Anyway, I'll inform you once that happens.


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Re: RPG Board deactivated for the time being - not anymore

« Reply #7 on: 28 May 2013, 14:47:34 »

Okeydokey, Google now also removed its warning after they've seen that we got rid of all compromised stuff, so the RPG board is once again up and running as it used to be


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RPG Board deactivated for the time being - not anymore