1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

The title says it all.
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Jools
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1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by Jools »

Hi All,

Users of the forum will have noticed a lot of SPAM being posted to the site since 1st March. It is unclear why this is happening, however there are some security patches I plan to apply tonight.

In terms of clean-up, @Silurus has been doing a great job of nuking a lot of the SPAM, but it's a task without end until I plug the gap that's letting them in. Once we've stabilised that, we will, of course, react and remove all of the spam and then purge all users with no posts who may be lurking spammers.


Jools
pleconut
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Re: 1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by pleconut »

I've had well over 100 notifications emailed to me, as I had posted in these topics. I know you're most likely to be really busy, but is its worth me deleting my board cookies.
Thanks Teresa
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Re: 1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by shrimpkeeper222 »

Oh man this spam though. Its extreme!
Bee Shrimp will be shrimp!
RCS(Red Cherry Shrimp) are CS(Cherry Shrimp)!
A man o' shrimps keeps amano shrimps!
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Re: 1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by michele »

Jools, Russian hacker has posted to site......site IS compromised!
Love anything from South America.....looking for any
Spatuloricaria sp. ...Corydoras weitzmani, Psuedacanthicus sp. L25, L273, Trachelichthys? Exilis,Tatia? Perugiae. ....L46;
Acarichthys Heckelii; Geophagus sp. Red Tapajos; Geophagus Altifrons....Uaru Fernandezyepezi.
Liosomodoras oncinus.....Oh, African Synodontis as well!
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Jools
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Location 1: Middle Earth,
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Interests: All things aquatic, Sci-Fi, photography and travel. Oh, and beer.
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Re: 1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by Jools »

It's not really compromised nor is it hacked. It's just attacked - compromised means personal data is or may lost - that's not the case here. Hacked means someone has passwords or can access the site at a level above that or the normal user - that's not the case here.

What HAS happened is a spambot has figured out how to get around our security question and is merrily registering accounts. There is a lot to unpick here - it will take some time...

Jools
pleconut
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Re: 1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by pleconut »

Thanks for updating us.
Thanks Teresa
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Jools
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Posts: 15978
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 15:25
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My cats species list: 87 (i:13, k:1)
My BLogs: 7 (i:7, p:202)
My Wishlist: 23
Spotted: 447
Location 1: Middle Earth,
Location 2: Scotland
Interests: All things aquatic, Sci-Fi, photography and travel. Oh, and beer.
Contact:

Re: 1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by Jools »

Functionality has been restored across the site, the messenger that sends out emails had been automatically disabled due to the number of emails heading out and that caused a lot of stuff to fail.

I've now stopped new user access so I can clear out the trash and also patch the forum software to the latest version which is the first port of call.

Jools
pleconut
Posts: 1365
Joined: 30 Sep 2015, 22:17
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My Wishlist: 1
Spotted: 1
Location 1: Bournemouth
Location 2: UK

Re: 1st March 2016 :: SPAM attack on site

Post by pleconut »

Thanks Jools :-BD
Thanks Teresa
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