Regarding the Outage from Saturday April 15th to Tuesday April 18th 2006

J

john

Guest
I apologise for the unavailability of the forum from last Saturday until today.

This outage was necessary because of security issues. As you are all aware, the forum was hacked just over a week ago. I believed the damage had been repaired, however the person in question (apparently a teenaged Italian male), had left a script behind to allow him access at will to the server. He used this access to upload a movie file of a pre-release DVD. This was then downloaded at an alarming rate on Saturday, setting alarm bells off at our ISP. They then suspended Caudata.org. Thus began my woe.

After working with the ISP and spending the last 2 days picking caudata.org apart, I am now confident that the site is secure again. I have also just paid $100 to the forum software company for the latest version (which has added security features and anti-spam posting facilities which are very effective).

I know a lot of you were inconvenienced by the fact that you couldn't access your favourite website for a few days. Given that this site is something I do in my spare time and not my job, the last few days have been a lot more inconvenient for me personally (long phone calls to the ISP in the middle of the night, rushing through support contracts with Discusware, picking each and every file on the server apart...). I think you can imagine that I don't wish to repeat this experience.

It's good to be back. Let's stay that way. Thank you for your support.
 
On another note. Since most of the files in the forum apart from the messages have been replaced with new versions, there may be a few odd differences to the previous setup. If you spot something strange (different buttons, incorrect date formats, etc), please drop a message on this thread.
 
thank you so much for all the work, you've done John, it has been greatly appreciated!
 
Yeh thanks John! It is really appreciated!!
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Youve work so hard for this site over and over again.. Thanks so much!
 
Good to see the forum back-up and running John. Everyone really appreciates your hard work and dedication. Thanks a lot!

Is there enough in the donations kitty for the upgrade costs? If there’s a serious shortfall you should let people know….
 
Well there is a serious shortfall if I'm to upgrade the server's hosting plan. Right now I'm looking at just having enough to renew the current plan, which isn't really sufficient for how much the site has grown.
 
I think I speak for everyone that we'd rather not have the site for a few days while it's being fixed, than to not have it at all.

Good work, John.
 
Thanks for putting the time, effort and cash in John - really appreciated! Good work
Chris
 
Thanks John. I do think it is time for individuals to step up to the plate and make some donations.
 
I agree with everyone else. John puts a lot of time and effort into this site (going through every file one by one! ARGH!) and I use this wonderful resource enough that you deserve to be supported for your zeal and effort. I've just submitted my first donation. I think us users can easily get you that new server. Thank you John for Caudata.org!
 
Thanks indeed John. I already donated but those T-shirts sure do look nifty
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I'll be sure to get one.
 
Many people have expressed their thanks already, but reading Caudata when ever I can get online down here in Peru has reminded me a lot of being home, so thank you so much for your service. If I had some free Soles I would throw them your way, but soon enough again I'll be able to help.
j
 
So, how does one get one of those great Tshirts?? Is there a donation fee?? What about other Caudata merchandise?? Like, coffee mugs, or mouse pads?? That might increase funds a bit.

just a thought.
 
Russ and Michael are right. There are more than enough regular users that could help out with costs. Start a “Server Upgrade Appeal” with details of the shortfall. If lots of people donated a small amount it would soon add up. Folks are sometimes reluctant to donate if they think they have to part with a significant amount of cash. If you make it accessible to all, i.e. the price of a big-mac or a pint you will get a better response.
 
Thank you so much John for all the time, effort and money you put into this site, you have saved many a caudate from death and many an owner (or prospective owner) from losing their precious babies. Im sure many a pet shop has been educated through the support of this site. It is an invaluable resource. Thank you again.
 
This is starting to get ridiculous. I'd be willing to help find out who did it if you haven't already. Do you have any email addresses or anything of them? They should really be reported. Pirating + Hacking = Not a good idea.
 
I don't know what your unix security knowledge is like Hayden, but mine's pretty good. The only thing I know for certain is that this person is Italian in origin. Beyond that I can't prove a thing. The only thing I can do is do my best to shore up the site and I believe I've done that now.
 
Hayden, what good would it do to figure out the source of the hack? Even if you could get the name and address of the hacker, who would you report it to? To my knowledge, nobody prosecutes cyber-crimes, certainly not ones this small.

If you were mugged in real life and had $100 stolen, the police would investigate. If you are the victim of identity theft and $12,000 is stolen from your credit card company, there is no investigation. I know, it happened to me. The criminal was even IDed by the credit card company, but there was no prosecution.

Welcome to the Brave New World! I hope your generation can straighten these things out!
 
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