Hackers attack???

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Wasatch Summits

 
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Re: Hackers attack???

by Wasatch Summits » Fri Aug 07, 2015 5:32 am

Scott wrote:According to the moderation logs, 352 Chinese spam message this morning alone. :evil:


Scott, thanks for pointing this out. Now, what the hell are the owners of the site doing right now? Don't they care? A random internet user out there anywhere in the world searches the internet for info for a possible hike, peak, or route and the search results will likely bring up a link for SP. That is HUGE. This is such a large database of into from people who know the routes, summits, ...etc. PEOPLE VOLUNTEER this info themselves, most of us members here have done so in some fashion or another. And when issues like this happen it is incredibly disheartening for people who really want to contribute VOLUNTARILY. The point and voting system is a game and motive for some to reach some number, but when ownership of the site fails, it really doesn't matter. I hate to say this but the majority of us have put in our time and info for someone to profit from it. We love the outdoors, those cool routes, high summits. We share on our own time. Someone else profits, and they don't give a shit when it hits the fan like this. Shame on them.

Yeah... I am attacking the owners for this issue. If they want to ban me, delete me, fine. Transfer my info to someone who might care. FIX THE PROBLEM, make this site incredible again. Because I care.

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Scott
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Re: Hackers attack???

by Scott » Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:00 am

Now, what the hell are the owners of the site doing right now?


OK, here is the honest answer:

The owners are long gone. One last logged on January 2012 and the other in February 2011. I think they just got tired of all the BS that was going on (people emailing about some low vote they received, people asking for more moderation, people complaining about moderation, etc.) and they handed off the website to the members at least in theory.

There is one administrator (Matt) who has access to change the code. He's out travelling until mid-August, but says that he will try to work on a solution then. Perhaps a security question (most spammers don't seem to speak English) or approved memberships.

The rest of the elves/admins don't have access to the code. We try and help each members with pages, answer the elf PM's, get rid of spammers, etc. A few choose items to feature on the front page.

To be honest, being an elf kind of sucks much of the time. A lot of people don't like the elves either.

Some of the elves have either left or gone inactive.

I too believe the spammers have the potential to ruin the forums. I'm hoping it will be fixed in mid-August.

Got so tired of emails from spam [mbpost.com], notifications that I pulled out.


FYI, you can turn off your notifications to prevent them. It does suck that the spammers took over though.

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Marmaduke » Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:22 am

Scott wrote:
Now, what the hell are the owners of the site doing right now?


OK, here is the honest answer:
Perhaps a security question (most spammers don't seem to speak English) or approved memberships.


Scott, Probably most or all of my questions you can't answer but maybe you have some ideas?

Is it possible that JUST because of the language being used that this still be based outside of China/Indonesia?
Has anyone tried using a translator app to see if there is anything actually being posted? Or maybe it's a lot of this: ahcknjcgn.knhmad,hfsnjdgrkynckeshnadj.cnhxdn.z,njchkbZvx djjzhcfnjdzbhcd.xmzbcndbj.z
Other sites like SP aren't being spammed so why SP would being singled out?
Wouldn't be more logical that an ex-SPer who is extremely disgruntled, has access to a computer with the fonts to make it appear it's, say China?

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Scott » Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:28 am

Has anyone tried using a translator app to see if there is anything actually being posted?


Yes.

The Chinese ones are advertising a company that (supposedly) helps Chinese people go to college in the US (or the UK/Australia). I assume the reason why target SP is because it is an English language site with Chinese members (112 of them).

For example, from the moderation logs, I copied and pasted the following into Google translate.

Q微信2516986537办理美国加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校毕业证成绩单” = Q micro letter 2516986537 handle the University of California , Santa Barbara diploma transcript "

Q微信2516986537办理美国乔治亚大学毕业证成绩单 = Q micro letter 2516986537 handle The University of Georgia diploma Transcript

The Indonesian ones are for online gambling/betting through an Indonesian company. I do not know why they target SP.

I believe the spam comes from people who are paid to spam websites. They get paid a certain amount for the spam they spread.

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Josh Lewis » Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:46 am

Phenom wrote:If they want to ban me, delete me, fine. Transfer my info to someone who might care. FIX THE PROBLEM, make this site incredible again. Because I care.


Don't worry, modern elves do not ban people for complaining about genuine site issues. :) I'm hoping that within two weeks this gets resolved. In the mean while we will have to fight off the spammers. Perhaps we could have some temp mods come in.

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Scott » Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:10 pm

Perhaps we could have some temp mods come in.


If Matt is gone, do we have any way to do this? A member emailed me and said he wanted to help, but I don't know if we have a way to make him one.

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Scott » Fri Aug 07, 2015 2:13 pm

Google translation for one of the ads. Since some of it is lost in translation, but it almost sounds like they are selling fake diplomas and documents?

Maybe similar to this?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/1 ... 17691.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------

North American International Q / micro letter 1534584698 handle Australian universities diploma , transcripts, embassy certification , the Ministry of Education foreign academic qualifications , permanently into the file to be investigated !

Focus on the United Kingdom, the United States , Canada , Australia , New Zealand , Europe and other countries and regions , high-precision end to provide the following services:
◆ can provide stamp , watermark , bronzing, laser security, convex version , the latest version of the diploma , so you absolutely one hundred percent satisfaction ; diploma , transcripts, real embassies, the Ministry of Education certification , expedited handling .
◆ available online for permanent archiving , fast and secure , return to the development , the civil service exam , settled into the state-owned enterprises , foreign invested enterprises , entrepreneurship, no sorrow ◆

[ Handle diploma States Universities ( one the world's elite professional services , can monitor the whole track progress ) ]
[ Handle the Ministry of Education academic degree certification, the Ministry of Education filing, the Ministry of Education website permanently leave the service to be investigated ]
[ Handle real embassy notarization ( ie, returned overseas students to prove that the embassy by embassy archive inquiries, confirm the unsuccessful charge !!! ) ]
[ Apply to remain telecommunications network certification. ( After the national professional Certification Center issued a certificate of storage , query personal identity information within the network , synchronous reads talent network storage information . ) ]
◆ full range of services : Diplomas, transcripts, real embassy proved true the Ministry of Education foreign academic qualifications . Allowing you to return to the development of confidence !


If you are following, we can be happy for you to solve practical problems :( North American International)
1, in school, for various reasons, unable to graduate, get an official diploma;
2, the face of parental pressure, want to get as quickly as possible;
3, do not know the process and how to prepare the material;
4, returning a long time, forget the handle;
5, returning immediately to find a job, do look to the employer;
6, enterprises must request handled;

QQ / micro letter: 1534584698 handle real Ministry of Education of qualifications diploma transcript true embassy certification ★ old brand more professional ★...

◆ one: returning home proves uses:
Embassy Education Office issued "returned overseas students to prove" that students studying in the country to prove identity, contact work, start a business, turn off the accounts, apply for the necessary funds and other types of domestic materials. Students held later this proof can also enjoy a number of preferential duty-free imported cars.

◆ Two: certified by the Ministry of Education uses:
If you plan to develop in the country, the Ministry of Education for domestic certification is essential. Usually enterprises and employers will be required when you apply for this certification. Ministry of Education, the information required to handle large and cumbersome certification, all the materials you have to provide the original, we, with a wealth of experience to help you quickly integrate material, allowing you to avoid detours.
ʱ??

Australia Diploma certificate handling of returned overseas students to prove Ministry of Education transcript of qualifications apply Macquarie University diploma transcript diplomas certified agency Macquarie University Macquarie University MQU diploma transcript diplomas certified MQU handle Macquarie University diploma results The Ministry of Education of qualifications single diploma agency Macquarie University Macquarie University diploma transcript diploma of Ministry of Education of qualifications Macquarie University in Australia agency diploma diploma transcript of returned overseas students to prove the Ministry of Education of qualifications apply Macquarie University MQU diploma of Ministry of Education of qualifications Macquarie Macquarie University diploma agency , Ministry of Education of qualifications MQU handle Macquarie University Macquarie University diplomas certification agency Macquarie University MQU diplomas certified to handle Macquarie University Macquarie University diploma Diploma of qualifications MQU agency Macquarie University diplomas Diploma Macquarie University academic qualifications

[ Quote quote endlessly reminded of posting artifact , please do not publish illegal information . ʱ??

Does anyone know chinese? Maybe we could spam them back.

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Josh Lewis » Fri Aug 07, 2015 10:40 pm

Scott wrote:
Perhaps we could have some temp mods come in.


If Matt is gone, do we have any way to do this?


Yes, supposedly two moderators can make someone a moderator. PM me if you are interested in the who part. We would of course choose trust worthy members. 8) Matt can also make someone a moderator as well if he is not too busy.

As for the attacks, perhaps we should start logging some IP addresses. Without knowing exactly who we are dealing with, retaliation is a difficult chore.

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Bob Sihler » Sat Aug 08, 2015 1:36 am

I can make people temporary mods and can also help with the spam fighting, but not until I am back home August 11 and using a real computer again as opposed to a mobile device.
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Re: Hackers attack???

by Marmaduke » Sat Aug 08, 2015 5:48 am

Josh Lewis wrote:
Scott wrote:
Perhaps we could have some temp mods come in.


If Matt is gone, do we have any way to do this?


Yes, supposedly two moderators can make someone a moderator. PM me if you are interested in the who part. We would of course choose trust worthy members.


I vote Toxo and I, we could work together very well and how about Truchas and Chief?
Sorry!

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Scott » Sat Aug 08, 2015 8:59 am

Other sites have been getting hit too. Lonely Planet is one of them. Here is some of the ideas some of the people over there were throwing around:

Why not make "微信" a naughty word that requires pre-moderation?

It's the name of a Chinese messaging service (Wei Xin) that the spammers are trying to get you to contact them on, and I don't think it's something that's likely to come up much in genuine chat on the China branch. Alternatively you could do something about "大学" (university), though it is likely that someone will want to talk about universities in Chinese at some point.


If there is a way to automatically stop SP submissions with the word "PREDIKSI" in them, that would eliminate the problem with the Indonesian spammers.

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Brian C

 
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Re: Hackers attack???

by Brian C » Sat Aug 08, 2015 3:08 pm

So much spam!

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Re: Hackers attack???

by surgent » Sat Aug 08, 2015 8:43 pm

bump

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Re: Hackers attack???

by dadndave » Sat Aug 08, 2015 11:37 pm

A well as removing the dozens of offending posts,I have just tried banning the service provider. Dunno how long that will hold them. Probably not long.
The strawman is evil and must be punished,

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Re: Hackers attack???

by Wasatch Summits » Sun Aug 09, 2015 3:29 am

Looks like these jackasses are at it again. However I want to thank you folks spending your own time getting rid of this garbage. As read from Scotts post above, it's up to us. This site is incredibly valuable to so many, it can't be broken. I'd personally like the site without chinese unless they are legitimate and posting a good page. PM sent.

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