Forum Got Lucky - Please Read

[Ron Earp]

Over the last few days the forum was exposed to a severe threat in the form of a bug in the control panel on the server. This bug allowed malicious hackers to control entire websites and do what they want with them. Many sites have been destroyed or ransomed.

Our developer, Harry of MagnetiCat identified the problem and fixed it before damage was done. However, the site had already been breached, likely by a bot and would be awaiting in the queue for processing. We're fortunate here, very very lucky.

Actively exploited cPanel bug exposes millions of websites to takeover

A vulnerability in the cPanel/WHM admin interface lets attackers access websites without a username and password.

www.malwarebytes.com

Anyhow, thank you Harry for the work you've done for the site and making sure it's still up and running. In doing this work he also updated the forum software and applied security patches. We're looking into holding separate backups off the server so that if something like this were to occur and was successful we could restore the forum with some minor loss of recent activity.

As always, the forum runs on donations so if you find value here please support the forum. The money is used for keeping the site running, keeping Harry paid, and ensuring we're here for the long haul.

Ron

 

[Brian Kissel]

Thanks Ron, that’s good to know.! I was going to put up a request for our annual spring donation request. I am not sure how long the forum can remain free. It is examples like this that out lines why donations are needed. I am glad Harry was able to identify the threat before permanent harm was done. As was said some sites lost everything. This site has so much information that everyone counts on.

Thanks again Ron for everything you and Harry do.

Regards Brian

 

[Lee Patterson]

Nicely done by the support team.

 

[Randy V]

Thank you Harry and thank you Ron!

 

[Ron Earp]

Thanks Ron, that’s good to know.! I was going to put up a request for our annual spring donation request. I am not sure how long the forum can remain free. It is examples like this that out lines why donations are needed. I am glad Harry was able to identify the threat before permanent harm was done. As was said some sites lost everything. This site has so much information that everyone counts on.

Thanks again Ron for everything you and Harry do.

Regards Brian

Brian, I think you'll need to still do the fund raiser. This sort of activity doesn't move the needle much on support, unfortunately. Harry tends to many old forums such as this one and he says they are a dying breed. Social media has replaced most of them. People are on social media much more than they are sitting in front of a web browser. The other thing is that many forums were purchased by companies for monetization. That isn't going to happen here as long as we're able to run on our own.

The host server software will be upgraded by LiquidWeb over the next couple of days so the forum might be down for an amount of time, or, features of it non-functional. Don't worry, it'll be back in due time.

 

[Jerry Irwin]

As I am one of the older generation ( >70 ) I find this type of Forum much easier to use than 'social media'
I am also a major computer user rather than a mobile phone user. ( again my age gives it away )
I find trying to use the phone on gathering information rather a pain in the arse and always turn to the computer.
So I hope this forum will continue in its 'old' ways.
I would also suggest that the majority of users of this forum have had their 60th birthday !
Jerry

 

[Harry]

Thanks for the kind words guys, I am glad I could help.

Ron first hired me to work on GT40s around 15 years ago. Since then I have worked with hundreds, maybe thousands, of forums, but the ones that are still around and still true to their purpose are only a handful. I think forums like this are invaluable, because they contain this very unique aggregate of human experience, work, and knowledge in niches like this one and make it accessible to all. I was in awe the first time I discovered GT40s.com (building your own GT40? I did not even know it was possible!). Forums like gt40s need to be protected and maintained, and this is even truer now that AI "slop", as kids call it, is filling up the web.

While I think I provided all the help I could balancing out what was needed vs what was reasonable in terms of costs, very few forums have been able to survive until now. Over 25+ years I have witnessed (and of course, I was myself affected by) the drop in advertising revenue, then the explosion of social networks, and the ballooning cost of maintenance (which is not going down, especially with the increased cost of hardware and monitoring) strangling most of them. Or, simply, their owners no longer had the time or money to care for them.

I am proud to have helped here, and I am proud of what Ron and all of you who keep posting here are doing. This includes the takeover and restoration of Prodracing.com and ImprovedTouring.com.

About the incident: I reacted as fast I could. As soon as I got the notification about the security advisory, I jumped to GT40 to patch things up and then went through the cleanup and hardening that was needed. Countless servers had already been breached for months before the hack went public. Then, when the hack became public, these goons and script kids using AI tools of verious kinds defaced and in some cases completely destroyed websites, asking for ransom while in reality they had simply destroyed all the data. Over 25 years I have never seen this level of callous viciousness and destructive intent, destroying community work representing thousands and thousands of hours people put into it, for nothing. I just do not get it, really.

So, keep being awesome guys! And thanks for the kind words and for having me here still!

 

[Brian Kissel]

Thanks for all you do Harry , it is certainly appreciated. I would like to see this forum to continue to survive.

Regards Brian

 

[Lee Patterson]

Thank you Harry - the world and our forum is better off with you doing what you do!!! Excellent job.