Normal Service ....

[gavin]

Hi Folks

Sorry about the loss of your favourite bee forum (via a normal browser) for the last 17 hrs, although those of you on Tapatalk might not have noticed any problem. We had script files hacked.

There is a continuing problem with the 'Articles' section, 'Who's Online' and maybe more but it is well past my bedtime and I have a busy day ahead so we'll fix them when we can.

Gavin

[fatshark]

"Finally", I'd thought, "they're banned me."

What a relief. I'd been about to find my tin hat and venture elsewhere on the interwebs.

Thanks Gavin.

[gavin]

Hate to think of you up in the wee small hours fretting about lost fora and tin hats. You can safely leave that to me.

Or maybe you're in another time zone, sipping cocktails in the Caribbean, scaling the Andes or windsurfing in Australia.

However, must go and do stuff ...

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[GRIZZLY]

Nice to have it back

[fatshark]

Reply with quote doesn't appear to work so I can't post a humorous response to Gavin …

Caribbean? Australia? Andes? … I enjoy my beekeeping and the SBAi, but not enough that much. It was something a lot more mundane like my son returning from the boozer and my medication wearing off ;)

Winter solstice … perhaps winter will now arrive?

[Adam]

"We had script files hacked".

The people who do this should have their *&^%")* hacked off, the season of good cheer or not!
The reply with quote doesn't work at the mo. (Normal browser Win 7 and firefox)

[gavin]

The reply with quote doesn't work at the mo. (Normal browser)

Just trying it in Tapatalk, looks like it is working here.

I'm not in a position to sit with a laptop today but will try to address this when I can.

It is the modern day equivalent of stealing apples or worse, this bringing down of fora. The last time it was done I managed to track it to a named schoolboy in a certain suburb of Edmonton, Canada - and as his Facebook page was open at the time (doh!) could even see who his mother and other family members were. He still has his bollocks as far as I can tell.

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[Beefever]

Does the hacker have to be a forum member to do this? I know you mentioned recently that you ban certain members who don't seem like beekeepers when they join. And if they've gained access to the system, how do they do that? Computers confuse me even more than bees!

[gavin]

Does the hacker have to be a forum member to do this? I know you mentioned recently that you ban certain members who don't seem like beekeepers when they join. And if they've gained access to the system, how do they do that? Computers confuse me even more than bees!

That was a 'reply with quote' from Firefox. As far as I can tell we're fully back in business. These last difficulties were from incompatibilities between the settings of php which the web host uses (I can't change them) and the latest version of vBulletin 4. Which necessitates editing of a crucial php file and putting it back on the server.

I think this latest hack used a vulnerability in vBulletin 4 which allows outside access to fiddle with essential files. No trace, unless I ask the web hosting company for IP addresses that accessed the forum at the time the files were changed (Neil's suggestion). However the vulnerability will have been fixed - I hope - with the fresh upload of the latest version of the software last night. Jings, that was gobbledegook, wasn't it?!

Anyway this current problem would be hard to trace. The previous one I mentioned was from a novice who logged in to do his damage and left me with IP evidence and even an email address that contained his name. I don't think he'd have much of a career in Wikileaks. Anyway, he apologised, so both of us learned and I doubt he'll do it again. He may need his bollocks when he grows up. ;)

And yes, I did find some time with a laptop but now I'm behind schedule .....

[fatshark]

You're the man Gavin :cool: … no weirdo errors on Safari/Mac here


He still has his bollocks as far as I can tell.

He may need his bollocks when he grows up. ;)

Too late I'm afraid … the SBAi 'black ops' team have, if you'll excuse the euphemism, winkled him out and his Facebook status has been changed to "eunuch".

[Beefever]

Er…….ok…….think I’ve got that now……………….Might have to read through a few times but thanks for the run down.

[Adam]

Hello Happy Christmas to all. Seems to be working OK now. :)

[gavin]

And 20 days on, another one. Grrrrr!! Takes many hours to fix these things. Hope to have stopped any more, we'll see.

G.

PS Just updated Tapatalk while fixing the forum - not sure yet whether things are much different.

[fatshark]

Last edited by gavin; Today at 03:05 AM.

Thanks Gavin … we're very grateful you interrupted your holiday on Bondi beach to login in the middle of our night and fix this problem for us.

Just post the IP address of the miscreant and we'll order the drone strike (pun intended).

[gavin]

I thought that was you, waving, three surf boards along. Nice Lycra!

On the suggestion of one of the team, we engineered one of those reverse-attacking virus things you see on Dr Who and the like, sent it across the airwaves and down the fibre optic cables and wires, and as far as we can tell we've vaporised his (always a him) hard drives and volatile memory. Made quite a Cloud (always wondered what that Cloud business was about) clearly visible on the satellite image of .... oh, better keep this one quiet in case the SBAi Black Ops team get out of hand again.

[snimmo243]

Hi I still can't access the forum via tapatalk
Steven

[gavin]

Hi Steven

Sorry about that - works fine with my BlackBerry. Anyone else having success or failure with Tapatalk? I see that there is one user using Tapatalk now, and a couple of regular users logged in but who are not currently on Tapatalk.

Not sure if this is an issue related to the software update or the forum problem. Off out in half an our but will check later.

G.

[fatshark]

Hi Gavin

Just off to the beach … however, Tapatalk is telling me "System Message … Package file doesn't match blah blah". On an iPhone.

[snimmo243]

Hi Gavin
I'm on android and the message I get is similar to fatshark's, it says go to forum adjunCP ->plugin and products -> manage products to upgrade by importing the latest installation xml??? I tried reinstalling app but it made no difference

[gavin]

Thanks Guys.

After 2 pints of the Houston Brewery's Kindellan and two of Inveramond's Lia Fail (http://www.inveralmond-brewery.co.uk/) is no time to be fiddling in vBulletin's adminCP, but I've done my best. vBulletin had indeed failed to recognise the latest Tapatalk upgrade and I think I've managed to teach it to see v4.9 now, as well sort the xml file business and even (maybe) got push notification working. Let me know if it is better now please Steven and FS (once you've dried yourself in the sun or with a towel FS).

G.

[snimmo243]

Hi Gavin
Thanks it seems to be working fine now hope you enjoyed the beer

Sent from my C5303 using Tapatalk

[beejazz]

I can log in with firefox but not with ie, I get a page, something about apache centos test page.

[fatshark]

Tapatalk works for me.
With thanks

Www.sbai.org.uk gives me the Apache web server test page on Chrime and Safari. Go to /sbai_forum/forum.php and it'll work.


--
fatshark

[fatshark]

Oops. Chrome not Chrime.


--
fatshark

[gavin]

Thanks folks. If you have bookmarked: www.sbai.org.uk it should now automatically redirect you to the folder with the forum files.