V is for Voltage Recovery

Posted on: Nov 21 2006, 03:25 PM
Hey Guys,

First, let me explain the silence to date. I just found out about this minutes ago when I went to the site. I am in the shop working and have intentionally been staying offline so as to be more productive in the shop. My email boxes are slammed as always.

My digd.com email is working, but I have a HUGE backlog there and so my response time on that box is very slow.

We have voltage forum backups. I'll see what I can do to restore a previous version of the site in as little time as possible. I'll have to dig through the servers to do so. Right now, the database is trashed. I cannot even log into either the forum nor the admin areas. I created this account to put a message up.

I have not read much about the actions taken in my absence. I will do so shortly. I will also give several people the "keys to the store" so to speak so that this doesn't happen again.

So please spread the word that reconstruction is taking place and I'll work to get it back online asap.

-Ken Trough
AIM - ktrough (24/7)

Posted on: Nov 21 2006, 03:25 PM
This is a message from Ken Trough, the site administrator/owner:

I have been in the lab working on a next generation electric vehicle project. I have only been online sporatically, and usually logging onto my workgroup site, not checking on the forums.

I have been trying to stay offline in order to be productive in the shop. I just checked the site and saw the hack. Let me reassure everyone that no passwords were ever readable by the hackers. Even as the top administrator and owner of the site, I cannot read passwords. All I can do is reset them. The passwords are all stored in the database in encrypted form. The user database as well as a number of other areas on the site have been severely compromised. My admin accounts have been deleted.

Rest assured, that I am on it. I will attempt to restore a previous version of the site and will patch the code to try and prevent further hacking. I will also establish a moderating team that will have full access to the site, backups, and so forth.

I am starting now, 1pm on Tuesday afternoon. I hope to have some version of the site back online this evening.

-Ken Trough
AIM - ktrough

Posted on: Nov 21 2006, 02:42 PM
I just saw the site.

I'm working on restoring a previous version and patching the code now.

I'll also be sure and get a couple of the moderators the keys to the store.

More to follow shortly.

-Ken Trough

Posted on: Nov 21 2006, 02:42 PM
Hello everyone,

The site was severely hacked. The boards have been defaced, the administrator and moderator accounts were deleted or otherwise corrupted and some malware code has apparently been inserted. This malware reportedly affects Internet Explorer exploits, so if you run IE please stay off the site for a day or two until we get some cleaned and protected code infrastructure back online.

Rest assured though that no passwords were compromised. All passwords are stored in encrypted form in the database. I as the administrator super user cannot even see any passwords. I can only reset them. So anyway, the hackers did not get anyone's passwords.

At this point we know how the hack was accomplished, how to fix it, and how to prevent it from happening again. Further, I will be instating new moderators and administrators to insure that in the case of a future emergency, more timely action can be taken in the event that I am not immediately available.

I have been mostly off line trying to be productive in the shop on a next generation electric vehicle project and I just found out about all this yesterday. Rest assured that we are doing everything to get the forums back safely in the shortest possible time.

No one should assume that this came from within our community, and we should all continue to work to help make this community a better place. Let's pull together in this time of adversity.

-Ken Trough
Site Administrator

Gman
Go to V Refuge for the latest news about V is for Voltage
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/VRefuge/

That was my statement and not Ken's just so there is no confusion.
It was a reply to morf200164259.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/VRefuge/message/28

Thanks,
Gman