We're back - unexpected forums outage

[Janet H]

An exploit in our software was taken advantage of by some hackers who linked to a malicious site. It appears there was a little over 4 hours between the time it happened and the time we took the servers offline Thursday.

In an effort to minimize damage to the board we opted to shut everything down while we investigated the issue and formulated a game plan. Our team (server admins, programmers, and software vendors) coordinated and developed a plan to remove the malicious files and secure the servers. We believe that forum members should not have any system issues associated with this so long they didn't visit the malicious site AND install anything.

While the service interruption was unfortunate, it was important to us to make sure this issue was fully addressed before returning to business as usual. Protecting our community from this kind of intrusion is paramount and we'll post more info here as it becomes available. It's possible that we may need to continue tweak the forum setup and if so, we may have another service interruption.

We thank you for understanding

[TaoJones]

We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Janet and the others who tirelessly dealt with the hack/attack on Cruisers Forum today. It was very lonely not having CF there to serve as a collegial gathering place.

I'll bet I'm not the only one who missed it.

Kudos to Janet and all the others who toiled in the back room to restore the Forum for grateful cruisers and sailors around the world. Well done!

TaoJones

[Janet H]

Thanks Jack - but the real credit goes to Andy R and Jeff (tech admin) who picked through code all day, as well as CF members who's rapid reporting of this issue (along with details) helped identify the issue quickly.

[bobfnbw]

I was at a cub scout meeting when I found the service down.
Having previously managed a server that had malicious attacks, I know somewhat of a job it is to fix things.
I appreciate all that you guys and girls do here to keep up this INCREADABLY useful forums.
THANKS!
bob

[skipmac]

Gee and I thought the outage was something innocent like a software upgrade. Thanks to all. I'm sure this cost everyone a bit of personal time.

[phatch]

Thanks and well done!! As a newbie I use this site extensively so was concerned when I could not gain access.

[clausont]

Thanks to all who were involved with the finding and correcting the issue.
When I saw the site go down, I was wondering as I found no other service interruptions. As it was more than a few minutes before it came back, I was beginning to think there may have been more to it than just a service interruption. As a I.T. Admin, I know how important that was in all aspects, and what is involved in correcting it! Great job to all!

[Vasco]

Great to be back up! Redirecting and posting info re the problem was a very good idea. I'm on another site that's been down for three days. http://cruising.sailboatowners.comforums/CSBB/index.cgi
No info, don't know anything as to whether it'll be back up or not.

[sded]

Not down, just incorrect URL punctuation. Try Cruising Forum - Message Index

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by sded

Not down, just incorrect URL punctuation. Try Cruising Forum - Message Index

Hey Thanks!! I don't know how the URL got screwed up.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Great to be back up! Redirecting and posting info re the problem was a very good idea.

Yeah, I thought that was a very nice touch. and done well.

[witzgall]

Thanks for all of the hard work!!! Death to Hackers. And Pirates. And.....

[Janet H]

An update.. we're still tweaking and in particular working on the gallery. Thanks for your patience.

[James S]

Thanks!

[anglooff]

Well done to everyone....I was on the verge of experiencing some withdrawal symptoms... However I feel fine now.

Regards

Alan