I think I might get hacked ? HELP !!

[eXPerience]

Hey guys !

I just received a really distressing PM from a rival forum threatening that if I don't change the name of my forum, Google will shut my site down in 3 days.

Google don't shut forums down simply for calling their forum Elite4Gamers.

The person who sent me this PM is the webmaster of a forum called Elite4Gaming you see.

He is also an administrator on my forums.

The problem is I have been hacked before and I am very suspicious coz i think it was him that did it.

But because I had no proof it was him I couldn't take action.

Now I think he's threatening me again....but I still can't prove he's trying to hack me.

He could be being helpful and trying to warn me in advance that something bad might happen.

I suspect he's trying to hack me to get me off the web but I have absolutely no evidence at all.

I've been hacked once before under suspicious circumstances and lost 3 months worth of work.

I cannot afford for that to happen again.

WHAT CAN I DO GUYS? PLEASE HELP...I'M AT A LOOSE END NOW. 🙁

 

[Mr. Duck]

Demote him from Admin Position and see how things go and if he is still threatening and if you are still getting hacked you can take action. I dont see how google will shut your site down, they have nothing to do with it...

Also your names not the same so he cant do anything, its not copyrighted, its like some person on here has a forum called
forums promotion.

 

[Gimgak]

why would you keep someone you think deleted your forum as an admin? You don't need any evidence.

 

[Jonathan]

Why would he be an admin on your site if you thought he was planning to hack you?

De-admin, ban, IP ban. He won't be hacking you unless you have vulnerabilities

 

[Jay]

I would demote him from his position, ban him, and IP ban him like Jonathan said.

I am still confused why you let a person who hacked your forum be admin. It's like having your house robbed and then giving him $10,000 as a reward. Makes no sense.

Your forum's domain is The Gamers World, so I think that should be the name. I dont even know why you have it as Elite4Gamers.

Anyways, if you do like the name Elite4Gamers, the .com,.net,.org domain extensions are available. You could simply buy them out, or buy the .com.

 

[khaleel]

I say you ook at the log and see if he deleted the posts before and if it is then demote ban and ip ban
if not just demote saying there are to many staff members

 

[Matt.]

I agree with the rest. Why did you keep him as Admin? Also ban him as you dont want any trouble.

 

[JayJACKEL!]

Reading through, saying he's an admin and threatening to hack you is kind of obvous.
IP Ban, De-admin and delete his account.
Then check on your Forum's software site (vbulletin.com for example.) and ask if there are any known vuneralabilites.

If yes, fix, if no, stop worrying and ignore him.

 

[eXPerience]

Ok. I've banned him, his IP, his e-mail the lot.

I hope that'll stop him...if it was him that is.

How can I be safe from hackers though...Justhost claim their servers are protected against SQL injections.

But I have been hacked before...and I can't allow someone to hack me again. 🙁

Thanks for the help though guys. 😀

 

[Jonathan]

if he's saying your site is going to be shut down and that he is going to hack it etc., how can he be innocent?

 

[CyberFreak]

If he is threatening you then that is reason enough in my opinion.

If yes, fix, if no, stop worrying and ignore him.

Just because the software has no known exploits does not mean that you are safe and if you think that then you are very wrong. If we are talking about real hacking then the software is not the only thing people would target. Also no known exploits does not equal no exploits. Also you need to have secure passwords for cpanel (if you have cpanel access) and for your admin account, ensure all your staff have secure password, make backups if possible of not only the database but also the files. if you are not on a free forum host and have set up ftp accounts, make sure the password to that is secure. Ensure the password to the email you use on your forum is secure. There is alot more to worry about then just checking for security issues in the software and you should not stop worrying if there are none.

 

[eXPerience]

ok. i've banned him and all his IPs, e-mails, the lot.

Thanks for you help guys. 😀

I just hope that all will be well and I won't get hacked. 😀

 

[khaleel]

De admin him also

 

[eXPerience]

I've done that.

And I've banned him, as well as deleted his account.

I've also banned both IP addresses registered with his account.

And i've banned his e-mail address.

I really do not enjoy taking drastic action like that but under the circumstances I have no other choice.

Thanks for the help.

 

[AnAccount]

I've done that.

And I've banned him, as well as deleted his account.

I've also banned both IP addresses registered with his account.

And i've banned his e-mail address.

I really do not enjoy taking drastic action like that but under the circumstances I have no other choice.

Thanks for the help.

Nobody enjoys taking drastic measures like that. But at the end of the day, it's your responsibility to protect yourself and you members, as well as your forum, from this kind of thing.

 

[Dark Takua]

Make sure to backup the forum if he tries to delete it.