TBGA site down?

Message

erron · #1 Post by **erron** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:43 pm

Anyone know if they (www.thebowhuntersgroupofaustralia.com) are having problems? I keep getting errors, the latest:

"phpBB : Critical Error

Could not connect to the database "

are they upgrading, or have they been hacked, or what?

Erron

#2 Post by **Stickbow Hunter** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:53 pm

Erron,

I don't know but it has been down for a few days.

I have been having an unusual amount of trouble with Ozbow of late also. Only an hour or so ago I could not get onto the site. Last night and two nights ago was the same at around 9.30pm Qld time. It gives a critical error sometimes and other times just nothing except the site isn't available. It is usually only off for 15 minutes or so.

Jeff

jindydiver · #3 Post by **jindydiver** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:00 pm

The guys they rent the sever from is doing maintenance.

erron · #4 Post by **erron** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:08 pm

Thanks Jindy, that explains it. Sounds like they could do well to go with a bigger outfit.

Jeff, I'm not experiencing any more problems this end than normal, so maybe it is your ISP? You've also just switched to broadband, are you with Telstra Bigpond by any chance. That would explain a few things

Anyone else having trouble with Ozbow?

Thanks for the feedback, fellahs!

Erron

coach · #5 Post by **coach** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:12 pm

or have they been hacked,

Yep! Spoke to the guy handling it and that was what he said!

I would love to spend 5 mins. alone with a bloody hacker!

#6 Post by **Stickbow Hunter** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:26 pm

Erron,

No I would not use Telstra for my ISP.

If it was my ISP wouldn't I be having trouble with other sites, which I am not?

Jeff

erron · #7 Post by **erron** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:30 pm

Thanks coach. Share your sentiment re: hackers

Jeff, thanks. I pay extra to get 99% uptime, I expect it. I will take this up with Ozbow's 'Host'.

Erron

jindydiver · #8 Post by **jindydiver** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:33 pm

Erron, I am on Transact cable and at least half the time I try to log on I get "could not connect to database".
I just have to wait 15 mins and I connect fine.

erron · #9 Post by **erron** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:32 pm

Thanks guys, this is the feedback from my host:

Hi Erron,

There is a hardware problem on the server that your site is on. We are in the process of fixing this and once it is done there won't be anymore of those downtimes you have experienced over the last week.

Best regards,
Sam @ Hostingshop.com.au

they are usually very good, but will have to pull up theri socks or we will be moving on...

Erron

coach · #10 Post by **coach** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:53 pm

TBGA lost the lot ,, due to hackers , so the host said

BUT ,,,, We are rebuilding by the looks of it ,, Thanx to Marcus from Archery Forum. Not to mention Barry And Adam , plus the contributors to this great site! Including me!

There is a Test site up at the moment

erron · #11 Post by **erron** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:51 pm

Good luck with getting things back to normal Coach.

I don't know about the idea of hackers destroying data, though, they have mostly been interested in taking over the boards to spread political messages. And even if they did inadvertently destroy data, the host should have had daily backups. When Ozbow got hacked recently the only real trouble I had was reinstalling the various software modules over a few days: as far as data was concerned, I just called my host and asked them to restore the data. They actually asked from which date I'd like it done! This is - what, the thrid time - TBGA have lost all their data? Frankly, their host just isn't up to scratch, IMO.

Anyway, all the best with it...

Erron

coach · #12 Post by **coach** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:16 pm

yep all data was gone . We have started from scratch. Apparently the hackers attacked the host and about 18 sites went. Yes the host should have had backup data but they didn't!
I think we are with a different one this time.

It nearly wasn't going to be started again , but thank god it was

erron · #13 Post by **erron** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:48 am

Bummer, that's very discouraging, I'll bet

oh well, live and learn, as they say... better luck this time!

Erron

erron · #14 Post by **erron** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:39 pm

Just noticed they are still running phpbb2 version 2.0.8. Hope they are going to upgrade it to the latest, 2.0.13...

Erron

coach · #15 Post by **coach** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:19 am

Whats the difference?

erron · #16 Post by **erron** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 12:05 pm

It has been upgraded many times lately in order to counter hackers. The latest version is supposedly hack-proof. Ozbow is running 12, and I hope to install 13 soon. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a pain, but necessary. As it is, if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have the latest version it is very likely youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be hacked again.

Erron

erron · #17 Post by **erron** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:57 pm

From the phpbb2 site:

Hi everyone,

phpBB Group announces the release of phpBB 2.0.13, the "Beware of the furries" edition. This release addresses two recent security exploits, one of them critical. They were reported a few days after .12 was released and no one is more annoyed than us, having to release a new version in such a short period of time.
Fortunately both fixes are easy and in each case just one line needs to be edited.

The first issue is critical (session handling allowing everyone gaining administrator rights) and we urge you to fix it on your forums as soon as possible:

Open includes/sessions.php

Find:
Code:
if( $sessiondata['autologinid'] == $auto_login_key )

Replace with:
Code:
if( $sessiondata['autologinid'] === $auto_login_key )

A second minor issue reported to bugtraq several days ago was the path disclosure bug in viewtopic.php which got fixed by applying the following steps:

Open viewtopic.php

Find:
Code:
$message = str_replace('\"', '"', substr(preg_replace('#(\>(((?>([^><]+|(?R)))*)\<))#se', "preg_replace('#\b(" . $highlight_match . ")\b#i', '\\\\1', '\\0')", '>' . $message . '<'), 1, -1));

Replace with:
Code:
$message = str_replace('\"', '"', substr(@preg_replace('#(\>(((?>([^><]+|(?R)))*)\<))#se', "@preg_replace('#\b(" . $highlight_match . ")\b#i', '\\\\1', '\\0')", '>' . $message . '<'), 1, -1));

Archon · #18 Post by **Archon** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:38 pm

Erron,

This is in fact the 2nd time we have lost all data due to 'hosting issues'. The first time was due to a business dispute between parties which resulted in the offsite data base being refused to the Australian distributor.

Our latest loss was due to the host itself coming under a sustained attack from hackers.

'Apparently' the hackers not only took the site down but deleted all data from the hosts main frame. A whole stack of sites lost thier data thanks to this. So the host was not able to restore data.

VERY VERY frustrating indeed. Fortuneately we have not had the site hacked directly, although that would have made a data restore much easier.

Our version of PHP will be changed ASAP, we are negotiating with other hosting companies but none of them will provide fail safe guarantees and those that come close charge several thousand a year.

We are now taking to backing up off site, I would not rely on your host to provide back ups.... a lesson hard learned as those backups can also apparantly come under threat.

Take care,

Barry

erron · #19 Post by **erron** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:37 am

Thanks Barry, and all the best with it.

You mention hosting costing thousands a year, but Ozbow only costs a few hundred. You may have a lot more traffic than us, thoughÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ anyway, check out www.hostingshop.com

I expect hosts to have tape backups also, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s just not an excuse to say the Ã¢â‚¬ËœmainframeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ got hacked. Mind you, not sure what would be saved in a week old tape backup, but it would be better than nothingÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

Good luck with it, thanks for posting and welcome to the site!

Erron

tracker · #20 Post by **tracker** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:55 am

http://www.bluegravity.com

The MySQL database for the board will sit on a seperate machine with daily backup.. your php/html sits on a different machine with your domain. Hackers Shmackers!

20 bucks a month. Heaps of bandwidth and a few domains plus unlimited pop3 email. Rocksolid. I have hosted with these guys since 1998.

These sorts of hosting deals are a dime a dozen nowadays.

coach · #21 Post by **coach** » Sat May 28, 2005 7:28 pm

Well it's down AGAIN !

It's getting bloody ridiculous

The regulars that go there know what I'm talking about.

erron · #22 Post by **erron** » Sat May 28, 2005 8:13 pm

So, what exactly is the problem, Coach, has anyone figured it out yet?

Erron

coach · #23 Post by **coach** » Sat May 28, 2005 8:23 pm

The official response is " They are Migrating servers" About a week or two ago they were "moving servers"

Reece · #24 Post by **Reece** » Sat May 28, 2005 8:25 pm

The servers have to go north for the winter...

erron · #25 Post by **erron** » Sat May 28, 2005 8:25 pm

Hmm, guess you're not allowed to shoot 'em while they're 'migrating'

Erron

Hood · #26 Post by **Hood** » Sat May 28, 2005 8:36 pm

Next thing they'll tell us the server is IMIGRATING. then they will tell us the server is in the Baxter detention centre.

mIck

Buford · #27 Post by **Buford** » Sat May 28, 2005 10:00 pm

servers are now on a stavation protest, so there will be no more bytes for a while!

get it?

bytes, bites?

huh?

ah forget it.

mumbles to himself as he walks off to pour another drink....

coach · #28 Post by **coach** » Sun May 29, 2005 7:33 am

Very good wrc .555

tracker · #29 Post by **tracker** » Mon May 30, 2005 8:40 pm

http://forums.thebowhuntersgroupofaustr ... /index.php

seems to work.. has done all day .. the main domain pointers don't appear to be working..

I'll say it again...

http://www.bluegravity.com

7 years of hosting .. last month I did 2900 Gigs of data.. rocksolid.. and cheap as p*** ... using a ripoff Aussie host is dopey. The world has moved on.

erron · #30 Post by **erron** » Mon May 30, 2005 8:44 pm

Mick, what's the back up service like? My worry is when the site goes down, how soon can they get it up again? Currently that's about a 2 minute phone call.

Cheers,

Erron