NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS ABOUT MEMBER SECURITY PERMISSION CHANGES

[djkimmel]

Until further notice, probably permanent, new members cannot upload their own avatar OR post attachments (pictures, etc) to posts until you've reached the 2nd level of membership by posting enough times to prove you are human and not a spammer. Members cannot upload their own new avatar until they reach the 2nd level of membership. Links in posts may also be removed. Sorry, but this is to protect everyone, not just the site and myself.

I've also tightened up the password strength and registration setting is set to max. Existing passwords and avatars will not be affected, but your password may be affected if you change your email address. Please use a good passwords that are not easy to guess and never allow anyone else to log on with your account. Any account that appears compromised will have to be blocked.

This has to be done to make sure no harm comes to you or your computer while using this site. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

[Genie]

Safer is gooder!

[thedude]

i dunno, i'm at a higher level and have yet to prove that i'm human.

[oldjigger]

well I guess I better start posting and not just reading to get to the next level

Dick Courser

[Jay-MadWags]

Don't people have anything better to do than hack into greatlakesbass.com??  Maybe they were looking for secret fishing spots on Lake St. Clair. . .

[djkimmel]

Been worse than average across the Internet lately. It mostly about creating artificial Internet traffic ranking to make money. Some may want to download nasty things to some of you. Definitely need to keep those from having their way.

[bshaner]

Another side affect is if you make a change to your profile your previously uploaded avatar is wiped.  Dan, I updated my profile to change my city and one other thing (forget what it was) and my photo got wiped.  Any chance of restoring that or am I out of luck?  I dont use photo sites to store photos.

B

[djkimmel]

bshaner, I did not think it would delete an existing avatar when you make change to your profile. Sorry about that.

The graphic appears to be completely gone.

Do you still have a copy of it yourself somewhere? If so, email it to me at: support 'at' greatlakesbass 'dot' com.

[Cy]

Safer is gooder!

Yeah, Way more gooderer and much more betterer too.

[bshaner]

As a Network Admin on the most attacked Network in the world (DoD) you wont hear me complain about security.  Was merely giving you and everyone else a head's up.

I'll send you a photo Dan.  You'll probably have to resize it.

Thanks bud!

B

[djkimmel]

I know. Not a problem. I'm disappointed since I didn't see any mention on forum support about this other side affect. As soon as they have a permanent fix, I'll re-enable some of the functionality.

The attackers and spammers will always be around so I'll probably have to keep some limits for newer members until I know they are good fishing humans

Thank goodness I don't make missiles, transfer money around or something else more desirable...

Hopefully, no one else will be surprised if they change their profile and their avatar disappears. I have backups and will keep them more frequent so I have a chance to find them easier if someone loses theirs. Not sure why I couldn't find yours b? The tricky part is I can't just look for someone's avatar by name because they get renamed during the upload. There's a way to figure it out (probably the same way the hacker did unfortunately  )

[Skulley]

People on this website should realize by now with the frequency of hacked accounts that we are in an electronic war with the rest of the world especially China.  The website of my bass club got hacked about a month ago.  My Paypal account got hacked last week as well as the Paypal servers.  This will be on going and on the increase.  Even the best firewalls and virus protection can be compromised.  Be careful about opening emails from people that you do not know.  In my job, I work in the computer security department and we get attempts from hackers almost daily.  If anyone would like to know what they need to do to protect their computers aside from the usual virus protection, feel free to PM me.  There is so much more one can do to protect themselves.  My company pays me to do this for a living........and yes I am an expert.  DK is on the right track in protecting us as the forum members and the website itself.  I am glad he is doing what he is doing to keep us safe.  Thanks DK!!!!


BD           

[Dougdad]

Better safe then sorry Dan,  Do what ya got to do to keep us safe. This old fart understands, LOL.  I OPEN NOTHING that does not have a recognized (sp) name or em addy in it.  SPAM IT AND DELETE IT,  THAT MY WAY !!!   

[djkimmel]

Due to recent security upgrades, I've relaxed some security a little. In general, members still can't do certain things until they've reached the 2nd level of membership by number of posts (10) to prove they are human (not robots/spammers).

[squid]

So I take it Dan, that you are not just standing around TRYING to look cute on here.  Like you want to do this Saturday ....lol

[djkimmel]

Correct

[JCOOPER]

Sweet,  my account wasnt hacked by "sometimes catching a limit, sometimes cashing a check" robots trying to be me.  I am still intact!

[djkimmel]

Glad to hear it

[zooker]

still can't throw up the "known" devil avatar?? how big does it have to be??

zooker

[djkimmel]

Are you trying to upload your own? How large is the file in bytes?