Swift 18.org in trouble!

[[32511]]

You may remember that I couldn't access this site after registering; still can't, and every time I try the site tells me to contact an administrator, with no information as to who or how.
However the site is now seriously in trouble, as several hundred people with computer generated user names and random countries of residence appear to have joined recently. There are now many times the number of 'owners' than actual Swifts built!
I didn't launch the attack, honest.
The site needs a complete overhaul, sadly.

 

[Billjratt]

interesting, our club site was being targeted as well, and the guru had to re-jig the registration process.
What is the point of these attacks?

 

[Skylark]

What is the point of these attacks?

Seemingly, a far greater intellegence than mine is needed to understand the reasons behind such actions. In my simple world, they are just idiots.

Fond memories of the Swift 18.......my first sea boat.

 

[sarabande]

the same is happening to Multihulls4us - Gludy's site. They have sent an email saying that my ID has been noted as having multiple log-on failures with the wrong password, and they attach the IP addresss, which on checking, is located in the middle of Peking ! Surprise.

Is it a Chinese attack on our great cultural heritages ? And an attempt to harvest names, logons, and passwords ?


I think I may have a word with a friend in the Doughnut...

 

[Niander]

Maybe they are practicing for the "Big sites".

 

[Gordy M]

an attempt to harvest names, logons, and passwords ?

This is a good reason not to use the same password on different sites, one site gets compromised, they would have your password for all the others

Gord

 

[sarabande]

Information Security, Hint #261.

 

[Seajet]

I am constantly getting ' suspicious sign in tried on your Twitter account '; I did sign up an account but I never use it.

This is at least once a day, I just delete them.

A few friends have had their contacts list hacked and weird messages sent to everyone they know, but I think that's a different issue.

 

[yachtorion]

The attacks are automated. Chances are the people controlling them don't even know which sites are being attacked - the automatic system just trawls the internet looking for sites to attack.

The purpose is usually the posting of spam to a forum, finding a way to send spam e-mail, or adding posts containing links back to dodgy sites in the hope of improving search engine rankings. Or alternatively, take advantage of a weak password or flaw in the software running the site to compromise usernames and passwords which can then be used for other sites where the password is shared.

Pretty much every site out there gets these automatic attacks is just bigger sites are generally setup to handle it better.

I work in internet services and security so I see it first hand. The average time between putting a new computer on the internet and the first automated attempt to attack it is generally just a few minutes.

But as long as you keep your computer up to date with updates and have a good firewall and a virus scanner enabled, generally as a home user on the net you'll be fine. If you are still running Windows XP or Vista - time to upgrade!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

interesting, our club site was being targeted as well, and the guru had to re-jig the registration process.
What is the point of these attacks?

They are trying to use a type of attack called SQL injection to grab your address list; lists of valid email addresses have some value in the spam world. A well designed web-site should be immune, but pretty much any web-site that has an online registration system will attract such attacks. I used to get them all the time; I had the satisfaction of knowing they weren't successful!

This site (http://bobby-tables.com/) gives a palatable run-down on how it works!