Edit: Also seems I cannot correct the thread title.
Edit: Also seems I cannot correct the thread title.
Last edited by Ve8; 12th November 2011 at 10:57 PM.
It hasn't, you are still shown as a member in the membership checker here.
Caching since 2001
Founder member of GAGB (2003)
Committee (2003-2013)
Chair of GAGB (2010-2012)
Negotiator of 18 Landowner Agreements
GAGB Friend
I think Ve8 means that his status as a forum member has been revoked. Obviously this is some kind of mistake which I am sure you would want resolved ASAP.
This is before the conspiracy theorists accuse anybody of a deliberate attempt to remove a competing committee candidate!
You are now actually shown as 'User Awaiting Email Confirmation'
With so many 'it seems' hackers out there it would be difficult to ascertain who the culprit was.
I have now re-instated your full membership status.
Still having problems.
Regarding your curious comment, have you checked the admin logs?
Log entries check and none relating to your ID shown.
Perhaps if the person who says it is possible to hack the site tells us how it is done it will save the people who are working on it a lot of time?
vBulletin itself must be secure. Nobody would use if it was not!
Adam Robbins (Bobbinz)
My post is my personal opinion and as such you do not have my permission to quote me outside of these forums!
Dave
Brenin Tegeingl
Formerly known as Mancunian Pyrocacher on GC
I'm sure its clear that I have 0% trust in TPTB, by releasing this info it could be used on other vulnerable sites that use the same platform. In a nutshell the info is freely available but I'm not going to be the one responsible for passing on exploits via PM or in open forum.
I also suspect evidence of my knowledge would be used against me.
Applying the latest forum updates will fix the issues - problem solved... but for some reason nobody will do it
For the record the issues I'm aware of are read only, there is no way of altering member accounts etc by this method. IF my account was changed by unauthorised parties you have even bigger problems than I suspected.
Thank you, at least that narrows down the possibilities.
As for forum software updates that is being looked into
I have always stated from when I first got involved with the GAGB and was asked to undertake any web work, 'I am not a skilled Webmaster' I have managed by learning as I go along, this is why Cassandy was invited to assist.
I was not even aware that he problem was there as we have seen no signs of hacking before. I understand that updating the V.Bulletin software will solve the problems but I do not feel comfortable with doing the upgrade. If there is a member out there who would feel comfortable doing the upgrade why not contact the Chairman and offer your services.
As far as my comments about Hackers, I have read that there have been a few cases of hacking recently on various forums, I believe that the EMCache forum was hacked and bought down recently.
Why anybody should want to hack a site that is involved with such a low level importance hobby as geocaching I fail to see.
Am I just paranoid? Why only Ve8 having problems ? and why now? There is certainly something wrong somewhere. Having used the forums for a long time now and have never had any problems, I find it very strange that all these things come out one after another just at the time of the committee elections. Dr Dick has done a stirling job and there have been some snide remarks about the fact that quite a lot of the committee are past the first flush of youth and therefore, by definition, out of touch with the membership. We may not have a lot of computer expertise,(other than Cass !!) but that is NOT THE POINT. Our chairman and committee members have the best interests of UK cachers in mind and give up time willingly to help,dealing with land owners, answering queries, manning stalls at events and not trying to pick holes in the system. Any system can apparantly be hacked into (see the pentagon problems!) But, again to be honest WHO THE HELL WANTS TO hack into GAGB we have no secrets, we don't know who killed Kennedy and have no interest in UFO sightings.
I joined GAGB as I am a cacher, and was asked to join the committee as I wished to help in my own small way. This election is getting beyond the point of being fun any more and if the committee is changed radically I fear for the existance of the GAGB I joined.
I have not put a committee disclaimer as I don't wish to be shot at again !
Si vis pacem para bellum
thanks for that Tony - I was getting a litle intense there
Si vis pacem para bellum
Upgrading the vBulletin version that the forum runs on is not just a case of Next --> Next --> Finish! First you have to pay for it, then you have to take care to back up the existing data, then you have to carefully perform the upgrade. Some people are talking as if this is something that can be done in a couple of minutes. It would be a risky thing to do in the middle of elections when people are using the forum a lot. It's something that will get done when time permits.
If someone has found a way of accessing parts of the GAGB site which they are not authorised to do so then I can't say I'm surprised if something breaks for them! If you mess around and tamper with things that you're not supposed to then these things can happen. I would also caution all members of this forum against publicly admitting that you have accessed areas of the forum that you are not authorised to do so. I'm sure we're all aware of the Computer Misuse Act and doing so is actually an offence.
Take a look at my "title" in this forum post. I'm now showing as "Forum User". These sorts of things are things that can be changed in the profile. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a way to mess with your account access too and revoke permissions accidentally. Perhaps involving clicking the "verify" email link again or something.
Palujia - Hackers don't need a reason to hack something. They're not necessarily after anything or interested. They're just proving that they can do it and practicing.
My Geocaching Blog: http://geocass.wordpress.com
Are you implying that Ve8 has done this himself? Do you have evidence in the audit logs what he has done if you have I for one want to know.
If there is no evidence how do you explain it?`Ve8 must be an incredible hacker if he can, with only user access and no admin rights, cover his tracks so thoroughly.
I think I have solved this. hmy:
Tim, did you change your email between being able to access the forums as a member and not being allowed to?
I have just asked a friend to do just that and it replicated exactly what happened to you, he reported back to me that after he had changed his email address he would recive an email to verify. When I checked his status it showed him as 'User Awaiting Email Confirmation' exactly what your status was when I re-instated it to GAGB Member.
If you did indeed change your email address then that is the cause of the problem and not a hacker.
I await a reply as to whether this was the problem.
Thanks Cass ! - I can understand why hackers try to get into MI5 or the Bank of England - But GAGB ????? Although I suppose it's as you say - just to prove they can - and then cause some mischief for their "fun" ! I get my fun out of trying to solve puzzle caches and finding tupperware boxes in the woods !!
happy caching
Si vis pacem para bellum
Got to be honest, I have not got the foggiest. When you said that access had been restored despite having the title "GAGB Member" it still took another day or so before I could get access to the member forums.
However, my listed email address needs to changed but after reading up about this bug you have discovered I'm not feeling confident about updating it especially if I risk losing a few days access.
Would it be better for me to PM you my new email address? This would at least allow me to vote.
There is not a bug, it is part of the V.Bulletin process of validating that the new email address is in fact active.
After changing the email address the user is informed that a 'Validation email' has been sent to the new email address. Once the user then clisks the link their forum access is reset back to eactly how it was before the change. I have just tested it 4 times this morning and it worked every time, with access reinstated withing 1 minute of clicking the link.
But I am happy to carry out the change for you should you wish, simply send me a PM requesting that I carry out the change for you along with the email address that you wish to use.
So as not to appear to giving a fellow committee candidate special attention I am happy to carry out the same procedure for any member who sends me a PM and states that they wish me to carry out the change and with the new email address.
Just attempted the DIY method, looks like it has gone through without issue.
Can I have my status changed from "forum user" to "member" plox