[Coco] forums restore

[Paul Fitch]

I remember back in 93-94 when I was running my RiBBS system.  Virus's and
hackers were a very minor problem for the MAC types, a moderate to serious
problem for the MS-DOS types, and absolutely NO issue at all for Coco/OS-9
systems.  Our systems were secure in a way that no MS-dos system ever could
be.

It was the WWW that killed Coco/OS-9 BBS's.  We just didn't have the
horsepower to keep up.

That’s changed today.  The Coco4 project could point the way.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com 
> [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On Behalf Of Aaron Wolfe
> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 7:42 PM
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [Coco] forums restore
> 
> I work in network security and see things like this quite 
> often (and much worse sometimes).  It really sucks that a 
> relatively tiny portion of the population can cause trouble 
> so effectively for so many others, but that's the double 
> edged sword of the internet.  What used to effect tens or 
> hundreds can now be amplified instantly to effect millions, 
> for good or bad.
> 
> The internet is not the (mostly) friendly place it was 10 or 
> even 5 years ago.  I don't think there exists a "set it and forget it"
> solution for running a web site or other internet facing service.
> It's literally a daily chore to monitor security alerts, 
> patch your software, update IDS definitions, review firewall 
> logs, etc, etc ,etc.
> 
> I'm by no means an expert, but sometimes I get to work with 
> people who are :)  I've seen enough to know that securing a 
> website, even one with little commercial or tactical value, 
> is a huge chore that requires considerable time on an ongoing 
> basis.  It's a pity, but running a hobbyist or personal 
> website is becoming more and more of a burden on the good 
> people who give of their time to provide them, and I'd expect 
> things to get worse before they get better (if they ever do). 
>  Companies like Google have the resources to fight and th, 
> but a few guys who just want to share information and have a 
> pleasant community really don't.
> 
> The old saying "when you can't beat em, join em" comes to 
> mind.  Yahoo groups is one service that offers much of the 
> functionality found on the coco3 site.  Certainly lacking in 
> charm and atmosphere, but less
> of a headache.   Just a thought.
> 
> -Aaron
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 5:55 PM, Roger 
> Taylor<operator at coco3.com> wrote:
> > At 03:15 PM 7/8/2009, you wrote:
> >>
> >> Yup, that's the one I saw.
> >> I wish slow deaths upon such spammers!
> >
> >
> > I can see who's in the forums and what they're doing and 
> their information.
> >  3 spammers were just deleted. 3 servers that were browsing 
> the forums 
> > wildly and attempting to post were just banned.  This 
> cleared up the 
> > activity log and took a load off the site.  One spammer's IP was 
> > changing (the last 2 numbers) so I just blocked their IP as such 
> > #.#.*.* and they're gone right now.
> >
> > The bad part.. when the 7/5 backup is restored, I'll have 
> to do this 
> > again, as I'm working with a site image originally from 2008 with a 
> > handful of new posts added yesterday and today.
> >
> > I also blocked all *.ru e-mail addresses.  Soon to follow (sorry, 
> > guys) will probably be gmail, and maybe yahoo.  I don't use 
> anybody's 
> > e-mail address for anything so there's no need for anybody to hide 
> > them.  They don't appear in any posts, either.
> >
> > I think a more defensive action in the sign-up process will 
> help a Lot.
> >  However, this can discourage some new visitors from 
> joining the gang.
> >
> > We always snap back after mishaps like this so I expect 
> things to be 
> > back to normal within a week or two, but I'll have to spend 
> more time 
> > blocking known spammer IPs.  The huge list I added that 
> kept the site 
> > fairly clean for a long time is no longer there, so I'll do 
> that again 
> > and keep a better eye on things.  Thankfully, Robert Gault has 
> > notified me when somebody posted spam and it was usually a 
> real person who signed up and posed as a CoCo user.
> >
> > Again, this is just typical stuff we have to deal with 
> occasionally, 
> > but it's painful for the admin to waste days of time at the 
> keyboard 
> > trying to repair what a trasher did.  I still don't know 
> how the PHP 
> > and MySQL folks just can't get it right after all these 
> years.  With 
> > each new upgrade, we have new vunerabilities, and since 
> they're posted 
> > on the web for all to see, the spammers go right for it.
> >
> > Microsoft should also be ashamed at robbing the entire planet and 
> > causing more grief than any company has ever even come 
> close to.  Now 
> > they're pushing Windows 7 at the worst economical times since the 
> > Great Depression, and offering 50% off if you preorder.  No 
> thank ya.  
> > Face lifts just don't qualify for an upgrade these days.  
> That's why I 
> > gave up on Money years ago when I saw no difference between 
> upgrades, 
> > just more HTTP ads and links in the software's "home page" 
> which they 
> > seem to push into every new program now.  I did try out 
> their newest 
> > Money title (trial) but it deleted my paid copy of Money 
> 2006 and now 
> > I can't recover it, so they stole my software and I have no 
> way to access my money files now.
> >
> > Folks, it's just a huge mess we have and nobody is immune to being 
> > screwed at any given time.  You'll wake up tomorrow and your hard 
> > drive will just quit working or your web site will be on 
> the blitz by a bunch of commies.
> >  Your $1,000 laptop will become a $5 rummage sale item, 
> with nobody at 
> > fault and nobody to "pay you back".  It's getting worse.  
> And Google 
> > pretty much owns the web now.  There's nothing on the 
> planet that can 
> > stop them now, I'm afraid.  Get used to it.  If you deal 
> with Google, 
> > nothing is private about your life, and they know what you're doing 
> > and what you like.  Because of this, they know where you're 
> going and 
> > what you'll be doing.  Since they own MySpace, and the 
> entire planet 
> > is advertising their life and every thought and more, we're 
> all screwed and our friends as well.
> >
> > Just some thoughts.
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Roger Taylor
> >
> > http://www.wordofthedayonline.com
> >
> >
> > --
> > Coco mailing list
> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >
> 
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