Security issue - Please Read!

[Gary]

I received a message from a member today who stated that there are several posts in his name that did not come from him indicating that his account may have been hijacked.

A security flaw in vBulletin was recently discovered where accounts that had the same password as their username were being hijacked. A security fix was released and I immediately updated the site.

Passwords can no longer be the same as your username. I took the steps today to reset the passwords for 198 members.

It is a good practice to change your password every so often.

Now the good news - the thread "Bad News- Worst News" from baronbors apparently was a fabrication. Tom contacted me today and said his house and cars are fine. I will be checking the logs to try and see where those posts came from....

[opel kid]

Originally Posted by Gary I received a message from a member today who stated that there are several posts in his name that did not come from him indicating that his account may have been hijacked. A security flaw in vBulletin was recently discovered where accounts that had the same password as their username were being hijacked. A security fix was released and I immediately updated the site. Passwords can no longer be the same as your username. I took the steps today to reset the passwords for 198 members. It is a good practice to change your password every so often. Now the good news - the thread "Bad News- Worst News" from baronbors apparently was a fabrication. Tom contacted me today and said his house and cars are fine. I will be checking the logs to try and see where those posts came from....

what kind of creep would hack into someones account and fake all of that stuff???
don't u hate hackers!

[P.J. Romano]

All of that was fake? Why would anybody do that? How come that nobody from the local club mentioned in the post did not react?
This makes me sick.

[wrangler]

Well, at least on the upside, I assume that means that Tom, his family and his home are O.K.?

[Dennis Texas]

thanks for the update

[Killer Texas GT]

Originally Posted by P.J. Romano All of that was fake? Why would anybody do that? How come that nobody from the local club mentioned in the post did not react? This makes me sick.

No one from the Texas Opel Club was mentioned in the "FAKE" post. It so happens Tom is a member of a local Houston area car club also from what I understand. I think that given the situation and the aftermath of "IKE" devastating so many people's lives, that who ever fabricated this story did so in very poor judgement.
I have not heard from any of our members from the Houston area and Pray that like the true revelation of Tom's story that they all are safe and have had they homes and livelihoods spared by "IKE".
However the "story" of everyone pitching in to help some in dire need did make me feel good, and left an impression of how we should help our neighbors should the need arise.
On the other hand I am glad that Tom and his family are fine.

[jlthunder]

Originally Posted by Killer Texas GT However the "story" of everyone pitching in to help some in dire need did make me feel good, and left an impression of how we should help our neighbors should the need arise. On the other hand I am glad that Tom and his family are fine.

I'm glad everyone is OK, but whoever created the "fake" thread should crawl back under whatever they came out of.

[newman27]

Wow - that is unbelievable! When I read the post about the local car club getting the Opel back into that kind of shape so fast, I thought to myself - "these guys must really know cars to get an Opel back into that kind of shape so quickly after being submerged under sea water." But, I just assumed that they were really that good! I never would have guessed that such a thing would have been a fabrication! Glad Tom and his family are OK!

Matt

[jeff denton]

That is disgusting. I hope the perpetrator is discovered and prosecuted.

[Aardvaark]

Whoever perpetuated a hoax like this is really sick imo. I see no humor at all in it.
It is really good to hear that Tom and his family are okay.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Hang'm high

[opelgt722002]

Seems like something his Jr. High students might have done.

[crliwa]

That person that started the hoax definately has a strange sense of humor.. they definately seemed to know a lot about Tom.. Hey, at least they didn't use the timeshare I offered.. but then if they had we would have a name as they would have had to show an ID.
And the most important thing is that Tom , his family and home/possesions are ok.

[Gumby]

Originally Posted by jeff denton That is disgusting. I hope the perpetrator is discovered and prosecuted.

Prosecuted for what?

Bad humor is one thing, criminal actions are another. It's not like this person tried to defraud everyone into donating money.

I am sure the fellow who did it was careless and left a trail leading back to them. Their IP address could be used to determine the general location (city and possibly zip) via the internet and if you know the right people even used to determine the house/location the person logged in from. Once located it is extremely easy to dig up personal information about them such as name and phone numbers so it can be posted online as a warning to others. I've seen it done before and to levels of aggression much farther than this although I know this community is above petty retaliation so why don't we just leave it alone and be happy the security issue was found and fixed?

On a side note, anyone who uses the same user name and password is simply asking for trouble.

[P.J. Romano]

I guess all of us who initially believed in the story are SUCKERS! Whoever replaced carpets, headliner, seat skins, removed the dash, flushed the tank, etc etc, knows that it takes days if not weeks for all that. But we still believed that it was done in a day or so! I even forwarded "heart warming story" to some friends and family. I can only laugh now.

[jlthunder]

Originally Posted by P.J. Romano I guess all of us who initially believed in the story are SUCKERS!

I'm not getting into a pi**ing match, but I take offense to this. I usually scan the thread. When I see someone in trouble, I react. I don't feel I was a sucker. Are the police, ambulance and fire companies suckers when they respond to a false alarm? NO, so I feel they are in the same boat as us, wasted time when we could be assisting someone else.

I don't normally preach, but this one hits me hard. I'll get down off my soapbox now.

[P.J. Romano]

Originally Posted by jlthunder I'm not getting into a pi**ing match, but I take offense to this. I usually scan the thread. When I see someone in trouble, I react. I don't feel I was a sucker. Are the police, ambulance and fire companies suckers when they respond to a false alarm? NO, so I feel they are in the same boat as us, wasted time when we could be assisting someone else. I don't normally preach, but this one hits me hard. I'll get down off my soapbox now.

If you read the thread carefully, you will notice that I was one of the first to offer assistance.

[jlthunder]

No problem. I just wasn't too thrilled about us being labled "suckers". We all want to help people in need and the person who created this "lie" has my emotions at edge.

[opelgt722002]

Hopefully Gary will be able to shed some light on the "who done it".

[Tru-Craft]

With all the negative news lately, storms, high gas prices, lost jobs, bad economy.................
I was really proud of the Opel folks in Texas!
Good news for a change.
To bad it was a hoax!

On the plus side, If someone truly needed help from the Opel community, the people from this site would be there.
Good to know.
Lyle

[yellaopelgt]

Originally Posted by jlthunder No problem. I just wasn't too thrilled about us being labled "suckers". We all want to help people in need and the person who created this "lie" has my emotions at edge.

Dont let it get to you....there are people out there that just arent"quite right".
It DOES however prove one thing to me.....that our family here on-line really does mean somthing. Look at all the people that stepped up to the plate to help out a fellow opeler!!!!! This doesnt happen with any other group of folks that I've ever met. Goes to show ya...us Opelers really are "GOLD"!!!!
Joe

[Girly_with_style]

i do agree we are golden and glad to hear things are being taken care of and that every one is all right and no one is harmed

[opel kid]

well i'm just glad that Gary acted so quickly to the security issue(better it happen now then later on) and maybe we can learn from our mistakes and now we know to think again if something looks fishy!

[Hiro]

I'm very glad Tom's familly & house/cars are OK,
But I will never understand the reason why someone would spend so much time & efforts hacking our forum with this fabricated story.
Should be some kind of mental illness,
For sure this hacker has lots of time to waste!
Hiro