Young Writers Society

Over the past couple weeks, many users have noticed the site running slow on varied occasions. I initially attributed this to poor Bartemius as the problem began after I made him speak. Yet after making him more efficient, the problems still continued. Then I thought it was the database, which I subsequently optimized. That didn't fix it either.

Finally, I contacted my hosting provider, and they pointed me in a direction that seems to have fixed it. For an explanation, see the YWS Blog. But long story short, it appears to have been a brute force attack.

It's fixed? Oh thank you Nate! You rock!

Staring_at_ceiling wrote:It's fixed? Oh thank you Nate! You rock!

Yeah, but I've said this two times before already. But the third time is the charm. Right?

Hooray! Its fixed! Thanx Nate. What do you mean by, brute force? Thanx again!

~Pol~

A brute force attack is an automated hacker attack where they attempt to log into the FTP server by guessing the right combination.

Anyhow, it's still going on unfortunately as it's switching IP addresses. Right now I'm trying to restrict access to the FTP server by IP address.

This brute force thing is getting on my nerves...

-Kylan

Poor Bartemius, being blamed for stuff

I just...don't get it... what would be the purpose of hacking into YWS? Unless someone's made enemies or someone just thinks it's fun? But those reasons seem unlikely.

:grr: people

Some hackers seem to attack websites at random. I dunno, I guess it's more the challenge than the actual reward that does it for them.

Hackers annoy me. Isn't there a chemical we could add to water supplies that would take care off all hackers?

*Puts down glass of water* I'm not a hacker but how will the poisin only affect them? Anyway, I just don't get it either. Its a mega cool website but I don't see what you could get out of it...

~Pol~

Most likely, it's not someone specifically targeting YWS. Rather, it's probably an automated program that prowls the web for sites to hack. I know that most of the IP addresses I have blocked so far are also blocked on most internet sites.

Hopefully it'll end soon. I just finished restricting pretty much everything by IP address such that you have to be in my house to even see the login page for the server. But more than likely, I missed something.

Nate wrote: I just finished restricting pretty much everything by IP address such that you have to be in my house to even see the login page for the server.

The first time around, I misread that and thought you were saying that we'd have to be inside your house to log into YWS. I was about to say, "So, we'll all be over at your place at around five with sleeping bags and microwave meals so we can post our next chapters, all right?"

But, honestly, this kind of thing is ridiculous. It really makes my blood boil that people even set up automated bots to do that kind of thing. I don't really see the gain in it for anyone. The internet is a mean place sometimes.

Lynlyn wrote:

Nate wrote: I just finished restricting pretty much everything by IP address such that you have to be in my house to even see the login page for the server.

The first time around, I misread that and thought you were saying that we'd have to be inside your house to log into YWS. I was about to say, "So, we'll all be over at your place at around five with sleeping bags and microwave meals so we can post our next chapters, all right?"

But, honestly, this kind of thing is ridiculous. It really makes my blood boil that people even set up automated bots to do that kind of thing. I don't really see the gain in it for anyone. The internet is a mean place sometimes.

I'll bring the popcorn!

But seriously, why do these idiots spend their time writing programs to hack sites? (I'm beginning to wish Teige existed, so he and Dan could wipe the Internet....:story ramble:)

Well, I just banned another 30 IPs, but no idea if the problem will be fixed it or not.

The only real solution may be what I keep putting off... that is, upgrading from a virtual private server to a dedicated server. Hello $100 a month

And to think, three months ago, the cost was only $9 a month!

Just watch, soon something else will pop lose. Oh well, that's life. At least you're staying ontop of things.

Eep, $100 a month...


You might just have to do that either now, or eventually, as the site is just going to continue to grow. Eep.


Can I donate money? *squee*