Website downtime

['The Gaffer']

Sorry about the website downtime. It is very frustrating to have to do it.

There is a recent worldwide bot attack on forums going on at the moment, not just this one.

I have put some defences in place and am monitoring.

The attack looks at your user name then tries to brute force the password to it.

It is very important that your password is secure, dont be afraid to use a * or a ~ in it.

Hopefully we can get back to normal soon.

[Quarrycars]

What a shame the Gaffer has to spend his valuable time with this vandalism, we owe Phil a big thanks for maintaining our favorite forum.
Cheerz, John T

[Richard]

Well done !

[peetee]

I agree, well done Phil, top job

[stupott901]

yes all the hard work is appreciated im lost when i cant login to get my BKCC fix

[Daley Down Under]

Great job Phil

PS: Marlboro Car is back up and running.  Just waiting for the rain to stop to get it home.  Contemplating Oulton Park trackday on Friday.

Adrian

[YellaBelly]

Totally agree, great job Phil

['The Gaffer']

Thanks guys and good luck with Marlboro Car Adrian.

This forum lark can be like a battlefield sometimes - There's always something to fight in cyberspace

NOTE: If you are not logged in, all user names will appear as HIDDEN to you. This is because before you are logged on you are seen as a guest by the forum. Bad robots out to do us some harm are also seen as guests, so in this case they will have no user names to brute force passwords onto.

You will see all user names once you have logged on

IMPORTANT: I cant stress this enough. Always make your passwords strong. It is in the interest of the forum that you do this.

Also. NEVER EVER use the same password and user name combination on different sites. Especially Banks, PayPal and forums like ours. You have been warned.

Just common sense really

[Casino]

Well done Gaffer,

but I was thinking of changing my user name to HIDDEN   lol.

['The Gaffer']

but I was thinking of changing my user name to HIDDEN   lol.

Already reserved

['Mendip Wurzel']

Well I'm glad were back Phil... thanks

[paintman]

Well done Phil, your doing a great job!!

[Westiebusa]

Thanks Phil   

[Denzle]

Nice to be back on again Gaffer.   I had a feeling I was missing ya.   

Thanks for all the hard worrying work you put into our No 1 club, Im sure you know we all appreciate it.

You are the best..     Denzle.   

[Furore Phil]

Also. NEVER EVER use the same password and user name combination on different sites. Especially Banks, PayPal and forums like ours. You have been warned.

Thats what these guys are after. Hack into a forum site and get acces to your email address. Around 70% of people use the same password for all accounts, so they now have access to your accounts. Never reuse an email address password.

One top tip I heard was to alter your password to "link" it to the subject of your account. i.e. as this is a car website, why not include a past car reg in your password ? or use the letters to make multiple words ?

['The Gaffer']

Luckily, from day one of the BKCC forum I disabled access to all members profiles from guests (Guests include nasty robots)

To this date no forum files including those containing passwords or email have been compromised by guests or members and registrations are closely monitored.

Recently I have even hidden user names on forum posts to guests so that user name / password pairings are not possible.

That along with auto blocking / releasing dynamic IP's on an hourly basis from problematic proxy service exit nodes again makes us as secure as we can be.

As Phil says - reg numbers are good, but just make sure a pic of your car with same reg is not on the forum for use by chancer spamming human passers by.

A password combination of letters (High and lower case) and symbols such as *~^<> all help to deter dictionary password crackers.

All forums are a target for spam or more evil intent but as long as we are all sensible in what information we give we should be safe. I.e Never post your address or landline phone number. As mentioned a while back, this forum is viewed all over the world by 100,000+ people, plus your info may end up on Google too.

Just remember, there are no guarantees of personal security anywhere on the web so just use common sense

Oh and Denzle, I do appreciate your kind words but I'm blushing now    

[Denzle]

Blush away Gaffer...You deserve it.   

[Grin-a-lot]

You can feel the guy love blossoming here, its a thing of beauty...

[Denzle]

You can feel the guy love blossoming here, its a thing of beauty...

Jealousy will get you no where.......        

[Grin-a-lot]

The first verse will suffice 

[Denzle]

The first verse will suffice 

What the hell have I started on this forum....... Im straight guys....You know, happily married to a woman.     Just think our Gaffer is the greatest.....                

[paintman]

Yes Denzle, you don't have to explain.....we understand..........