28 replies to this topic

[Nick Springer]

As you can see, obviously, CartoTalk is back. We had a hacker who exploited a hole in the software to gain access to the database. To close this hole we had to upgrade to the latest major version of the software which I had not undertaken because it would have meant losing all the cutomizations I have made.

The board has been upgraded now and we only lost a few posts from the morning of the attack, Sept. 12th. I have been working to restore the modifications to the board in a way that will not prevent us from upgrading in the future, but since it is taking a while I though I would bring us back online and add these modifications back in time. If there are any hard core PHP coders out there that are interested in helping out, drop me a line.

Here is the list of what is missing:
- Member Google Map
- Gallery (we lost some data here, and it has some security risks still so it may not return)
- Country Flags on the home page and for each user (data is still stored but the display is missing)
- NACIS logo display in postings (again the data still exists, just can't show the logo yet)
- Weekly Digest Email

Also be aware there is a new URL for the RSS feed now (http://www.cartotalk....php?act=rssout). So if you use RSS to monitor new posts, update your links.

Thanks for the support and encouragement over the past few days.

[Dennis McClendon]

I was caught by surprise at how much I missed our little community. Thanks for all your hard work, Nick!

[Hans van der Maarel]

3 cheers for Nick and the hard work he's put into keeping Cartotalk running.

Incidentally, the buttons to set different text styles when replying seem to be missing too, although they still work if you click on the text links.

[travelbug]

Tkx for the hard work, Nick

[Hans van der Maarel]

Just noticed that the resources section is also missing...

[GISRox]

Good job Nick. I've been using the latest Invisionpowerboard, for a forum I manage, and have been pretty happy with the features and performance. The biggest nuisance is having to manually approve all new users. However, it's really helped cut down on the number of hackers and spammers.

Cheers and thanks for a great site.

[Nick Springer]

Just noticed that the resources section is also missing...

Resources is there in the top menu, it's just called "Links" for now

Good job Nick. I've been using the latest Invisionpowerboard, for a forum I manage, and have been pretty happy with the features and performance. The biggest nuisance is having to manually approve all new users. However, it's really helped cut down on the number of hackers and spammers.

Cheers and thanks for a great site.

I have had it set to user email validation for a while and thta seems to keep most of the spammers out as they never followthrough with the registration email. You can set it to dump any pending registrations after a few days.

[Nick Springer]

Incidentally, the buttons to set different text styles when replying seem to be missing too, although they still work if you click on the text links.

Fixed

[ELeFevre]

Thanks, Nick, for keeping C-talk going! I missed it while it was gone.

[Mike H]

Nick - A huge Thanks for all your effort restoring the site. Rest assured you'll NEVER have to pay for your own beverages at NACIS.

m.

[Geographic Techniques]

Thank you Nick!

[toddao]

Thanks Nick for the NEW, more robust CartoTalk.

BTW, I can't wait for the day when such public hackings <whether white hat or not> are punishable by hefty fine. It is one thing to bring attention to vulnerability, but totaly another to take down a whole community to do so.

[frax]

great and thanks!



Am I stupid, or is the option to sort things old>new missing/lost?

toddao - it is punishable, but the problem is locating and identifing the hacker...

[Nick Springer]

Am I stupid, or is the option to sort things old>new missing/lost?

Nope not stupid, observant actually Yes, that is gone as well for now.

[benbakelaar]

Well you can always use outline mode, that shows first -> last post. But as for standard vs. linear+, they both look the same to me... most recent -> oldest.