Pwn3d.

[hikarateboy]

As I am sure most of you are aware, the Hamer Fan Club server was down over the weekend. What you may not be aware of is that beginning last Thursday we were directly targeted by hacker(s) who were successful to the point that all the data on the server was lost. Luckily, all but the last 7-10 days worth of files and data were recoverable from our off-server backup.

I apologize for any inconvenience, but unfortunately there was little we could do. This attack required a complete rebuild of the server and configuration, including additional measures to ensure that this won’t happen again. In the event that it does, it will be a lot more work for them and we stand a far greater likelihood of catching and identifying them with some of the new safeguards in place.

I was warned last week that the original efforts were a prelude to a full-on attack. This attack was unlike 99.9% of normal hacker activity where the intruders commandeer a super high bandwidth machine and use it for as long as they can without the owner’s knowledge so can traffic in whatever sleaze they choose. The intent here was to take down the HFC site/server.

This brings up a multitude of questions the first of which I am sure is “Who was it?” Unfortunately, since the server was wiped out, many of the tools (logs, files, etc) we could have used to answer that question went along with it.

That being said, I sincerely hope that those critical of the HFC would never stoop to something like this. I for one can’t understand the enjoyment/benefit in causing other people pain by destroying things that many have worked so hard on. Not just myself, but people like Andrew Large, Monacoasis, Steve Matthes, Tom Bollum and Kizanski, as well as the rest of you who have contributed and are active on the site.

Whoever was behind this was trying to wipe out the HFC, but what they don’t understand is that the HFC is not simply “A Server.” It is our collective membership, and that is something their efforts will never be able to eliminate.

This act only further strengthens my resolve and I have never been more determined to move forward to make the HFC the best it can be for everyone.

This will happen. With your help and continued participation, we can show them that they cannot win.

[KeyOfZ]

Thanks for gettin her back up and running Cap'n

Whoever is screwing around with this site...knock it off!....I seriously went into withdrawls over this outage.

I have done server restores before duder, they can suck a bit.

Thanks again!

[Hamer95USA]

Hey Hikarateboy,

Great job on restoring the website. I knew that the website was going to get attacked when the hackers started messing up the stored pictures. There were quite a few musician's messageboards being attacked and hacked in the last few months, ours included. We're not the only ones and it was pretty malicious. Hopefully, it won't happen again. Why attack a website that talks about Hamer USA guitars? What is the benefit of that?

Guitar George

[BCR Greg]

They will pay.

[tafkathundernotes]

Thanks for all the hard work Ted.

Now will somebody please tell me what the hell "PWN3D" means? I keep seeing it, but I'm clueless as to its meaning or significance.

[Imiss85]

Thanks Ted for getting this thing back going again. Sucks you have to deal with crap from idiots like this. Why people with minds like that can't do anyting positive in life is beyond me.

[Michael_]

Pwn3d is l33t (elite) speak for OWNED as in, wow, they hacked our server, we got OWNED. But now all is well, thanks to the efforts of the great folks who run this place.

[Jeroen]

Great work Ted!!!, If you can trace the ones who did it, we can send some Apaches!! LOL

Thanks,

Jeroen

[Guest galejt]

They will pay.

Does this mean you are home successfully?

What? No pics yet?

[Turdus]

Ted -- Thanks for your efforts. As always, you are doing a great job.

[tgoss]

Thanks for all your hard work Ted & co.!

As for the people who did this, may they rot in hell.

[elduave]

Thanks for all the work & time Ted.

[bruce919]

You are doing a great job. You put up with a lot of BS.

Billy Wong had to invloved somehow. LOL

[Guest Buck Dharma]

Great job Ted! I know whats it's like and it is a pain in the ass. If you get any leads who did it let me know and I will unleash my Linux Users group on them. They will be extremely sorry.

[marcnorth]

Just when I reached 100 posts I get to start over again.

This one gets me back to 100.

[ZR]

Are the member webpages completely wiped out too? I can't get mine to load. Can they be restored or do we have to redo them all over again?

Thanks for your hard work!!

[hardheartedbill]

a big FU to the hackers! I've finally got some interest in my SP for sale and my pic folder is wiped out, dammit! thanks Ted and all for your great job getting us back up

[jerseydrew]

I was going through withdrawals

[cmatthes]

Apparently, Ted is working on getting the other functions back online ASAP (main page, the content pages, etc.). The Message Board was probably the most significant piece to bring back first.

Glad to see everyone again!

[Lockbody]

Thanks for the hard work and dedication, Ted.

[MCChris]

Hackers: folks (or should I say fucks) who need to find some friends, learn to interact with people in the real world, stop eating themselves into morbid obesity and/or get laid.

Thanks, Ted. Like a phone call at 6 AM on a Saturday morning, dealing with this is about the last thing you need in your life, I'm sure.

[BTMN]

Thanks to all involved getting this back up.

[Monacosis]

Thanks for all your time and hard work Ted! It is appreciated.

mike

[bobbymack]

Hackers: folks (or should I say fucks) who need to find some friends, learn to interact with people in the real world, stop eating themselves into morbid obesity and/or get laid.

Thanks, Ted. Like a phone call at 6 AM on a Saturday morning, dealing with this is about the last thing you need in your life, I'm sure.

+1.

WTF with people getting off on trashing a harmless site? Is there data here they can use for something, or are they just being asswipes for the sake of being asswipes?

Thanks as always for all the work Ted.

[hardheartedbill]

Hackers: folks (or should I say fucks) who need to find some friends, learn to interact with people in the real world, stop eating themselves into morbid obesity and/or get laid.

Thanks, Ted. Like a phone call at 6 AM on a Saturday morning, dealing with this is about the last thing you need in your life, I'm sure.

WORD!