Intrusion to private forums, what would you do?

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  • Toliman
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2000
    • 101

    Intrusion to private forums, what would you do?

    I had a while ago in my forums something that ain't funny at all, a user somehow managed to enter the private staff forums, took some of the posts and quoted them outside of the forums. It is not a new user, it is a long-time user in the forum that didn't agree with the new moderators in the forums and that was his way of showing people off his disagreement.

    The stuff he took out of the forums isn't anything compromising, we do not bash people or talk anything more than casual stuff on the private forums, but you know that with quoting the right text and telling other people "hey, look, they are talking in forums we have not access to", that bothers some other users.

    The first thing I though was, "I don't want to ban this user, he would just go of the forums and sometimes he really behaves and participates well", but knowing that someone entered your private forums and is know backstabbing you is something to be angry about, am I a coward by not banning him?

    You should be thinking right now how did he enter the private forums in the first place, and obviously it isn't a security flaw or anything like that, I trust security in vbulletin and what I suspect is that one of the current moderators gave him copy of the discussions or access to his account so he could read everything. That makes things worse... now I have a somehow traitor in our own team.
  • okrogius
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2001
    • 1149

    #2
    Double check your own permissions. Make sure they're set perfectly. Make sure you have no hacks which could interfere with these permisions.

    To double check, you can select the problematic user's password hash from the database. Then edit your own cookies (bbuserid and bbpassword) to reflect that user's details. You will now be logged in as he/she and be able to see if he can see the forums.

    If he can't, someone must be suplying him with data that's allowed in. First thing I would do is check the private message table for any of those quotations. IF that doesn't work, do extensive IP research . DO NOT jus tlook in the Ip in the user profile (that's the last IP a user has been under), check all IPs user has posted under with the IP tool in ACP. Finally, if you believe that someone in fact suppllied him with information, but can't find out who... I woudl personally do a major cut on my mod team, and repick new mods.

    Importantly, make it clear to your moderators that suppllying a user with ANYTHING found in private forums is a ground for an immidiate permanent ban and loss of modship.

    Comment

    • filburt1
      Senior Member
      • Feb 2002
      • 6606

      #3
      Make sure that the permissions are not inheriting and that you're running the latest version of vB. Also turn off HTML everywhere.

      Remember it's your forum; if you don't like what he did, you have every right to ban him.
      --filburt1, vBulletin.org/vBulletinTemplates.com moderator
      Web Design Forums.net: vB Board of the Month
      vBulletin Mail System (vBMS): webmail for your forum users

      Comment

      • poolking
        Senior Member
        • Aug 2002
        • 2061

        #4
        Just roast their chestnuts over an open fire.

        Comment

        • Valkyre
          Senior Member
          • Jun 2001
          • 619

          #5
          A temporary ban would suffice, if he does it again, make it permanent.
          Need a job done? Get in contact with me and we'll see what we can work out.

          Comment

          • Toliman
            Senior Member
            • Dec 2000
            • 101

            #6
            Thanks for all your comments. I'm pretty sure it's not a security problem, we have hacks in our forums but since I installed/wrote them myself I know they don't mess with private forums, and the permissions are all right.

            Instead it's a trust problem, I hate when something like this happens because the damage is non-reversible, the private forums were our better place for free talk and suggestions and now none of my moderators want to participate in the private forums, I don't know why but I can suppose, maybe in fear that what they say could be quoted in public later on.

            Comment

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