Can forum software be responsible for spam?

[JimMM]

Hi,

My hosting company notified me that they are suspending my account because of spam. I'm running vBulletin 3.x and haven't updated it because activity is so low. The hosting company feels the problem lies in the fact the software is so old. I didn't even think vBulletin forum software could be responsible for spam being generated. I can't afford the $208 to upgrade to 5.x and don't want 5.x. Is there some way to just get the security updates to prevent the spam problem and get my hosting company to reinstate my account?

Is there some way to temporarily disable the existing forum software to make it impossible for spam to be generated? The hosting company says if this isn't fixed quickly, their domain will be blacklisted.

Please help!

Thanks,

Jim

[Zachery]

There are ways it can be.

Users could be using it to send pm,s which can send emails, which can cause spam.
spam could be being sent though contact us, or directly to the members of your board.
The quickest way for a short fix is to close the board (turn it off).

From there you can review your users, permissions, and see if anything is out of order.

[JimMM]

Thanks for the explanation. I also have a website with a contact us on it so I thought maybe that was the problem, not the forum.

I don't have a webmaster anymore so can you clue me in on how to shut down the forum? Step by step would be helpful.

Thanks! According to my hosting company I need to do something quick so I don't have a lot of time for self-study to get up to speed on this.