An update on Facebook
Summary:
A new server & new forum will be coming
Detail:
Hi all, I want to give everyone an update on what's happening and where things are probably headed. I tagged a bunch of the MCB mods but I probably missed a few of those on FB. My bad. Quick recap, some hacker brought down site, claims to have copied data, deleted everything, and wants $9,300 in ransom for Carter to get it back. That's a non-starter. Backups are old but at least lots of data will eventually get restored somehow. Carter doesn't do FB. For those who don't know all the details, mcarterbrown.com is no actual business but purely a hobby and is the sole property of its namesake... Carter Brown... So, you may ask, who the hell am I?
I know I don't post much anymore. I'm both a long time member and mod of MCB (lrrpie) and a friend of Carter's. I have over 25 years under my belt of web server and Internet system design and implementation. My company, SOS Consulting, is taking over the hosting of MCB.
Once we figured out what happened, Carter decided it was time to start fresh, something he had interest in already as upgrading from an older version of the forum software (vBulletin) had been problematic and thus never happened. So Sunday night I began building a new MCB server, hence the phoenix rising from the ashes. It will be the latest and greatest (get ready to be geeked out) version of Centos, MariaDB, PHP, and vBulletin. Security and data protection will be better. Honestly, Carter's security wasn't bad at all and the server was fairly locked down. However, whether it was a software exploit or some other intrusion we'll really never know. The adage in IT security is that attackers only need to be successful once and security systems need to be perfect all the time, and nothing is perfect.
In addition, full nightly server image-based backups will be an inherent part of the the "package" as it were. The previous hosting company wanted to charge an arm and leg for backup services. For MCB, being a hobby and not a business, Carter just didn't have the interest in shouldering even more of a monthly financial expense.
So, MCB will soon rise from the ashes caused by some ransoming *******. I'm sure that once the site is up and we all can recreate our accounts, there will be plenty of opportunity for input on how members would like to change or improve things. In the end, it's a benevolent dictatorship and Carter is our maximum leader. In that analogy I'm not sure who that makes me...
Anyway! I hope this clarifies where we are and where we hope to be going. Patience my fellow paintball brethren!!
Sincerely,
Matt aka Lrrpie
www.facebook.com
