[Chris]

Just to let you know that the forum was hacked earlier (around 18:25), which was why your may have seen errors on the screen. The hack manipulated (wrecked) the configuration files with an attempt to redirect you to a malicious piece of Javascript which your antivirus software may or may not have alerted you to.

No usernames, passwords, email addresses or other information has been accessed it was simply an annoyance.

The forum files have been restored from backups, things should be working fine now.

[TIAL]

Oh no!

[foot-loose]

how does that happen?

Plus, it buggered with my browser - can I sue?

[Console]

You're using IE, your browser was already buggered.

[foot-loose]

Meh - it does the job for me.

All I want to do is look at a few forums, and a few other 'select' websites - I don't need the fanciest willy waver of a browser out there.

[SAV1OUR]

But it is a fancy willy waver, at the advice of a few people on here I recently tried Mozilla, and in comparison with IE it made all the text look squiggly. No expert am I, I just know what i like. Console is correct, it slapped IE about pretty badly, Java's always been dodgy.

[foot-loose]

Like yoda you talk.

Are you saying that Firefox is the future? I think Console uses something much more willy wavery than that - Opera, maybe - or some sorta linux based thingymajiggy that I've never heard of. In fact, Console is probably the actual internet.

[SAV1OUR]

Like yoda you talk.

Console be the one with the light sabre for a name.

[TIAL]

I'd say that IE is fine to use if you don't want to geek around, otherwise it's completley rubbish.

[foot-loose]

Console be the one with the light sabre for a name.

Are you drunk?

[SAV1OUR]

I'd say that IE is fine to use if you don't want to geek around, otherwise it's completley rubbish.

Thats it right there, what he said.

Console be the one with the light sabre for a name.

Are you drunk?

Noo, that was the last couple of nights.

[Chris]

Just a quick update, the method they used to gain access has been blocked and the remaining files that had been altered have been restored.

[foot-loose]

Can this java thingy have done my pc any damage? I got a thing saying i had a new java program to install, but that might have been earlier, before hack-gate.

[S4B]

I got the same Java message Foots, guess it's just update time.

[Chris]

I'm not sure what the redirect did (it didn't work on firefox), however any virus checker should have blocked anything nasty.

If you're concerned, you can perform a free online virus check (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/) or download a free virus checker (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/downloads-p ... /0?prd=aff)

[S4B]

What I don't understand is why these idiots do this kind of thing! Is it like graffiti, no real reason but just because they can? What do they get out of it?

[foot-loose]

ill run AVG.

[nade]

Glad to see the forums back up and running!

Foots, i would recommend Avast over AVG, it's also a good freebie. My brother had, erm, how will I say it, popup issues before christmas with his PC and he asked me to look at it. He did have AVG and it found lots of different viruses, spyware and other bits and bobs. AVG was able to remove some of the viruses, but couldn't get them all. Avast finished them off and cleared the PC for me.

Not that i'm knocking AVG, used to use it myself, just that i've seen Avast remove stuff it couldn't.

I've not been able to post much since starting my new job. Internet access goes through countless proxies/firewalls and is so damn slow and restrictied

Edit: Oh and i'd also recommend to the forum users download and use Spybot to help find and remove any spyware if they are worried about it. And i'd also recommend running Hijackthis from time to time. When you run Hijackthis, select the option to "Do a system scan and save a logfile", once this runs it opens a log in notepad. Copy all the text and paste it into the text box on the website www.hijackthis.de and click the Analyze button. It will recommend any little nastys that it will have found for you to remove.

[foot-loose]

Cheers Nade - i've used that spybot thing, it does the job.

Also, I used to have one called AdAware - it seems to have dissappeared from me computer though.

[TIAL]

What I don't understand is why these idiots do this kind of thing! Is it like graffiti

Graffiti can be brilliant - as long as it's not just 'tagging' like what 90% of graffiti is.
I'd much rather have a cleverly spray-painted wall than a boring grey one.

[MK Chris]

Java's always been dodgy.

Chris said javascript, which is substantially different from java.

Graffiti can be brilliant

...as long as it's done by Banksy.

[Ballbag]

The whole Banksy "fad" annoys me. So you've got a black picture of a girl there with a disproportioned lamb (I think) behind her, but because it's by Banksy... it's brilliant.

I could mock that up in Microsoft Paint, but I'm not Banksy so it wouldn't be good.

[MK Chris]

I disagree, I think the artwork is brilliant, not purely because it's Banksy (despite my previous comment that "it's good if it's Banksy"; that was to indicate that I like Banksy-style art and I don't really know of anyone else who does similar stuff.)

If you could do something of that quality in Microsoft Paint, I'd be extremely surprised.

[Ballbag]

Google "silhouette".... go to images..... copy and paste into powerpoint... print out on A1 paper.... cut out...... blu-tack to a wall.... spray black in the middle.... remove and discard paper.

Bingo...... graffiti art that is "brilliant".

[TIAL]

See, this brings up the question as to whether art has to be difficult to produce in order to be 'brilliant'. I don't necessarily think it does matter about the technique, as long as the message is there.

I've always liked this one when walking through Shoreditch