Bot Attack ....

Rob DiStefano · May 17, 2026, 05:05:43 PM

Today the Trad Gang forum was hit with a massive foreign bot attack that crippled our database and stopped access to all boards. Our server manager instituted a Cloudflare front end to check that anyone logging in is human and not machine. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Big thanx to Stickbender for the head's up alert so that we could get the system back up as fast as possible.

McDave · May 17, 2026, 09:41:36 PM

Rob or anybody have any idea what the motivation is for these bot attacks? Ransom, a form of terrorism, political, what?

Rob DiStefano · May 18, 2026, 06:14:29 AM

Quote from: McDave on May 17, 2026, 09:41:36 PMRob or anybody have any idea what the motivation is for these bot attacks? Ransom, a form of terrorism, political, what?

Probably all of the above. It's the kinda world we live in these insane dayze.

The disheartening part is that these perpetrators are pretty much obfuscated and impossible to track down, thus we currently can't apply retribution for their evilness.

STICKBENDER98 · May 18, 2026, 10:59:34 AM

Glad to help out Rob, I just hope no damage was done Sad that there are people out there with nothing better to do than to try to scam & steal.

Jason

Rob DiStefano · May 18, 2026, 11:13:51 AM

Thanx again, Jason!

At the least, the bot attack took down the forum and there was no direct access to any part of the forum or our server as a means of hacking code or stealing data, all of which is encrypted anyway. Just malicious behavior.

Archie · May 18, 2026, 03:17:00 PM

Several years ago, the organization I worked for was crippled by ransomware. A school district with over 4,000 employees and about 30,000 students. All technology was affected (computers, student iPads, phones, etc.) and it was several months before we were back to normal. We worked for quite a while with no computers, it was nuts. Now, I'm upper management for a company in a different state, typically a first-responder for hacks and scams... and we get hit constantly. We've fought off tens of thousands of $$ (hundreds of thousands?) in scam attempts and fraudulent checks and attempts by bad guys who would intercept money transfers. For those who are not prepared and protected for tech and fraud, it's like leaving your car unlocked in a crime city with all your valuables inside. I'm often unsure of what their end game is, but I know that they are successful enough, often enough, to make it worth their while. I know of a medium sized business here in our town that was forced to pay a lot of money after they were taken over by ransomware.

Kelly · May 31, 2026, 02:34:56 PM

Just curious how long we will need to do the Human authentication to get into this site?

Rob DiStefano · May 31, 2026, 03:30:42 PM

Quote from: Kelly on May 31, 2026, 02:34:56 PMJust curious how long we will need to do the Human authentication to get into this site?

Depends. Soon, I expect and hope.

Think of the alternative to all users if the bots get their way, and that's not all ....

Kelly · May 31, 2026, 05:48:15 PM

Thanks Rob!

Rob DiStefano · May 31, 2026, 06:00:49 PM

Another forum I built recently also had a bot attack that immediately took it down. Just another cyber terrorist attack. Annoying to say the least. Also had to put a Cloudflare humanity check on that site as well. So far so good, but those devils are always finding ways to be criminally annoying and they'll overcome Cloudflare probably sooner than later.

Pappy 1 · June 01, 2026, 07:56:31 AM

Not a problem, it only takes a minute and if it keeps thing safe I am all for it.
Pappy

MYSTIKBOW · June 01, 2026, 08:31:27 AM

It's happening all over and much more frequently as well. The same thing happened just recently to a local site that I'm on here in NY and it crippled the sight for a few days. Technology is a double edged sword.

McDave · June 01, 2026, 09:41:04 AM

The check the box for human feature only takes seconds and has not been a problem for me so far. If it helps, keep using it.

Rob DiStefano · June 01, 2026, 10:12:36 AM

Quote from: McDave on June 01, 2026, 09:41:04 AMThe check the box for human feature only takes seconds and has not been a problem for me so far. If it helps, keep using it.

It goes beyond just helping - it's mandatory right now or the site would be toast.

Otto · June 01, 2026, 06:29:14 PM

LOL at a computer checking to see if my cell phone is a human.

Kirkll · June 02, 2026, 10:06:59 PM

Here is a trick i've found if you are typing a post and loose it due to the security check. when you hit the post button and the security screen comes up, wait until it determines you are human, the hit the back arrow in your browser twice. it will bring your post back again...