Skins explains (Saturday afternoon's excuses)

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/503.php

Oh my.

LATEST NEWS ON THE HACK -- UPDATED SATURDAY 11/12/2016 3:00PM ET

Many of you have been wondering why it is taking so long to get Democratic Underground back online after we were hacked. Here is what's going on. (Some of this is redundant with public statements we have made before, some is updated, and some is new.)

The site was first attacked around 4:30PM ET on Tuesday afternoon. This was not a "typical" hack like a DDoS or an attempt to gain control of our web server. Instead, the hacker had found a vulnerability in our forum software.

The hacker exploited that vulnerability in what appeared to be a politically-motivated act of vandalism: A large number of posts were removed and replaced with the words "God Emperor" (a reference to Donald Trump), and a ridiculously over-the-top pro-Trump video was served automatically to all of our visitors. If you're curious you can watch the video on YouTube (WARNING: HATE CONTENT).

The DU Administrators were online at the time when the attack occurred, so we immediately shut down the site in order to block out the hacker and limit their ability to disrupt.

As you know Tuesday was election day, our most important day of the year, so our biggest concern at the time was getting the site back online quickly so our members would have access that evening. We collected some preliminary evidence indicating how the hacker had managed to disrupt the site, and based on that evidence we made what we believed were the necessary changes in order to remove the vandalism, secure the site, and bring it back online. (During that time we put up an admin-only login box to block out the hacker. If you entered your username and password into that box, you did not expose your information to the hacker.)

After a few hours we brought the site back up, but it quickly became apparent that we had not sufficiently scrubbed the site and some malicious code placed by the hacker got executed again. So we took the site offline a second time. Since we had already failed once to secure the site, we agreed it would be irresponsible to bring the site back online again until we were confident that we knew exactly what the hacker had done, and we believed the site was secure. At that point we knew we were not going to be back online for election night, and we suspected it might take days.

It took most of the day Wednesday to figure out exactly how the hacker had managed to disrupt the site, and what user information may have been vulnerable.

It is likely that the hacker had access to certain member information on an account-by-account basis: Usernames, email addresses, and IP addresses. There is no evidence that the hacker had access to our database or the full table of user information.

We believe that the hacker was not able to see your passwords -- not even in encrypted format. But even if the hacker was not able to see your passwords, they were able to over-write passwords for some accounts. Put another way: The hacker doesn't know what your password was, but the hacker might have changed it to something that they do know now. Therefore we will require all members to change their passwords when the site comes back online.

We can say for certain that donor data, such as credit card numbers or addresses, were not compromised because that information is handled by PayPal and never passes through to our servers.

As most of you know, we have three employees at Democratic Underground, and only one of us (Elad) is a real programmer who can do the complicated back-end coding to deal with the hack. If our goal was to simply plug the specific vulnerability exposed in the hack, the site would likely be back online by now. But because we know that there is a sufficiently motivated and skilled individual somewhere out there who has already vandalized our website, we are doing a much more comprehensive security review to identify similar vulnerabilities to the one exposed in the hack.

We are moving forward on two tracks: Elad is doing the daily grunt-work of editing code, and we have been working with our web host to implement a higher level of security on their end. So the relevant factors here are the number of hours that Elad can spend each day slinging code, and how quickly our web host can implement the security upgrades on their end. Once we do get the site back up, there will be a brief "training period" to teach the new security software what is legitimate traffic and what is not.

At this point we are hopeful that we can do a limited opening of the website on Monday or Tuesday. During this limited opening only Star Members will be able to login and post. We are taking this precaution because we want to make sure that we are only receiving legitimate traffic during the security software "training period." This limited opening period should only last two or three days.

We know that this has been a long and frustrating process, and the timing could not have possibly been worse. We can assure you that we want to get the site back up as much as you do.

We will continue to post messages from our members below this update. The response to our "Question of the Day" has been overwhelming, so the "Question of the Day" is somewhat unexpectedly turning into a multi-day event. (Don't worry: Elad is not involved with reading or posting your emails -- he is much too busy working on code.)

Thank you again for your patience and understanding. And thank you for the tremendous outpouring of encouragement we have received from so many of you. We will update you again as soon as we have new information.

-- The DU Administrators

[Delmar]

Something about this whole mess sounds familiar.

President Barack Obama knew there would be "glitches" and said ahead of time there would be problems in the October 1 rollout of a key part of his health care initiative, but "there is no question that we did not anticipate the scale of problems with the website," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Wednesday. Separately, Carney said the Department of Health and Human Services will begin conducting daily briefings on Thursday about progress toward fixing problems with the Healthcare.gov website.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/23/politics/obamacare-sebelius-interview/index.html

[USA4ME]

Now we know who Hillary hired to set up and secure her home server.

.

[Patriot Guard Rider]

Blah, blah, blah.

In other words, "We took down our own website so the world couldn't see us crying and screaming about the election results. We decided to take days to let our user blow off steam so when we come back online, we'll appear somewhat normal to the outside world".

[Patriot Guard Rider]

During this limited opening only Star Members will be able to login and post.

Gee, you think $kimmer isn't looking to supplement Hillary dollars (now gone) to maintain his lifestyle? Those idiots dumb enough to donate to get their online jones are going to be scammed.

[Carl]

I am thinking more and more this is a mole trap.

[zeitgeist]

I am thinking more and more this is a mole trap.

I would agree with both you and PGR' post above.  I doubt exlax has been sitting there busily tapping out " any station, any station..."    I  suspect Ms. Skinner said "OMG David, you have to get a real job, fast!" 

Of course she could always ask for one of Hilderbeasts servers as part of her severance package.

Facebook DU provides a treasure trove of DUlicious user information.   

[Tess Anderson]

Yes, DUmp FB is great for the gossip factor alone:

Jenny Sampson Bravenak was outed as a raging antisemite. All those who boostered her are similarly tarnished as is DU who allowed and tacitly endorsed the Jew hate against Bernie. I hope Skinner thinks hard about letting these deplorables back to continue their hate fest and pogroms against those who supported Bernie

Like · Reply · 3 · Yesterday at 1:35pm
Carl P Christensen
Carl P Christensen Jenny that Daily Kos posting was disgusting but she got off scott free on DU..to this day day...Willy Pitt and Steve Lesser are idolized on that joint...after bashing Hill.....

Like · Reply · Yesterday at 1:52pm
Greg Lamb
Greg Lamb Jenny Sampson I used to wonder why Skinner allowed trolls like that to pollute his site while at the same time wringing his hands in long tedious posts about changing the "tone" , restoring civility...blah blah. Going on and on about all this stuff and acting like everyone let him down, when in reality he was the one in a position to DO something about it. Then, after the great Troll Amnesty, when he let all the worst offenders out to act as his Hillbot shock troops, it finally dawned on me: He's totally full of shit. He lets them behave that way because that's what he wants the site to be. He's one of them. An asshole

 

[Ralph Wiggum]

I am thinking more and more this is a mole trap.

Bingo! We have a winner!

[Ptarmigan]

Jenny Sampson Bravenak was outed as a raging antisemite. All those who boostered her are similarly tarnished as is DU who allowed and tacitly endorsed the Jew hate against Bernie. I hope Skinner thinks hard about letting these deplorables back to continue their hate fest and pogroms against those who supported Bernie

Like · Reply · 3 · Yesterday at 1:35pm
Carl P Christensen
Carl P Christensen Jenny that Daily Kos posting was disgusting but she got off scott free on DU..to this day day...Willy Pitt and Steve Lesser are idolized on that joint...after bashing Hill.....

Like · Reply · Yesterday at 1:52pm
Greg Lamb
Greg Lamb Jenny Sampson I used to wonder why Skinner allowed trolls like that to pollute his site while at the same time wringing his hands in long tedious posts about changing the "tone" , restoring civility...blah blah. Going on and on about all this stuff and acting like everyone let him down, when in reality he was the one in a position to DO something about it. Then, after the great Troll Amnesty, when he let all the worst offenders out to act as his Hillbot shock troops, it finally dawned on me: He's totally full of shit. He lets them behave that way because that's what he wants the site to be. He's one of them. An asshole

Well gees, Skinner uses DU as a giant money bank. Of course that is crashing down since Hillary Clinton lost.

[Ptarmigan]

Jader Jarvis My DU name was Kalun D, I am a true progressive. I watched DU sell out to the DNC and predictably I was tombstoned, after being there for over a decade. I went to Bernie rallies in Seattle with 30,000 people while Hillary held a $5000 plate (no public invited) dinner on the rich side of town.

DU is a front group for the DNC.

Dirk Pierce BTW gang, my username is demwing. I was the founding host of DUs Populist Reform Group, but had my posting privilieges revoked for saying exactly what America said tonight - that Hillary was not the best candidate for this election.

Can I come back now (once you recover from the hack, that is)?

Skinner is purging your kind at DU.

Utaku Beta As much as I would love to blame the 3rd n 4th party, I can't. Jill stein was always a joke and Libertarians have always pulled from the Reich wing. I want to blame the media... and I do... but in the end, I can only blame the USA... all of us. The enlightened and the stupid, brain dead ****ers who love reality TV more than reality!... also my cat is freaking the hell out.

Blaming Jill Stein?

Shaun Gurley The management at DU, the DNC, DWS, the Third Way®, MSNBC, the MSM, AA groups, etc, crammed Hillary down the Democratic party's throat against the will of the primary voters, and now she is losing predictably to a psychopath. God ****ing help us all...

Hillary Clinton had everyone on her payroll including DU.

Dinger Mueller Wonder if DU will tombstone all the people who say "I told you so." You know, all the ones who don't fall in line. Like they did to me in December. 2010.

A purge is coming. We warned you about this many times.

[Mr Mannn]

Monday or Tuesday

F*ck you, Skinner. Not acceptable. You are a weasel. 

<-- Skinner   

[Ken8521]

Now we know who Hillary hired to set up and secure her home server.

.

 

[franksolich]

Hey Skins.

It's now 11/13/2016 8:19 p.m. central time.

Added 11/12/2016 4:00PM ET (eighth batch, more to come tomorrow)

What's the hold-up?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Hey Skins.

It's now 11/13/2016 8:19 p.m. central time.

What's the hold-up?

Packing the joint up, destroying servers, headed to an island with no extradition treaty.

[SVPete]

Packing the joint up, destroying servers, headed to an island with no extradition treaty.

Pouring Clorox in the hard drives takes time. That's what they did to The SHREW's hard drives and Blackberries, right?

[jukin]

No way it was a hack. Skins knew the secret service would be camped out from all the death threats and the world would see the true faces of hate, intolerence, and stupidity.

[DLR Pyro]

No way it was a hack. Skins knew the secret service would be camped out from all the death threats and the world would see the true faces of hate, intolerence, and stupidity.

I've been watching this DU server snafu from the sidelines and don't know many particulars of it, but did the server "get hacked " before or after the election results swung Trump's way?

[fatboy]

It was about I think 4:00 PM in the east on election night. Way too early for any opposition hack.

Who on our side would want to take that stupid site down anyway? I personally think we were the ones that got robbed.

[franksolich]

It was about I think 4:00 PM in the east on election night. Way too early for any opposition hack.

Who on our side would want to take that stupid site down anyway? I personally think we were the ones that got robbed.

I think so.  We waz robbed.

[Ralph Wiggum]

It was about I think 4:00 PM in the east on election night. Way too early for any opposition hack.

Who on our side would want to take that stupid site down anyway? I personally think we were the ones that got robbed.

Emotional distress.  I think we have grounds, counselor.

[franksolich]

I've been watching this DU server snafu from the sidelines and don't know many particulars of it, but did the server "get hacked " before or after the election results swung Trump's way?

It didn't start out with any suggestion something was about to go wrong, but anyway, the thread that first announced it:

http://conservativecave.com/index.php/topic,109819.0

It includes that funny video, second page.

[franksolich]

Well, here it is, 11/14/2016, 4:45 a.m. central time.

Added 11/12/2016 4:00PM ET (eighth batch, more to come tomorrow)

[fatboy]

Well, since we are still waiting for skinner to get her up and running I have been pondering a few election related items. Most notable in my mind is my complete disappointment that Hillary had to cancel her fireworks display scheduled in lower Manhattan last Tuesday. I was so looking forward to fake bombs bursting in air above the transparent ceiling at the Javits Center. So much symbolism lost forever how will I survive?

Then there is Newsweek having to issue a recall of their Special Edition Madame President magazines. Some retailers had put those magazine on the shelf and even sold a few. Why are not the protesters pleading with the electors to change their vote not pointing to the Newsweek cover as proof that Hillary won and Trump lost?

Nate Silver at 538 who btw called 2012 with the most precision ever still has (a week later) Trump at a 28% chance of winning. Sure Trump has deep connections in the media but I thought for sure Wolf Blitzer at CNN couldn't be bought. I was wrong.

The New York Times has issued a statement that it is going to get back to it's main mission of reporting news honestly. This I confess confuses me, does this mean that they are going to start publishing stories on how mean Donald Trump is? I hope so because all that Hillary bashing has me disheartened.

One last thought for now, I'm thinking that we should start a petition to show our support for all the patriotic members of the entertainment industry in the hope that they will reconsider leaving the country. I'm open for suggestions but I'm struggling to think of any who have made the pledge and are patriotic so need a bit of help here.

[SVPete]

At this point we are hopeful that we can do a limited opening of the website on Monday or Tuesday. During this limited opening only Star Members will be able to login and post. We are taking this precaution because we want to make sure that we are only receiving legitimate traffic during the security software "training period." This limited opening period should only last two or three days.

Must be hoping moles among the "Star Members" will inadvertently self-identify by re-posting (riposting?) new DU material in places like CC and CU.