April 30, 2008

As some of you may or may not have noticed, but our website (www.kiowa116.org) was hacked recently.  If you noticed in the calendar, there were entries that none of us would have entered.  These entries were promoting products that are certainly not products we would endorse as a Fraternity.

History:
I have been tracking alot of clandestine activity on our website.  I noticed about 2 months ago, someone was trying to register as a user on the website.  Needless to say, they were not accepted.  The domain they tried to register from was a ' .ru ' which is a Russian domain.  If you didn't know, the Russian internet market, along with China, South East Asia and North Korea are notorious for hacking and subverting websites.

Technical Perspective:
Our website is built using a database and a content management system.  Although the look and design are customized, the 'engine' that makes items such as the calendar, picture section work properly is a sophisticated backend program that makes it all come together.  Hackers seek out exploits and 'openings' in websites like ours.  Technically speaking- they have probably been scanning our website looking for an exploit and..well, they found one in the calendar.

Current:
WM Kurt sent me an email this morning indicating that our site was hacked.  It didn't take me long to find the hacks so I shut those sections of the website down.  You will notice that I have taken down the calendar feature of our website.  Until I can block the attacks or find a more secure program, I'm going to leave this feature shut off.  Give me about a week and I will come up with a solution.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and use of this great tool.

If you have any questions or need anything- please contact me directly.

In the Bonds
Bryan Walsh
Webmaster
bryanwalsh1868 'at' gmail.com