We have added this as an announcement but are also putting it in this thread as we know some of you only "view new posts" and may not see the announcements !!!
Note to all users:
Last night we had to disable registrations on the site for a short period of time. This action was taken because "spambots" have been attacking hundreds or even thousands of sites that use the same IPB software that we have installed on here (as well as other popular forum packages such as VB, phpBB etc).
Spambots register then attempt to post porn links or pics all over the place. Our existing security measures meant that only 1 account of the more than 75 that were attempted made it through validation and was able to post, but when they did make it through, we can assure you that the single post made was more than enough for us to take this very seriously !!!
We have now gone from 'red alert' to one level below. We have added a couple of anti-spam questions that require human input to the registration form and for the forseeable future (ie. until there is a fix) we will also be requiring admin validation of all new account applications. We apologise for the inconvenience and will lift this restriction as soon as it is safe to do so.
The makers of the software are working on a fix which should be released today. It is not clear if this will be a simple tweak which we can deploy immediately or whether it will be a full blown version upgrade that will need to be scheduled. When we know more we will let everyone know.
If you are trying to register and are having a problem, please contact us via the contact form in the info menu and we will be happy to help real users create an account.
We have added this as an announcement but are also putting it in this thread as we know some of you only "view new posts" and may not see the announcements !!!
Note to all users:
Last night we had to disable registrations on the site for a short period of time. This action was taken because "spambots" have been attacking hundreds or even thousands of sites that use the same IPB software that we have installed on here (as well as other popular forum packages such as VB, phpBB etc).
Spambots register then attempt to post porn links or pics all over the place. Our existing security measures meant that only 1 account of the more than 75 that were attempted made it through validation and was able to post, but when they did make it through, we can assure you that the single post made was more than enough for us to take this very seriously !!!
We have now gone from 'red alert' to one level below. We have added a couple of anti-spam questions that require human input to the registration form and for the forseeable future (ie. until there is a fix) we will also be requiring admin validation of all new account applications. We apologise for the inconvenience and will lift this restriction as soon as it is safe to do so.
The makers of the software are working on a fix which should be released today. It is not clear if this will be a simple tweak which we can deploy immediately or whether it will be a full blown version upgrade that will need to be scheduled. When we know more we will let everyone know.
If you are trying to register and are having a problem, please contact us via the contact form in the info menu and we will be happy to help real users create an account.