When TOS went down, I received a few PM's asking about how secure WaGuns is to a hacker. I thought I would create a thread to help cover it.

1) While no site is hack proof, we try and do a good job of testing code on an offline site to make sure that it doesn't open up any exploits that hackers can use.

2) Our database is backed up nightly. So, if we were to be hacked and our database compromised, we could restore from the previous backup. Some information such as posts, attachments and new members that happened since the backup would be gone. Hence why we back up daily.

3) Our file structure is backed up often. Mainly when we make a change to the code we back it up before making the modification. There has been many times when I have crashed the test site by forgetting a simple symbol in the code. There are times that we edit the code live. These are like the countdown timer etc where I can just change a few variables in the header code to change it.

4) We live on WaGuns. If a hack happened, it would be our top priority to regain control of the site and restore it as quickly as possible.


That being said, we do try and keep up to date on any patches that friendly hackers find to keep our code safe. We usually only install a modification once many other people have been able to be guinea pigs. Along that line, the software we use (phpBB) is outdated by a couple of versions.

We DO need to update to the newest version and we will try to prioritize that. I have installed it on the test site and slowly been working though all of our modifications to make sure the upgrade goes smoothly (we do have quite a bit of custom code). Unfortunately, this means that the site will have to be down for a few hours, which blows. It will be done late at night and I will try and keep everybody informed as we get closer to that date.

A backup meeting area. I know not all of you are on Facebook, but site issues etc can be reported and updated on our FB page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/WaGunsorg/195508847156064 . Unless the hosting server crashes the webmaster@WaGuns.org email address should be fine as well. The webmaster email is also backed up to wagunsemail@gmail.com

We do know that WaGuns is more than just a website to many of you (including us) and we firmly believe that making sure that the site, as well as any and all information contained in the site is secure at all times. To a lot of us, this is our vice, our home and our addiction.

If there are any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to ask.

Dan, Steve and Brandon

Be prepared for anything. That is all.

couldn't have said better. Thanks to the stooges

I see TOS is still down. Did they not have the same back up plan?

One should always protect themselves from viruses



Too bad they don't make these for computers.