I now have set up a UBB.threads board 7.3.1 and imported my UBB.Classics threads/posts/members to it and the Threads board is running smoothly. However, the Classic board (6.7.1), that I will be turning into an archive board shortly, has been hacked by one or two people as soon as I shut down registrations. I have the Classic board set so that only registered users can post, but this person, or persons is not only able to post, he/she can start a new topic. It has happened in two different forums so far.

So I have a question. Will this person(s) be able to do the same thing to my new Threads board? I know the PHP format is vastly different from the old perl scripts, but I'm not sure what this person is exploiting to get in. I'm not worried about the old board because when I archive it I'll just change the file permissions so that nothing will be writable anymore when I archive it, but what about my new Threads board? Will they be able to do the same thing there?

Well, the two products are completely different; so whatever they're using to post won't be there...

Just make sure after you move that the user isn't an admin and you should be good to go...

Thanks, Gizmo. No, it's not an admin, it's not even a user, at least according to the IP numbers. I tried to run a DNS on them, but they wouldn't resolve. I put them in a browser and it led to a Chinese site. A lot of the spam-bot registrations that plague the Classic board are from a .cn site, so no surprise, I guess. I'd just like to know how they can post on a board that is set to users only.

Go to www.arin.net to check the IP address. If it is over sea's it will tell you where to go to find out where they are.

Here's kind of an update. Ever since I shut down registration on the old board, someone hacks in about twice a week and it's like they do it just to prove they can. I was actually in the midst of turning the forums one by one into archive-read only forums and the creep struck again.

What I've discovered is it seems the person or persons hacking and spamming the board have to use "<>" to bracket the name they choose to post with. Like say "<hacker guy>" and they get in. I don't have a clue how they're doing it, but I thought I'd let you know.

<> around a name is automatically added by the UBB and indicates the person is not registered and is posting as a guest. Do you have guest posting enabled?