WWA Info Exchange

Hi Everyone,
I hope you're having a pleasant holiday and got that new SawStop or American Beauty you were yearning for...

Anyway, I got a couple emails about malware warnings while visiting the site. Evidently Google is saying a couple files in our photo section are installing evil software on some computers. I can't say for sure since I have been unable to duplicate the warnings (using Chrome on a Mac) and haven't been able to track down the offending files.

Is it possible that malware could be disguised as a picture and hidden on our server? I don't know but given what happened to Target lately, I would have to guess yes. Regardless, it might be wise for anyone using a PC to update their virus definitions. I'm going to try and borrow a PC to see if I can track down the problem and in the meantime, if anyone gets any more warnings, please send the URL to me. And since I'm not a computer expert, if anyone has any advice, I'm all ears.

Jim

Thus far I've had no malware warnings from the site, Jim. However I rarely if ever view images from the photo section. I'm no computer expert either, but I do understand that malicious code can be embedded in .gif images. In the past, jpeg's were considered "safe" but that may have changed.

Many thanks to you and the rest of the admins that make this such a pleasant place to visit.

_________________
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium

Cheers - Dennis

Hi, Jim:
I use Chrome on a PC and get the malware alerts every time I try to open a thread that has a photo in it that is stored here in the photo area. If the thread has photos that are stored elsewhere I can open it fine. This has been going on for at least a year if not longer. The first couple of times it happened I proceeded anyway and nothing bad seemed to happen, but I am reluctant to get in the habit of ignoring warnings so nowadays I just skip reading those threads.

The link to "Details": http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/ ... e&hl=en-US

That is what is discoverable from the warning page when I try to read the "Combining materials recycling" thread.

I could read the "Long time since I've been here" when it was first started but someone must have added a picture to it because I get the malware warning when I try to read it now. The "Details" page appears to be identical to the first one: http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/ ... e&hl=en-US

I see that the link is not identical to the first one so maybe there is a difference there I am not seeing.

These are just a couple of readily available examples but there are many more.

Take care
Bob

I get the malware alerts with using Chrome also with certain pictures.
I post my pictures from Photobucket and I notice that I do not have a problem when others post from there either but, if they put the pictures into the album on this site I get the warning.
I did find out that if you use another browser, it is not a problem.
I usually just click on the "advanced" link and accept the fact that I could get a virus. It has not caused me any problems so far.

Rog

_________________
Dont badmouth no strangers, they just friends you aint met yet.

An ounce of responsibility is worth a pound of State and Federal laws.

I spent most of my money on woodworking
tools and beer, the rest I just wasted.

Since I don't have the problem when using other browsers, I just accept the risk. I don't really think that Chrome is that much better than the other guys at detecting malware.

_________________
John

I don't use Chrome, so I haven't gotten the malware warnings.

Verna

My point exactly

_________________
John

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately I'm no closer to tracking down the offending file(s) and it seems that any picture posted from our server triggers the warnings. That leaves more than 7000 suspects. If I took the time to examine each one individually my wife would kill me!

I did send an email to Jay, the guy who configured everything, but it bounced back. Way back when, he donated a lot of time to customize this site to give it photo uploading capability and I'm thinking he's the only guy to fix the problem without losing anything.

This leads to another question. For the longest time I've wanted to upgrade the forum scripts. They're old and buggy. The problem with that is losing all the work Jay did, the extent of which I don't fully understand. My guess is we would at least lose the pictures, breaking all their links in the archive. On the up side, the interface would be modern with built-in photo uploading and additional features like individual blogs, etc. It would probably be faster, too, given we have over 39,000 registered users that we're lugging around, most of whom haven't been here in years.

Any thoughts about upgrading and possibly starting all over again?

Thanks in advance,
Jim

JIM M: YES! Sounds like a plan. I'm on APPLE products GOOGLE and AOL and don't get warnings as others have. I browse profiles and galleries occasionally when I see a handle that I havn't seen before or in a long time just to be a little familliar with the name. Many times I am dissapointed that members are not forthcoming in the details the profile asks for. I understand some privacy but I think that the details are innocuous enough that privacy isn't compromised. The galleries are great and show some really excellent work by members here BUT, I could live without them if I really had to. I really would hate to lose the "search" features.
Do you have any more information about an upgraded system? Also as DENNIS S posted I'm very grateful for the admin team and the work done to maintain the forum
The forum was new once or twice before maybe now is the time for renewal and evolution.

_________________
Everything was new once.
newtooth 311
Rochester, MN

I agree with Newtooth, Jim. I've never looked forward to upgrading any of my software in the days I depended on it for work, but once over the agony it proved well worth it. I really wish I knew and understood more about installing and maintaining sites like this so I could offer to help but I'd just be in the way.

Granted there are many many great images of excellent work that have been uploaded to this forum site but frankly, losing them all with the benefit of bringing everything up to speed would, in my view, be well worth it.

One thing I would offer if it's any help is to spend time beta testing new/upgraded software. I've had a stellar reputation in the past for being able to break anything if it's breakable! (grin)

_________________
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium

Cheers - Dennis

Second what Dennis said, including being able to break things.
I will let wiser heads make this decision but am willing to undergo
the pains of upgrade.

Duan

_________________
Duan Packard
Kerrville, Texas

dum vivimus, vivamus

I just went through an upgrade on another site, and while there are a few hiccups, the new forum is marvelous!!!

I can handle whatever the new upgrade brings. Thanks, Jim

Verna

Hey Jim,

I'm in too, but it would be nice to have a heads up period so that we can recover the pictures before the upgrade.

Tom

_________________
"There is no path to peace, peace is the path."
Mohandas K. Ghandi

JIM M: Just a WAT but you mentioned 39K members "that we're lugging around, most of whom haven't been here in years".
I know that the membership list is an interesting place to browse for location of members handles membership dates etc. BUT what if we did as you also mentioned and did start all over again. Re-register as members or check off a box to transfer our membership data from the old list to a new one. Some of the "lurking" members might not re-up and I'm sure that many of the non-participating members probably won't even notice that we are evolved. Thoughts on this will be interesting, and as TMS proposes, a generous heads up time and board stickies as informative invitations would,I also think, be in order

_________________
Everything was new once.
newtooth 311
Rochester, MN

Hi All,
First off, there will be plenty of time to grab pics, perhaps even after the upgrade. Because our scripts are so old, we can't actually upgrade them. We have to install a new board and then import the messages from the old board. That said, January is usually pretty slow for me making it never better than the present. Expect a notice soon.

About the 39,000 fellow woodworkers, a lot of those are Spambots which got past the registration process but no further. Not because our security is so good, but because little parts of some of the scripts have stopped working. A couple days ago someone told me email wasn't working. They were right. It really is time to fix all this. Right now I'm looking for new software. If anyone has any preferences, now is the time to speak up. If you want to keep your wishes private, email me directly to jmattsonatverizon.net

As always, thanks!!!
Jim

Not real keen about losing my old pictures.
I refer to them a lot when showing my work to some potential customers.
Zulu

I went ahead and cleaned out my gallery. There weren't any pictures that I don't already have in my computer or in my Photobucket anyway and not any that I cared to keep.
Haven't used the "gallery" in years.

Rog

_________________
Dont badmouth no strangers, they just friends you aint met yet.

An ounce of responsibility is worth a pound of State and Federal laws.

I spent most of my money on woodworking
tools and beer, the rest I just wasted.

I don't know anything about the operation of the forum, but was wondering if a link to a static version could be added to the new version for a period of time. Also, how about a broadcast e-mail to all members who had a certain level of participation in the past about the change? You could select a minimum number of posts, which would effectively eliminate the spambots. In addition to letting the occasional visitors know about the change, it may get some of them interested in coming back. Just a thought.

I'd also be interested in beta testing the new version. Have lots of experience with that at work.

Jim, thanks again for your efforts to keep the WWA up & running.

_________________
John

Sorry about that. The only other solution is to hire a php programmer to bring the existing scripts up to modern standards. That would probably cost thousands of dollars. And in a few years we would probably be in the same boat we're in now. My advice is make copies of the pictures you want to keep and re-upload them once the new scripts are installed.

Jim

That's a lot of pictures!
I already have them on Photobucket but to re-upload them is a tall order.
I understand that my opinion here is probably a minor consideration but still, it's a lot of pictures.
Zulu