I think someone has been logging into my account

[Natural Citizen]

For the last few days, whenever I logged in, I would get a message saying that the active user had changed. And then other times throughout the day I'd get randomly logged out, as if someone else was logging into my account and becoming the active user.

I changed my password yesterday and it hasn't happened since.

If any of the technical staff reviews my activity, I do not change my IP address.

So if there are different IP addresses in my recent history, that should answer the question of ''if.''

Will probably never figure out the ''who'' part, though, if that's the case.

And I've enough technical experience to believe that it is the case.

 

[WelfareQueen]

For the last few days, whenever I logged in, I would get a message saying that the active user had changed. And then other times throughought the day I'd get randomly logged out, as if someone else was logging into my account and becoming the active user.

I changed my password yesterday and it hasn't happened since.

If any of the techical staff reviews my activity, I do not change my IP address.

So if there are different IP addresses in my recent history, that should answer the question of ''if.''

Will probably never figure out the ''who'' part, though, if that's the case.

And I've enough technical experience to believe that it is the case.

Hello. It's Me.

 

[expat500]

For the last few days, whenever I logged in, I would get a message saying that the active user had changed. And then other times throughought the day I'd get randomly logged out, as if someone else was logging into my account and becoming the active user.

I changed my password yesterday and it hasn't happened since.

If any of the techical staff reviews my activity, I do not change my IP address.

So if there are different IP addresses in my recent history, that should answer the question of ''if.''

Will probably never figure out the ''who'' part, though, if that's the case.

And I've enough technical experience to believe that it is the case.

I can relate to some of that, with strange goings on, and the loss of Mindful.

 

[JGalt]

Damned those stealth loggers.

I looked out my back window this morning and saw that two of my trees were gone.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Damned those stealth loggers.

I looked out my back window this morning and saw that two of my trees were gone.

As a matter of practice, there are certain technologically proficient busybodies who hang out on one forum or another whose links that I would never click on.

Especially those purposefully shortened urls that don't display what you're actually clicking on. Of course, it coud be an image or anything, really, if one is really cleaver about it.

The problem with that, though, is that you never know how many socks they're running. So you can still fall into a boobie trap if you let your guard down.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Ah well. As I said, I've changed my password and it hasn't happened since.

It was happening very frequently over the course of the last few days, though.

That it has immediately stopped now that my password has changed serves as confirmation, at least to me, that someone else was logging into my account and that we kept bumping each other off as we logged in.

It is important to mention these things when they happen, though, regardless.

That way there's at least a record of you saying hey, I think somebody's coming through the back door. Nawmean?

 

[expat500]

As a matter of practice, there are certain technologically proficient busybodies who hang out on one forum or another whose links that I would never click on.

That’s for sure.

 

[JGalt]

As a matter of practice, there are certain technologically proficient busybodies who hang out on one forum or another whose links that I would never click on.

Especially those purposefully shortened urls that don't display what you're actually clicking on.

The problem with that, though, is that you never know how many socks they're running. So you can still fall into a boobie trap if you let your guard down.

That's a fact! I run Avast antivirus which is pretty good, plus I always use a private window in Firefox to browse, with all but essential cookies blocked. Firefox also does a good job of blocking social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, fingerprinters, ads and popups. Passwords for social media are set to login automatically, but passwords for sensitive sites have to be entered manually.

One of the modules I had to learn for the 2024 election training covered computer security, which the Elections Commission is a stickler about. They require a no less than 12 character password with mixed upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters, which has to be changed every 60 days. I also use two separate email accounts, one for business and the other for junk stuff.

 

[expat500]

That's a fact! I run Avast antivirus which is pretty good, plus I always use a private window in Firefox to browse, with all but essential cookies blocked. Firefox also does a good job of blocking social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, fingerprinters, ads and popups. Passwords for social media are set to login automatically, but passwords for sensitive sites have to be entered manually.

One of the modules I had to learn for the 2024 election training covered computer security, which the Elections Commission is a stickler about. They require a no less than 12 character password with mixed upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters, which has to be changed every 60 days. I also use two separate email accounts, one for business and the other for junk stuff.

Do you think computer savvy individuals could hack into these forums?

I watched The NYTimes forums being brought down some years ago. A couple of times actually. I think the perpetrator knew how to get into html.

 

[Natural Citizen]

That's a fact! I run Avast antivirus which is pretty good, plus I always use a private window in Firefox to browse, with all but essential cookies blocked. Firefox also does a good job of blocking social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, fingerprinters, ads and popups. Passwords for social media are set to login automatically, but passwords for sensitive sites have to be entered manually.

One of the modules I had to learn for the 2024 election training covered computer security, which the Elections Commission is a stickler about. They require a no less than 12 character password with mixed upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters, which has to be changed every 60 days. I also use two separate email accounts, one for business and the other for junk stuff.

Oh, you're working the '24? Good for you. Way to be about it.

I think that plain old common sense Internet practices go a long way in avoiding shenanigans.

Unfortunately it's akin to playing whack-a-mole if someone is just doing it for the lolz.

 

[JGalt]

Do you think computer savvy individuals could hack into these forums?

I watched The NYTimes forums being brought down some years ago. A couple of times actually. I think the perpetrator knew how to get into html.

Sure they could, but why would they? There's no profit from it.

 

[expat500]

Sure they could, but why would they? There's no profit from it.

Psychos?

Malice aforethought?

Some kind of obsession?

 

[Captain Caveman]

For the last few days, whenever I logged in, I would get a message saying that the active user had changed. And then other times throughout the day I'd get randomly logged out, as if someone else was logging into my account and becoming the active user.

I changed my password yesterday and it hasn't happened since.

If any of the technical staff reviews my activity, I do not change my IP address.

So if there are different IP addresses in my recent history, that should answer the question of ''if.''

Will probably never figure out the ''who'' part, though, if that's the case.

And I've enough technical experience to believe that it is the case.

One of the mods will have hacked into it, allegedly.

 

[Natural Citizen]

One of the mods will have hacked into it, allegedly.

I don't even care.

What's really to be had by it, other than satisfying some kind of sociopathic urge?

It's not like it's my bank account or anything.

I just wanted to share a note that I think that this has happened.

 

[Captain Caveman]

I don't even care.

I just wanted to share a note that I think this has happened.

Whichever one is in California

That's the culprit

 

[Natural Citizen]

Whichever one is in California

That's the culprit

Man, I'm not pointing any fingers at anyone.

As I said, I was just sharing that I think that this has happened.

I don't even care about the who part of it. It's not like I'm gonna change my ways around here. Pft. Get real. I've probably been on some asshole's list ever since the '08 and '12 campaign shenanigans anyway. Heck. I'd be ashamed of myself if I weren't. lol...

 

[Natural Citizen]

I'm just glad that I had previously deleted all of those nudes from my inbox that bones sent me. Jiminy crickets. Don't want any of those puppies getting out there.

 

[Road Runner]

I have that happen to me as well sometimes, although with me I think that's when I have multiple USMB windows open at exactly the same time and then if I'm logged in on one page but not the other it'll show me that message.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Man, I'm not pointing any fingers at anyone.

As I said, I was just sharing that I think that this has happened.

I don't even care about the who part of it. It's not like I'm gonna change my ways around here. Pft. Get real. I've probably been on some asshole's list ever since the '08 and '12 campaign shenanigans anyway. Heck. I'd be ashamed of myself if weren't. lol...

I am, it's a mod based in California.

 

[JGalt]

Man, I'm not pointing any fingers at anyone.

As I said, I was just sharing that I think that this has happened.

I don't even care about the who part of it. It's not like I'm gonna change my ways around here. Pft. Get real. I've probably been on some asshole's list ever since the '08 and '12 campaign shenanigans anyway. Heck. I'd be ashamed of myself if I weren't. lol...

I was told that USMB is owned by Forum Foundry, Inc, but I've always thought it was an NSA data collection front. Their website is a rather vague one-page affair, only presenting an email link to contact them, and this in their banner:

"With a focus on creating engaging communities, Forum Foundry has been building interactive platforms since 2006. Over the years, we have developed hundreds of communities from the ground up, specializing in forums. We firmly believe that online forums are one of the most potent resources available on the Internet, providing a constant stream of information and knowledge to like-minded individuals. Our extensive network of online communities caters to a diverse user base, ranging from hardcore enthusiasts to novice users seeking help."

Linkedin shows Forum Foundry Inc. to be owned by a Doug Siddens of Cedar Park, Texas. Forum Foundry Inc. Also has a Twitter page, but it has no responses and not much information...

https://twitter.com/ForumFoundryInc

Similarweb.com is showing USMB as having 11-50 employees, based in Las Vegas, and has an annual revenue of $2 million - $5 million dollars, but that information might be out of date.

If you do a whois for usmessageboard.com, it shows the server is being hosted by Cloudflare Inc, in San Francisco.

NetRange: 172.64.0.0 - 172.71.255.255
CIDR: 172.64.0.0/13
NetName: CLOUDFLARENET
NetHandle: NET-172-64-0-0-1
Parent: NET172 (NET-172-0-0-0-0)
NetType: Direct Allocation
OriginAS: AS13335
Organization: Cloudflare, Inc. (CLOUD14)
RegDate: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2021-05-26
Comment: All Cloudflare abuse reporting can be done via Abuse approach - Cloudflare
Ref: https://rdap.arin.net/registry/ip/172.64.0.0

OrgName: Cloudflare, Inc.
OrgId: CLOUD14
Address: 101 Townsend Street
City: San Francisco
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 94107
Country: US
RegDate: 2010-07-09
Updated: 2021-07-01
Ref: https://rdap.arin.net/registry/entity/CLOUD14

USMB also has a Twitter page, but all of the entries are from 2016.

https://twitter.com/usmessageboard