Dollieh Sanctuary

We had another security alert recently and I just wanted to keep everyone up on what can happen as a result so you don't think we are suddenly going DoA on people

The most recent alert occurred when the Eluts website got hacked and hit with Malware. Someone had a link to a page on the Eluts website - a perfectly innocent and acceptable thing to do - and it was that link that set off the alert since it led to a hacked page. In order to keep the site and y'all safe we did delete the link and (because we are new to this sort of thing and over cautious) the whole post (it was an older sales post or I probably would not have done that).

What does this mean to you? Nothing really except that if a link you have posted in a thread suddenly disappears we probably got an alert about it and removed it to keep everyone safe. Once the website on the other end is made safe again you can certainly put the link back.

Hopefully this will be a rare occurrance unless someone out there is on a dollsite hacking rampage

You may now return to your regularly scheduled Mayhem.
(shakey shakey)




original post:
Today we received a security alert notice that this site had been tagged as containing malware according to Google's malware search. After investigations it looks like there is no actual malware, but someone hotlinked to an outside image that was no longer there and that link opened us up to a potential security issue.

We couldn't be 100% sure which image it was, but we deleted a few potentially related ones, so if an image you posted suddentlly went away I apologize, but we did this to protect the forum, not as punishment.

For those unsure of what hotlinking is here's the penny definition. To hotlink is to copy the URL of a photo/image directly from the website posting it, and using that as your link for the image here in the forum. This practice is considered unethical because it causes the parent website of the image to absorb all of the bandwidth traffic. Always put images - even if you are snitching them from a doll website - on your own website or image site (like Photobucket, Flicker, etc...) and link to that. This protects all of us from potential hacking/malware!

Thanks for reading this - and to whoever posted the image (and honestly, I have no clue I wasn't the one who found it and I didn't ask), no harm, no foul just be sure to save it to your own photo spot before reposting it

Crap! Hope it wasn't me. Don't think so- I would hotlink if I knew how because I'm lazy, but usually I have to drag and drop into photoshop and then onto photobucket.

Oh my, I never knew about this. I apparently hotlink all the time, I had no idea it was a no-no!! I didn't even know it had a name. I'm so sorry!! Part of the problem is that I've been using a mac lately (my own lapytop died... with some help from me... *cough*), and I still can't figure out some stuff that was so simple on my windows. I know mac is supposed to be superior and even easier, but I'm just not used to it.

I apologize again!!

Please don't freak if you've hotlinked - truth be told I've done it too and it's never been a problem - but apparently it can become one at some point as evidenced by the alert we got.

No one needs to apologize or feel guilty or anything like that Hotlinking happens and in terms of being a no-no it's more a matter of good internet etiquette than something I would have called a forum rule. We've all just learned something new now and need to be more careful in the future - myself included

Oh, no! It is Tonner Doll! My apologies (it was me or Highlander - I know one of us had originally pasted a link to DeeAnna's original pic at Tonnerdoll to show the difference from our custom ones and credited Tonner so as to not make a copyright infringement) and they put out a notice yesterday that they were taking their site down for a couple of days because they had been hit with a nasty. ((( They took immediate precautions to close their site so no one could be harmed and said they would reopen in a day or two. This was their notice and I think it has to do with that new virus that is rapidly circulating (especially hitting corporate sites: ***TONNERDirect ATTENTION TONNER FRIENDS: We are currently investigating malware that may have been maliciously installed on tonnerdoll.com and effanbeedoll.com - TONNERDIRECT.COM IS NOT AFFECTED (different server) - but do not use the 'Shipping Schedule' link on TonnerDirect.com (it goes back to tonnerdoll.com) - Apologies for any inconvenience! posted on Friday*** That would cause a break in the original link and if you go to their site right now you get the malware warning. I am very sorry. I almost always post my own pics. I just wanted to show the original for comparison and they are a real site. I feel so bad.

Like I said - no need to apologize - we removed the image link, no harm was done and everything is happy again

Don't feel bad - please - I didn't post this publically to accuse or get confessions or anything - I just wanted everyone to be careful about hotlinking, that's all Just a bunch of unfortunate incidents that's all

You would know that the first time I do that something happens! I always only use my own pics. LOL! I don't think I have ever linked to another site before (always afraid of copyright issues). I won't again either.

Misheru wrote:You would know that the first time I do that something happens! I always only use my own pics. LOL! I don't think I have ever linked to another site before (always afraid of copyright issues). I won't again either.

Indeed. Next time I will post a link to the page, but no image unless it is my own.

Why do there have to be people who like to write malware and cause others problems... My employer was hit by the latest worm/virus that pretends to be a PDF file, but is in fact a nasty little emailer that emails itself to everyone in your address book, accesses any remote computers on your local network and attempts to infect them, and places itself on any removable drives connected to your computer. Oh, and it attempts to disable security and anti-virus software, and it's a password stealer. Execution may in fact be too kind for the folks behind this kind of crap. I favor life without possibility of parole and a cell with elevator musac playing 24/7...But then, I'm a kind person.

Bumping for new info in the first post.

I know that Tonner finally got cleaned, but if anyone goes to Doll Peddlar...or links to it, be careful! I read on another site that it has been hit as well.