Flyertalker gone too far
 

I first thought I should e-mail Randy about this, but this pretty much warrants a post here.

I haven't been posting on FlyerTalk for the past few months because of work, and I posted today for the first time in a while and noticed this on my profile:

UAPremierExec

Posts: 1293
From: Ft. Lauderdale Florida (too many Jews http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif) and at 35,000 feet
Registered: Sep 2001

I'm a bit concerned by these comments under location and I tend to keep my passwords secret, as well as use a variation of them.

But somehow, a user here has been able to alter my location, and it bothers me.

Can anyone offer any insight as to the security of the FlyerTalk system?

And after a comment like this, can anyone tell me how long it's been like this?

Any help is appreciated.

Why don't you just change your password to something more secure. Perhaps changing all of your other account passwords would also be a good idea.

And, no, I don't think this warrants a post here. You should e-mail the FlyerTalk people.

This concern seems appropriate for our Technical Issues forum and I'll move it there. While that forum title sounds bland, it really seems the best place to focus on your concerns over the security of this site.
Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, Community

So how can I get my profile info fixed on my 2 posts on the GLBT board? I thought by fixing my profile, it would automatically change the profile information, but it seems to still revert to the old info.

this is so not cool...

Re GLBT threads .. a *suggestion* that might work is to post something new on the thread or edit your existing post in some minor way. I *think* then the new post reflects your current signature?

Re original problem ... were you posting before at any place with a lot of FT'ers?

At Bernie's apartment in DUS last month I started this thread and many others posted on it over a beer.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum32/HTML/003047.html

One FT'er tried to get her sign-in cookie deleted. Several folks worked on this and it simply would not disappear. So Bernie can now post for many FT'ers. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

(The year before it was over a dozen cookies stayed stored, but then he upgraded his computer. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif)

UAPremierExec,

What ozstamps brings up is something that you have to be careful of. If you are using a shared computer (at work, school, cafe, Kinkos, friends house, etc.) you want to make sure that you don't leave your login information behind. I would suggest only using modern browsers on a shared computer (some older browsers have issues with letting go of cookies when they should), do not use the preferances link to have your password remembered and completely quit the browser application after you have posted.

Even with these precautions you are not completely safe on a shared computer as someone could install software that logs keystrokes or something similar to capture passwords and any other info entered. I hope this helps,

-Tim

[This message has been edited by Tim at WebFlyer (edited 08-06-2003).]

To follow on the good advice that Tim posted, airline lounges where there are free computer stations (i.e. most of them except for UA!) are a particular problem to be mindful of. Clearly quite a lot of folks using these locations are FT'ers.

I have read many times where FT'ers have logged onto to FT at lounges, where the previous person to have do so's user name and password spring to life. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I saw a post on FT once where someone had typed:

"I am not xxxxxx and I have not ever visited this board before. However I suggest NEXT time that xxxxxx closes down the screen before he leaves the computer."

There was no harm done there, but that person clearly if they were minded could have changed user profile data, or posted some really nasty stuff.

Well, I never store my passwords on any computer, but this was done maliciously to my profile... plus before 5 aug, I had not posted or visited FlyerTalk since mid June...

I'm glad someone got a laugh out of it. I certainly didn't.

Yes, it's just as "funny" as reading the original (and offensive) contents of your "hacked" profile in your post at the top of this thread ...

(spelling)

[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 08-07-2003).]

Let's see.

1. User gets called on a part of his profile that is exactly the same as comments he earlier posted on FT.

2. Same user claims "someone hacked into his profile" and put the offensive comment there, despite his not having used any public computers, and there being no other evidence of hacking into user's account.

Flyertalker gone too far, indeed.

Security is always a concern, however if the board itself had been compromised experience tells us here that the defacing would have been on a much larger scale -- if hacker or hackers got into the board they would have altered 100s of profiles not one.

Access to the server is tightly controlled -- we know who acesses the machine, and where it was accessed from -- there have been no unusual server accesses logged.

Your account may have been compromised but it has not been compromised via server or board system intrusion.

Is this techno-speak for "something smells fishy"? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I'm glad some of you find such behaviour acceptable... whoever did that to my profile got exactly what they wanted: Me not here anymore.

And I thought you had promised that a long time ago anyway.