Watch out for hackers!!!
 

Moderators,

This probably does not belong in this forum. But I posted here to let everyone know what is happening. Could be co-incidental to our network or could be a real problem for everyone on FT. I am not technically sophisticated enough to figure it out.

Our company network (24 computers and 39 Quaalcom units) is protected with ZoneAlarm Pro. Since about 7:00AM Arizona time this morning, our network is constantly getting bombarded with pings, but only when I am connected to Flyertalk. Have shut down the network twice, trying to prevent this, but the minute I connect to Flyertalk, someone starts trying to get into our computers.

With all the publicity this morning on NBC and MSNBC (they ran the story at least twice), I can just visualize some kid in his dorm room going to our beloved site and wreaking havoc with our computers.

You're right, this doesn't belong in this forum. I would suggest posting it in "technical issues", they could probably tell you better what is going on.

I really doubt that just from visiting FT you are having someone try to hack into your computer by means of "pings". Pings are completely harmless.

pings are not necessarily harmless. Ever heard of the ping of death attack? That's why ZoneAlarm blocks by default any unsolicited pings.

thanks for the info...
 

do you think i should just shut down flyertalk for the day? i'm just a customer new to the site...

thanks... for your opintion...

Welcome to FlyerTalk. No, I would not suggest shutting down FT for the day just because of this.

The ping attacks that were mentioned are fairly old, and almost all newer versions of Windows, Unix, etc are immune to this. However, if you are running a version of Windows which is old enough to have the ping vulnerability, you have plenty of other problems to worry about - ones that can do much more damage than the "ping of death" attack.

Another note is that by visiting FT you are no more likely than when you aren't visiting FT to have someone send you pings. I can easily start pinging random computers... just because you visit FT there is no reason why you would be targeted over another random computer on the internet.

My suggestion: Keep your computer patched (by visiting http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com for Windows computers) and don't worry this.

If you still have concerns, post in the "technical issues" forum and someone can explain it more fully.

Moving this to the technical issues forum...

bhatnasx
Mileage Run Moderator

Maybe I phrased this wrong. Ping is what Zone Alarm called it. We are running XP pro on all computers. The alert from Zone Alarm states "port 137 vulnerability" "file sharing needs to be password protected". That is a direct attack on our network and only happens when connected to FT. Suggestions anyone.