PSA: Forum / Portal Software Upgraded, All Members Must Update Password

This past weekend we updated our Forum and Portal software to the latest Xenforo v2.2.1 (upgraded again since to Xenforo v2.2.2) and XenPorta 2 v2.2.0.4 respectively, and beginning today ALL members must update their password when they next login.

Why require everyone to update their passwords?

As if 2020 hasn't sucked hard enough, it appears this domain has been involved in a data breach according to a forum member who contacted us stating they recently received a Chrome browser notice to change a compromised password they apparently only used here... but unfortunately the alert didn't include any specific breach details which puts us in limbo a bit.

What can be done about reported data breaches?

Checking HaveIBeenPwned.com with the Administrator email used here it currently returns the following result:

• Good news — no pwnage found!

And when verifying our domain for their DomainSearch it returns the following also at this time:

• Domain search — no results found for psxhax.com

Not being a Cyber Security Analyst nor InfoSec Professional I examined recent forum and server logs with nothing jumping out, so in an abundance of caution we changed the related passwords on both the forums and server and updated the passwords for the associated email accounts adding 2FA to any lacking it (all while being aware of 2FA Bypass / SIM Swapping / SMS Intercepting / SIMJacking).

Are the Forums and Portal currently secure?

With the related passwords changed and the Forum / Portal software updated to the latest versions they certainly should remain secure.

Hypothetically speaking, if one of the Web hosts we've used was insecure or someone who did work for us in the past was compromised (either deliberately or unknowingly) taking the above action should remedy it.

Of course there is always a chance someone at our current host is shady, but there's equally the same chance one of the devices I work from (PC, phone, etc) was also compromised. I've since scanned, updated and re-secured the latter so until further evidence is available to the contrary we'll remain cautiously optimistic ruling out the former.

Needless to say, the Internet is a vast universe of knowledge with everything being prone to exploit... so always practice due diligence while surfing the Web online.

Here are some safety tips for less Internet-savvy users:

• We recommend enabling Two-Step Verification which can be done using a verification code via app such as Google Authenticator with your phone, email confirmation or by using backup codes.
  
  
• Use a Strong Random Password Generator with a password length of at least 16 characters including a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
  
  
• Don't reuse the same password for multiple emails, forums or sites. Instead, create a unique password for each so that if one gets breached it won't jeopardize the security of the others... if your current password was used elsewhere remember to change it there too.

As always feel free to Contact Us with any additional questions or information, and should anything change we'll update this article which will remain a Sticky in the Announcements section.

Finally, THANKS for everyone's patience during the downtime while we upgraded the Portal and Forum software and here's to hoping for a very bright and safe 2021 for all!

TL;DR: Update your password to one you don't use anywhere else.

 

[PSXHAX]

Update: Yesterday (Monday, July 31th, 2023) unauthorized IP addresses were discovered accessing the email account associated with the Admin login and consequently the server.

As a result, we cleaned, scanned and updated the passwords as well as changed the email address associated with the Admin account and resecured the forums.

Like back in 2020, we'll require everyone to update their password again.

Some forums automatically do this every 6 months, however, at this time we'll only make changing them mandatory when necessary.

As outlined in the OP, you should also change your password elsewhere if you used the same one as here.

Finally, this Announcement sticky topic will continue to be updated with any additional information as it's discovered... until then, be sure to read the OP if you haven't done so yet.