Avsim hacked!

[Linguofreak]

Hopefully Orbiter add-on makers will take a lesson from this and upload their Orbiter files to OrbitHangar, where they should be in the first place. This is the exact reason why Vash started linking to other sites on OH. If I'm a user, I don't want to have to hunt all over the internet for addons, especially when there's no reason at all to use AVSIM over OH. It requires a login to even access the files, it has more downtime, and (now we see) it is less secure.

Better yet, take a lesson from this and upload to *both*. Avsim isn't as secure as Orbithangar (or at least wasn't, that may change in the wake of all this), but it could happen to Orbithangar. Maybe not a hack per-se, maybe Vash dies (God forbid), and we don't have anyone to host for us anymore. Wouldn't it be nice to have it all backed up to Avsim? The very mistake Avsim made was putting all their eggs in one basket. The Orbiter community should make an effort not to do the same. Even if Avsim continues to be unreliable, it is another basket.

 

[Ghostrider]

Probably hackers like the game of hide and seek, an emotional drive.

Please don't call those vandals "hackers". A "hackers" is an individual who likes to "hack" metal and code in order to push the hardware/software to the limits and to explore new possibilities. The media has already criminalized the hacker community enough, throwing them in with defacers and crackers.

 

[Urwumpe]

Please don't call those vandals "hackers". A "hackers" is an individual who likes to "hack" metal and code in order to push the hardware/software to the limits and to explore new possibilities. The media has already criminalized the hacker community enough, throwing them in with defacers and crackers.

Also, many people overestimate the effort of defacing a website - it is just the mechanic downloading and application of finished software. Such people have never done the work of researching security holes. Or turned the exploit into software - somebody else did it for them.

You just need criminal energy, but not skills of any kind.

Hacking, white hat or black hat, is still not about defacing websites. If you can hack, you are interested in bigger stuff. White hat hackers earn money by protection services and conferences, black hat by stealing information or taking websites hostage.

Defacing is done by the incapable.

 

[ar81]

When I did some research to find clues on the chemistry of life support systems, I discovered that "crap" is basically output of a bioreactor, or the product of a chemical reaction.

If we think that software is the product or output of the biochemical reaction that takes place in our brain-bioreactor, then all software in the world is crap.:lol::rofl:

Defacing is done by the incapable.

Well, they need to be capable of pushing ENTER on a keyboard, or clicking a mouse... :lol:

 

[to be]

If I remember correctly, Emap MFD was on avsim. I was actually just going to (re)download it, and then this... Does anyone have it? I may have it laying around somewhere if not.

 

[Artlav]

If I remember correctly, Emap MFD was on avsim. I was actually just going to (re)download it, and then this... Does anyone have it? I may have it laying around somewhere if not.

"Emap MFD" as in "Extended Map MFD 1.0"?
If yes, i got it:
http://orbides.1gb.ru/mapmfd.zip

I backed up all of Orbit Hanger, but it was back after M6 crash.
Never thought of backing up AVSIM unfortunately.

 

[dbeachy1]

O-F staff note: off-topic FSX vs. X-Plane posts moved to new thread here: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=8273. As Tex said earlier, let's please stay on-topic in this thread. Thanks.

 

[ise_slc]

how come they had a huge file database without an offline backup???

 

[ar81]

how come they had a huge file database without an offline backup???

Same entrepreneural risk management words of wisdom:
-"It will never happen to me"
-"It never happened before, therefore it will never happen"

 

[garyw]

or they may have THOUGHT they did until they tried to restore.

 

[RangerPL]

First SimNasa, now this... Someone hates simulators recently.

I have a backup of rendezvous MFD if anyone needs it... Makes Rendezvous & Docking easy.

 

[to be]

"Emap MFD" as in "Extended Map MFD 1.0"?
If yes, i got it:
http://orbides.1gb.ru/mapmfd.zip

I backed up all of Orbit Hanger, but it was back after M6 crash.
Never thought of backing up AVSIM unfortunately.

Yep, that is it! Thanks! On a side note, I wonder if the author could be asked about it being uploaded to orbit-hangar. It is a very useful MFD, although it does have one rather annoying bug (crossing out of the sphere of influence of a a planet at high time acceleration will crash orbiter).

 

[RW"Packrat"Ray]

It is unfortunate

AVSIM, SimNASA, attempts elsewhere... Guys, we can stand around bashing the operators of these sites or we can realize that they weren't the only targets. Or, quite likely, even the real targets.

We can call these hacker attacks or vandals or a myriad of other names, but my attitude is that these internet pukes are in the same category as real life terrorists. That is to say there is no other intent here than the disruption of our lives.

I know for a fact that some of the folks attacked do not run a business from their site, but provide it as a hobby for the fun and enjoyment of all who come along and appreciate their efforts. The only thing that such crap attacks do is deny everyone else the chance for that enjoyment. For that reason alone, IMHO, we need to stop blaming the site admins and get to the bottom of the attacks themselves. That's my two cents worth.

 

[fort]

I had a thought for this realized by Ronald Dandurand - woodylepic for FS 2004 and that was on the site AVSIM. I rediscovered it on internet today.

http://www.orbitersim.com/Forum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=4138

http://www.gameroom.com/nungesser/Nungesser_and_coli.htm

I can believe that there were on AVSIM many other wonders.

fort

 

[Graham2001]

On this subject, perhaps those people who have downloaded material from AVSIM could consider uploading it to Orbiter Hangar, that way at least some of it will still be available.

I'll start going through what I have if anyone is interested.

 

[Unstung]

I'm surprised Avsim has been around for so long, and has enough publicity to have its own BBC article.

 

[bradfirj92]

The avsim file library is assumed to be intact as the storage array wasn't compromised (they think).

 

[garyw]

On this subject, perhaps those people who have downloaded material from AVSIM could consider uploading it to Orbiter Hangar, that way at least some of it will still be available.

I'll start going through what I have if anyone is interested.

Not without the authors permission and Vash's permission.

 

[Moonwalker]

I'm surprised Avsim has been around for so long, and has enough publicity to have its own BBC article.

This is because AVSIM basically is or was (at least for now...) focused on MSFS which has the largest flight simulation community. AVSIM did arrange exhibitions for software and hardware known and used by both, hobby pilots and real pilots as well as aviation industry people around the globe.

---------- Post added at 07:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

Well, it is just my hypotheses which came into my mind today...

AVSIM had financial problems not insignificantly caused by reduced advertising revenues because of the financial crisis. Also, they had technical problems for some time already - slow downloads like during the good old ISDN days and partly loss of connections. Me and lots of others noticed those problems for month already. There was a feeling that maintenance was very bad, if there was any at all any time recently.

They announced that since the hack, they've got that much money due to donations they never got during the last 13 years of operation, which allegedly ensures future existence of AVSIM.

Honestly: I can not imagine that they never thought/were aware of the risks of a hack and loosing all the data. They just run everything on two servers which backed up themselves simultaneously and that's it? Everything is just lost?

If the "hack" was not pretended or permitted (if it was a hack at all and not technical problems), they honestly at least were more than rather stupid to handle a 13 year old international source that much irresponsible.

 

[Urwumpe]

AvSim did also host many bigger add-ons for simulators outside their file library and had a pretty active community of reviews of commercial add-ons.