Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!  (Read 10695 times)

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« on: October 22, 2017, 02:07:12 pm »

All requests to the dwarffortresswiki.com (not the actual site at .org) are at this moment being redirected to a phishing attack asking for your Microsoft password and displaying a poorly-made screen warning of "pornographic software" on your computer.
I presume this is related to the attack on DFwiki's database which was announced yesterday?
« Last Edit: October 22, 2017, 02:08:51 pm by Eschar »
Logged

lethosor

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2017, 02:44:45 pm »

That is entirely unrelated. http://dwarffortresswiki.org/ is the only domain used by the wiki. The ".com" domain is owned by someone else and the wiki maintainers have no control over it.
Logged
DFHack - Dwarf Manipulator (Lua) - DF Wiki talk

There was a typo in the siegers' campfire code. When the fires went out, so did the game.

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2017, 05:56:14 pm »

Is it possible for the wiki maintainers to inform the domain supplier of the site so that the wiki maintainers could register a server there which immediately redirects to the real site? I was aware that they have no control over it, hence 'zombied,' but is there a way for them to gain control?
Logged

KittyTac

  • Bay Watcher
  • Impending Catsplosion. [PREFSTRING:aloofness]
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2017, 08:55:40 pm »

All requests to the dwarffortresswiki.com (not the actual site at .org) are at this moment being redirected to a phishing attack asking for your Microsoft password and displaying a poorly-made screen warning of "pornographic software" on your computer.
I presume this is related to the attack on DFwiki's database which was announced yesterday?

I have Adguard, so it's just a blank screen for me as far as I remember.
Logged
Don't trust this toaster that much, it could be a villain in disguise.
Mostly phone-posting, sorry for any typos or autocorrect hijinks.

lethosor

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2017, 09:27:10 am »

Is it possible for the wiki maintainers to inform the domain supplier of the site so that the wiki maintainers could register a server there which immediately redirects to the real site? I was aware that they have no control over it, hence 'zombied,' but is there a way for them to gain control?
I would expect that to not be cheap, but anyone could attempt to track down whoever owns that domain and inform them (although whether they listen or can even be contacted is another matter).
Logged
DFHack - Dwarf Manipulator (Lua) - DF Wiki talk

There was a typo in the siegers' campfire code. When the fires went out, so did the game.

Quietust

  • Bay Watcher
  • Does not suffer fools gladly
    • View Profile
    • QMT Productions
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2017, 08:21:36 am »

It's entirely possible that dwarffortresswiki.com was purchased by spammers and that they would demand an exhorbitant amount of money in order to release it.

This is why it's important to know the correct domain name for websites you're visiting, including the top-level domain - there are many famous websites which will give you a totally different result if you happen to get that part wrong.
Logged
P.S. If you don't get this note, let me know and I'll write you another.
It's amazing how dwarves can make a stack of bones completely waterproof and magmaproof.
It's amazing how they can make an entire floodgate out of the bones of 2 cats.

KittyTac

  • Bay Watcher
  • Impending Catsplosion. [PREFSTRING:aloofness]
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2017, 09:11:30 am »

It's entirely possible that dwarffortresswiki.com was purchased by spammers and that they would demand an exhorbitant amount of money in order to release it.

This is why it's important to know the correct domain name for websites you're visiting, including the top-level domain - there are many famous websites which will give you a totally different result if you happen to get that part wrong.

New project: If this hasn't been done, make a "gogle.com" site that is a screamer.
Logged
Don't trust this toaster that much, it could be a villain in disguise.
Mostly phone-posting, sorry for any typos or autocorrect hijinks.

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2017, 02:59:22 pm »

Google is clever. They've bought up most similar domains and just host servers on them which immediately redirect to google.com.
Logged

PlumpHelmetMan

  • Bay Watcher
  • Try me with sauce...
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2017, 03:15:42 pm »

Yeah "gogle.com" just redirects to the Google search page.

Wonder what implications it has on my life and/or sanity that I actually bothered to test that.
Logged
It's actually pretty terrifying to think about having all of your fat melt off into grease because you started sweating too much.

King Mir

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: A lookalike wiki site has been zombied!
« Reply #9 on: December 29, 2017, 12:45:24 pm »

This is why when purchasing a domain, for serious uses you often want to buy all the top level domains with your website name. It costs more, but means people trying to visit your site aren't going to be phished or, say, redirected to a competitors website.