ATS Incident Analysis

originally posted by: unknowndude

originally posted by: Dandandat3
Database error that the owner can't fix on a sight that they can't monetize... server space is paid up for the month.

But new logins work, so it isn't like the database is locked out. Its reading and writing. Database errors are usually all or nothing with the same actions, like two diff users logging in! Like unknownguy and unknowndude. But we will see soon, huh?! I'm giving it 3 months for that.

Agreed server space may be paid up for on a longer time period than a month. It may be some time before lights out.

Database error could have been localized just to the login/username/password table. Wipped out all old logins, but doesn't prevent new accounts or new threads.

This would suggest the owner is still able to connect through the admin account as that info surely would have been stored elsewhere on the backend.

Owner, not being able to restore the old accounts, coupled with the fact that they can't monetize the site like they had wanted too, might have decided to just abandon it. They have admin privileges but no desire to do anything with those privileges at this point.

Depending on the mentality of the owner; they could be one of the people spamming the site at this point. Having a little fun, blowing off steam as they watch their boat sink.... or they just don't care, they wrote off the money they suck into the site and are moving on.

originally posted by: Dandandat3

originally posted by: unknowndude

originally posted by: Dandandat3
Database error that the owner can't fix on a sight that they can't monetize... server space is paid up for the month.

But new logins work, so it isn't like the database is locked out. Its reading and writing. Database errors are usually all or nothing with the same actions, like two diff users logging in! Like unknownguy and unknowndude. But we will see soon, huh?! I'm giving it 3 months for that.

Agreed server space may be paid up for on a longer time period than a month. It may be some time before lights out.

Database error could have been localized just to the login/username/password table. Wipped out all old logins, but doesn't prevent new accounts or new threads.

This would suggest the owner is still able to connect through the admin account as that info surely would have been stored elsewhere on the backend.

Owner, not being able to restore the old accounts, coupled with the fact that they can't monetize the site like they had wanted too, might have decided to just abandon it. They have admin privileges but no desire to do anything with those privileges at this point.

Depending on the mentality of the owner; they could be one of the people spamming the site at this point. Having a little fun, blowing off steam as they watch their boat sink.... or they just don't care, they wrote off the money they suck into the site and are moving on.

Lots of good thoughts here! I could see someone wreaking the login password column with a bad query or code and then mass changing the compromised accounts email so that you could reset them. But i would have figured some kind of posting from them. If the posts i found just now are not actually related to darko, then we havent heard anything and we should have by now, i would think.

a reply to: Dandandat3

"This site has been run by three-letter oversight agencies since its inception to monitor internet trends. Unfortunately, the present information war, is a hotbed of disinformation that is counterproductive to the narrative. As all government personnel are now very busy it has been decided to "chaos" the site for the duration. Thank you all for your participation, and we hope to all chat again on the other side"

originally posted by: annonentity
a reply to: Dandandat3

"This site has been run by three-letter oversight agencies since its inception to monitor internet trends. Unfortunately, the present information war, is a hotbed of disinformation that is counterproductive to the narrative. As all government personnel are now very busy it has been decided to "chaos" the site for the duration. Thank you all for your participation, and we hope to all chat again on the other side"

Good story; but it over inflates the importance of ATS. The content of this sight isn't worth three letter agencies carrying enough to do anything about it, let alone run it.

a reply to: unknowndude

4. Censorship

I think during the Trump Hillary election ATS was very much at the forefront that brought all the Clinton's bs and corruption to the forefront.

I would not be surprised that this site will no longer exist by election time and if it does it will be destroyed to the point it will provide no value due to self implosion and un-meaningful discussions.

Twitter is the only other place under Elon that provided some place for those that go against the narrative to question things. However twitter with the new WEF CEO at the helm and her "REACH" mambo jumbo double speak bs terminology and Elon recent post about pay Tiers for REACH ( aka censorship) Biden will likely get 141 Trillion votes.

a reply to: unknowndude

Just wanted to report back, I did some looking over at discord. As best as i can tell, the owner is a bitcoin dude, and left Darko his programmer buddy in charge of ATS. No contact with owner possible, and Darko has been dark since June 22nd. There was a post about how ATS was too much for him and he was frustrated and possibly bailed. Any former people who would know the real owners are banned and gone.

My bet at this point is that the sites db got jacked as far as login passwords and emails (perhaps corrupted index), through inattention or a vulnerability (or both) a hacker/bad patch fubared the site. Db is a few TBs in size and we would likely see the site go down for a bit and come back up in a previous state, that would take some time.

That Mrs Darko account looks to be fake. Overall, not feeling confident there will be a recovery soon. Maybe if someone could reach the owner. The saga continues...

Would be sensible to ask ourselves; who benefits from this?

I might be wrong, but its not my impression that ATS is a source of great income.
So I cant imagine it being a ransom hack.

Who benefits?

Are we as a community getting better at highlighting obvious inconsistencies?

Does someone think ATS would be a good place to drive a narrative / use us as a tool for misinformation?

It's not like we are necessarily reaching the masses...

Also, I dont see ATS as being either red or blue. To me it seems rather balanced with opinions and facts from both sides of the aisle.

Could it be a controlled one-off case? Get just enough time to cleanse out the most damning threads... and then let the site run again?

If they didnt want ATS to exist, they wouldnt allow us to remake our accounts so easily.

originally posted by: RememberRemember
Would be sensible to ask ourselves; who benefits from this?

I might be wrong, but its not my impression that ATS is a source of great income.
So I cant imagine it being a ransom hack.

Who benefits?

Are we as a community getting better at highlighting obvious inconsistencies?

Does someone think ATS would be a good place to drive a narrative / use us as a tool for misinformation?

It's not like we are necessarily reaching the masses...

Also, I dont see ATS as being either red or blue. To me it seems rather balanced with opinions and facts from both sides of the aisle.

Could it be a controlled one-off case? Get just enough time to cleanse out the most damning threads... and then let the site run again?

If they didnt want ATS to exist, they wouldnt allow us to remake our accounts so easily.

Good questions! I doubt this "hack" was preplanned and executed with intent to follow through and takeover the site. What i mean, is that it you were able to lock out all users, you had enough access to give you admin privileges in the login tables, by replacing the admin password and email if nothing else. We aren't seeing admin or mod activity consistent with a takeover, imo. Maybe some auto rules kicking some things.. So to me, that means the action in question was a one off, not a coordinated attack following a plan to actually do something with ATS. Unless they got lucky, got an injection or whatever to work but only used update password and email to blank? Perhaps, but this would have to couple with an AWOL admin, which to be fair does seem to be the case.

So to summarize, either it was an oopsie by darko and co, or someone only wanted to cripple ATS, not take it over. Both cases would have to involve darko going AWOL, as we havent had any comms or fixes from him and the situation doesnt change that. I suppose this really isnt much new info, but it does rule out some of the more esoteric options for me. And I like those!

a reply to: unknowndude


I don't think the darkos ever owned this site....that deal seemed so contrived and scripted.

A conspiracy site embroiled in a big conspiracy.....a red herring to hide the actors behind the curtains.

This is much more interesting than the Maga/lefties evolution ats became.

originally posted by: lilzazz
a reply to: unknowndude


I don't think the darkos ever owned this site....that deal seemed so contrived and scripted.

A conspiracy site embroiled in a big conspiracy.....a red herring to hide the actors behind the curtains.

This is much more interesting than the Maga/lefties evolution ats became.

From what I've learned, Darko never owned it but knew the owners and was brought in to monetize it. Though like you indicated, who can really say what is real at this point?

I do gotta admit, this mystery part I am enjoying! Much more entertaining than ATS thursday if nothing else, though i could do without the nasty and hateful stuff.

Not being able to reach the owners is a bad, bad thing though. Not normal. Sites should have owners, management, and communication with the members. This one hasn't been right for a while it seems.

Hmnn....

I repeat myself....

Hmnm...

a reply to: Peters5211

Darko was using the site with backlinks a particular thread backlink to another site to create traffic to the other side which was a site for some lawyer I've mentioned this over and over and yet nobody seems to acknowledge unfortunately this is why I was banned he has been using this forum to boost up traffic to other sites there's your monetization his own monetization for himself or whoever

originally posted by: unknowndude

originally posted by: lilzazz
a reply to: unknowndude


I don't think the darkos ever owned this site....that deal seemed so contrived and scripted.

A conspiracy site embroiled in a big conspiracy.....a red herring to hide the actors behind the curtains.

This is much more interesting than the Maga/lefties evolution ats became.

From what I've learned, Darko never owned it but knew the owners and was brought in to monetize it. Though like you indicated, who can really say what is real at this point?

I do gotta admit, this mystery part I am enjoying! Much more entertaining than ATS thursday if nothing else, though i could do without the nasty and hateful stuff.

Not being able to reach the owners is a bad, bad thing though. Not normal. Sites should have owners, management, and communication with the members. This one hasn't been right for a while it seems.

originally posted by: FaeDedAgain
Darko was using the site with backlinks a particular thread backlink to another site to create traffic to the other side which was a site for some lawyer I've mentioned this over and over and yet nobody seems to acknowledge unfortunately this is why I was banned he has been using this forum to boost up traffic to other sites there's your monetization his own monetization for himself or whoever

originally posted by: unknowndude

originally posted by: lilzazz
a reply to: unknowndude


I don't think the darkos ever owned this site....that deal seemed so contrived and scripted.

A conspiracy site embroiled in a big conspiracy.....a red herring to hide the actors behind the curtains.

This is much more interesting than the Maga/lefties evolution ats became.

From what I've learned, Darko never owned it but knew the owners and was brought in to monetize it. Though like you indicated, who can really say what is real at this point?

I do gotta admit, this mystery part I am enjoying! Much more entertaining than ATS thursday if nothing else, though i could do without the nasty and hateful stuff.

Not being able to reach the owners is a bad, bad thing though. Not normal. Sites should have owners, management, and communication with the members. This one hasn't been right for a while it seems.

Hmmm, was there any threads still up talking about that? This would be worth a read if it survived the purges.

originally posted by: unknowndude
a reply to: unknowndude

So i just found these posts from MrsDarko. Is this the real one? What's the verdict?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

neat but . . . . .


Joined Oct 23 2023, scroll down all the way and see posts from April 2023 -- how possible? 😂 hijack/hacked account

originally posted by: WingDingLuey1

originally posted by: unknowndude
a reply to: unknowndude

So i just found these posts from MrsDarko. Is this the real one? What's the verdict?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

neat but . . . . .


Joined Oct 23 2023, scroll down all the way and see posts from April 2023 -- how possible? 😂 hijack/hacked account

Yeah, definitely not, but some interesting post data there though. Before the reset, yet is posting.

Original ATS hijacked and mirrored.

Like renaming you config file.

originally posted by: AlongCameaSpider
Original ATS hijacked and mirrored.

Like renaming you config file.

I mean, it definitely seems to be the same ATS, just minus all users pre d day and no word from above. A config error is a possibility, but if a human did it, did they check it and then say screw it and run with no word to anyone after seeing they fubared it? I hope not! Doesn't seem that bad to recover to me, but I don't think anyone is on it.

originally posted by: unknowndude

originally posted by: FaeDedAgain
Darko was using the site with backlinks a particular thread backlink to another site to create traffic to the other side which was a site for some lawyer I've mentioned this over and over and yet nobody seems to acknowledge unfortunately this is why I was banned he has been using this forum to boost up traffic to other sites there's your monetization his own monetization for himself or whoever

originally posted by: unknowndude

originally posted by: lilzazz
a reply to: unknowndude


I don't think the darkos ever owned this site....that deal seemed so contrived and scripted.

A conspiracy site embroiled in a big conspiracy.....a red herring to hide the actors behind the curtains.

This is much more interesting than the Maga/lefties evolution ats became.

From what I've learned, Darko never owned it but knew the owners and was brought in to monetize it. Though like you indicated, who can really say what is real at this point?

I do gotta admit, this mystery part I am enjoying! Much more entertaining than ATS thursday if nothing else, though i could do without the nasty and hateful stuff.

Not being able to reach the owners is a bad, bad thing though. Not normal. Sites should have owners, management, and communication with the members. This one hasn't been right for a while it seems.

Hmmm, was there any threads still up talking about that? This would be worth a read if it survived the purges.

I was thinking about this, and if what you are saying is true, then cutting this flow off somehow would be the way to get someone's attention! Not sure how at the moment, but just a thought!

a reply to: unknowndude
I saw this too and I do believe that is her or whoever. I saw this after I posted that the last time she logged in was June. I guess all the chatter about them brought an appearance?

originally posted by: unknowndude
Greetings ATS peers!

As everyone is no doubt aware by now, this site is in quite a predicament. All users were locked out and forced to recreate their user accounts, including mods, and no word from the owners/admins on what's up. A ship without a captain.

Now since this is ATS after all, we have a few theories on what is going on, as well as alot of bs being spewed by the bots/ai/spammers. So far we have:

1. Got hacked by outside parties
2. Some kind of configuration or database error
3. These actions were planned and intentional for unknown reasons by the owners

Now for me, 1 and 2 dont make alot of sense if we expect the owners to check in more frequently than 4 months ago. Now if 1 or 2 happened and the owners are MIA and unaware, maybe, but I am assuming they bought it for a reason, like to make money, so this doesn't jive with me unless there are other reasons.

3 seems more and more likely the longer we go like this. If ATS is still up and in this state in 3 months, my vote goes to this one, as someone has to pay the bills. And who pays bills on something they've ignored?

What do you guys think? As this situation unfolds, I would like to use this thread to notate any notable events, like mods now moderating or some word from Darko or others in the know, and discuss the possibilities.

Just to report back, Mods are back in and ATS is being cleaned up. More details to come from them soon hopefully, but in short... THANKS _GHOST_!