Disscussion group hacked

[SHRED]

http://sandiegotalks.com

I enjoyed this discussion group but it has been hacked.

Geek questions:

Since no registration is required to post, does that make a site more venerable?
What steps can I suggest to the proprietor to safeguard it?

[bemildred]

1. Probably not.

It sounds like a server security issue, someone got
unauthorized access to the, ummm, infrastructure of the
site; that indicates a lack of understanding of security
issues or a very sophisticated attacker.

Random internet users should never be able to meddle with
the running gear for the site, registered or not.

[bemildred]

2. Specifics require knowing the software involved, but generally:

a.) Ensure that only the ports you want open are open, i.e. have
server software of some sort answering connection requests.

b.) Ensure that all known exploits of the server software you are
running have been addressed.

c.) If you are using services with issues, like mail, make
sure they are configured securely, and don't use broken clients like
Outlook, IE, etc. to the extent that is possible.