Robin Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 Considering the amount of misinformation being spread at the moment, and the shocking lack of understanding on how communication software like the Nin Online forum works, I felt the need to clarify some things about Nin, the internet and security in general. Database StorageEvery single time you use a piece of software like Nin's forum or game you're presented with a wealth of information. This information does not come out of nowhere. It is stored in something called a database. For you to do something on this website and have it pushed out and shown to everyone around the world we store the information and a bunch of metadata in a table. Every time someone loads a webpage information is pulled from this table and presented to the user. Your messages, post count, avatar, name, e-mail address, hashed password, profile information, shoutbox posts etc. are all stored on this server. Some of this information is accessible to people through the front-end, some not. As I host this website on my VPS I have root access to all of this data, regardless of whether our software grants access through the front-end or not. This is not something unique to Nin Online. We use something called Invision Power Board to power our forum. This handles most of the forum functionality for us and this type of software is baseline standard across the entire industry. Everything you as a normal user have access to is only a fraction of the information stored. We keep full logs of every single thing which has ever happened on this website. Deleted posts and threads, locked accounts, hidden content, redundant forum sections... none of these things are ever wiped from the database. They're archived in the database for moderation and logging. Nin's moderation and administration team have limited access to hidden data through the front-end for the sake of moderating content, dealing with abuse reports and keeping everything running smoothly. If you have something you don't want to be read by myself or any of the other community leaders then for God's sake don't store that information in my database. I can't believe I actually have to say this. Every single website ever created stores this exact same information on you. Anything you can access through the internet is stored somewhere in the world on a computer. The internet is not run by magic. Educate yourself to stay safe. Privacy & Security OnlineI'm honestly worried by some of the situations being discussed, hypothetically or not. People talking about sending their account passwords through the PM system, talking about sending their parents credit card information to their friends... this is insanely dangerous. Please do not share sensitive information about yourself or your parents with anyone, regardless of whether it's online or not. We store things like your password using standard data-storage security. Your password is linked to your account using a checksum hash using account-specific salt. This makes it infeasible for someone to determine your password from the information stored in the database. However, if you send this as free text through a server like the PM system then you're effectively bypassing all of the security we have in place to protect you. If you're sending through the credit card information of your parents to anyone without their permission not only are you absolute scum and a thief, you're opening up your family to financial hardship and identity theft. Don't do something you're going to regret. As you can see from the first section, everything you do on Nin Online can be read like a book, regardless of who has this information. Right now Rory and I are the only ones with root access to the database, but God-forbid we ever do have a security incident where information is stolen by a malicious person then they'll have the exact same information. Please keep this in mind when using all online services. Several high-profile companies have had security incidents like this in recent years, and we make use of the exact same security systems that they do. Keep separate passwords for different sites and never use your e-mail password on any account linked to it. GeneralThere are thousands of articles online which will teach you how internet services work and how to stay safe using them. Please, for the sake of yourself and everyone around you, Get Safe Online. If you have a need for true anonymity online then don't use a service like Skype, Facebook or any mainstream internet service. You can remain anonymous online by using a service like Tor and, by extension, Tor Chat. If you have any questions regarding safe use of the internet in general, or how your data is used in Nin then please get in touch via PM. Stay safe,Robin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sipher Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 To add to Robin's lecture, always remember to put a condom on your desktop computer or laptop for an added layer of protection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endou Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 To add to Robin's lecture, always remember to put a condom on your desktop computer or laptop for an added layer of protection. I bet someone really is going to do that xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akiro Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 I bet someone really is going to do that xDWait your not meant to do that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hei Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 To add to Robin's lecture, always remember to put a condom on your desktop computer or laptop for an added layer of protection.Been doing it for years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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