Addressing website bans

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Steve Sokolowski
Posts: 4585
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 3:27 pm
Location: State College, PA

Addressing website bans

Post by Steve Sokolowski » Tue Oct 12, 2021 9:55 am

About 889,000 IP addresses are currently banned from accessing Prohashing's website. These addresses failed repeated captcha attempts while attempting to log into Prohashing's systems. The characteristics of the behavior are almost impossible to be caused by an ordinary human's actions. All traffic from these IP addresses is simply ignored at the router, so that CPU usage on downstream servers remains low.

We'll be glad to help affected customers regain access to the website, but in return, we need to insist that you resolve the root cause of the problem. Unfortunately, we can't unblock IP addresses without determining the cause of the problem, because that would create too much unnecessary server load.

The server bans are caused by malware on your network. If you are connected directly to the Internet, then the source of the issue is that your computer is infected. Perform a virus scan on the computer and resolve the issue.

If the network is behind a router, then all devices on the network need to be inspected to determine the cause of the issue. Many homes have as many as 50 devices, and all of them need to be checked:
  • Desktops
  • Phones
  • Tablets
  • Security cameras (widely known to be a major source of attacks)
  • Voice assistants like Alexa
  • Light bulbs
  • Game consoles
  • TVs
  • Thermostats
  • Door locks
  • Washers and dryers
  • Streaming devices like Fire TV sticks
  • Mining ASICs
  • The router itself
If you access the router's bandwidth logs, you should be able to analyze which devices are sending a lot of traffic. Regardless of how much troubleshooting you do with the router:
  • Upgrade all devices, including smart devices like light bulbs, to the latest firmware
  • Scan all computers for viruses
  • Ensure that ASICs using custom firmware are not infected
  • Reboot everything once you've upgraded and scanned it to make sure the virus is removed from memory
  • If you have not changed the root passwords for your surveillance camera, do that immediately
  • Change the root password for all other devices on your network, including the router
Once you've done this and cleared the infection, feel free to submit a support ticket and Paula will be glad to help you regain access!
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Banished_Privateer
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:49 am

Re: Addressing website bans

Post by Banished_Privateer » Tue Oct 12, 2021 3:10 pm

I've regained access and I'm sure that my devices are not infected. Website works for me again. The issue could be simply dynamic IP and the one I received was already blacklisted perhaps.
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