I'm sincerely sorry. We have taken steps to ensure this won't happen again.
Unfortunitly we've been targted by some quite presistant spammers ove rthe last week. I have of course deleted the accounts, private messages and added the originating IPs to our ban list both here and in IIS.
We are working to tackle this exact problem with our InstantForum.NET 2011 update. Unfortunately it's not easy to stop the most determined spammers if you get targeted however the improvements coming in 2011 will help.
We've revamped the reputation system and we are currently workig on a rules engine that will allow you as an administator to create rules that will restirct access to certain features based on reputation.
Reputation is no longer simply linked to your post count but now various actions you perform within the forum. As you participate your reputation will increase unlocking certain features As an administrator you can define the number of points awarded for each action. So far we have over 20 actions that award points and i'm sure this will increase.
For example this would help here as it would allow you as an administrator to disable the ability for new members to post emails or private message until they reach a certain reputation level within your community. As a members reputation increases and they can be trusted certain features will become available such as email, PMs, Signatures etc based on your rules.
I look forward to posting news on 2011 ASAP.
The changes we made within the Admin CP yesterday should ensure this won't happen again whilst we prepare the 2011 update. If you do see any unsolicated emails or PMs of course please let me know and we'll immediately ban the member and look how they got around the system.
We'll continue to monitor this. If i can assist with anything of course please don't hesitate to respond here,

Kindest Regards,
Ryan Healey
ryan@instantasp.co.ukwww.instantasp.co.ukBlog | Community |
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