Or Welsh weather - the rain is just like "you're screwed "

[quote=1504245919][author]<em>Retired breeder</em>[/author]Hacking is when someone goes onto your account without your permission. if you have an account it can get hacked. if they guessed your password, they were trying to get on your account. its not just "oh no i dropped my keyboard and it magicaly typed in this girl's username and password!" even if you have a bad password (like "password" or "12345") someone tried to get on your account. if they did thats hacking.[/quote:0]
eh yes? hacking is that AND going into all of howrse's files then pretty much taking over the whole game. I know this from a game called animal jam.

If people just followed the rules, posts like this wouldn't need to be written...

- Heisa

Unfortunately Heisa, it isnt that simple anymore.

But then again if nobody broke the rules then we wouldn't have our wonderful mods on howrse

What we do makes us who we are lets hope that the mean, disrespectful and players that back are not the same without a computer screen to hide behind



No it is certainly not
Unfortunately not

Whoops meant **hack** not **back**

I think that players should have to change their password once every 6 months. THis means that mods could still be around but there would be less hacking incidents.
Does anyone agree or is it just my crazy brain?

I agree too but there is some people which are really forgotable so that means that they may forget they password and I think having to say every person on the game to change their password is so complicated so that´s why I think they may not do it, but you can change it on your profile if you wish!

Clarke

And also make very complicated passwords!

I used to have really simple passwords like one time it was horses. I was never hacked but I did realise and changed it to something more personal. I was like 9 or 10 when I had these passwords (4 or 5 years ago). If anyone around that age is reading this, please make sure your pass isnt simple I was very lucky nobody guessed.

Isn't there a system that keeps users from using too simple passworts like '1234' and forces them to have a passwort with numbers, capital letters, ect?

I assumed this game has a passwort control like any other website, especially since it's possible to use real money.

Might be now but not back then.

I totally agree but then you go to enter your orrignal password then realize you've ented the wrong password and cant remember the other one but good idea!

true but um

Hacking is a criminal offense that is punishable by law.

For some weeks ago me and two friends that I trusted joked about how amazing it would be to have a "top" account, with equus passes etc. However, unfortunately for me I was set up and this conversation was shared with the players we were joking about.

There are three- four ways to hack an account and they are all illegal. Some more than others. It is not that easy to guess someone's password, and if it happens, you can report that to the law.

What is also important to remember is that if you do get hacked, you need to change every password you have. If someone guess your password, and if they have access to your email you can fall victim to ID theft among other things.

Always use challenging passwords, and never use the same one's for other pages. I have one password for my howrse game, and it is near to impossible to guess it.
If you are unsure, you can use a password generator f.example for suggestions.

Write it down and use it until you know it by heart.

You can also start off with a "simpler one" lets say 7HiiDp5(this is just an example and not a passwrd) and when you remember it you can slowly add one and one number. I do this and most of my passwords are 20 characters and longer.

Never trust anyone with your password and never accept trades outside the game. You might think you know someone but then they end up betray you and suddenly your agreement about x horses for y items are refused and you sit there for neither.

Have fun while playing, but remember that on the internet anyone can pretend to be someone they are not.

While the above post is incredibly useful regarding password strength and, for real, that's some incredible advice, I need to point out that 'hacking' is a completely different thing to someone guessing your password.

First off, I should mention that hacking is a very broad term and the terms 'hacking' and hacker' themselves are most often used in reference to legal hacking, i.e. people who hack as their main area of work. Malicious hacking is more often known as 'cracking' and, by default, malicious hackers known as 'crackers', so that's how I shall refer to them from here on out.

Crackers will never go for just some random account that holds absolutely no authority over the website, in fact, they'll very rarely even go for mods. Crackers are only interested in high-authority, usually admin, accounts and it's not just a case of guessing their password either. Crackers use special programming that installs 'back doors' into coding, allowing said cracker unauthorised access to whatever it is they're trying to access, exactly as if they're sneaking in through the 'back doors'. They nearly always will do this with malicious intent, the primary reason usually being to steal the personal information of the site's users.

However, this should not give any of you a reason to worry. Reason being? Well, this isn't a particularly high profile website, is it? Crackers are not after the details of a site whose main user base consists of pre-teen girls. While it's true that monetary details are input and potentially stored here, it's really not that big a deal in the grand scheme of websites. There are so many sites that crackers can choose to waste their time trying to break into and this really isn't one of them.

"But, Pixies, someone hacked into my account and now stuff on my account is gone!!!11!1"

Alrighty, well, let's try and work out why this has happened because, you guessed it, your account has probably not been 'hacked' and it's more likely that either someone has guessed your password or there's been an issue with your account. Go into your setting and then into your login history. See anything there that looks out of place, i.e, someone logging in from a different IP address or even from a different country?

The first thing you should always do if you think someone has gained unauthorised access to your account is change your password and I would highly suggest using Emrina's above information on password safety. The most likely thing that's happened is that someone has guessed it and used it to access your account without you knowing.

Did you have your password written down somewhere? Delete it immediately. You should always try to memorise your password.

Do you save your password so that you don't have to type it in everytime on a computer that you share with someone else? Clear your cache/saved passwords immediately and do not allow it to save your password in the future, as other people who use that computer may be able to access your account again.

Do you use the Howrse app and has someone else recently used your phone/tablet? Remember to log out after each Howrse session, even on your personal mobile/tablet, as it will keep you logged in. If someone else occasionally uses your mobile/tablet, they may be able to access your account.

Have you ever told your password to anyone else? That's... why would you even do that? That's literally the worst thing. Don't do that. Ever.

If you don't notice any anomalies in your login history and none of the above potential password security breaches apply to you, then it's more than likely noone has actually logged into your account without you knowing.

Next thing to do now is check your pass history, equus history and item history. If you've noticed passes, BMIs or horses disappearing and find no trace of them being used or sold in any of these histories, send a ticket through with screenshots to Contact Us and they'll be able to help you out.

I'm gonna stop here because this post is already waaay long, but I just wanted to clear up a lot of the misconceptions I'd been reading. Stay safe, Howrsers!

Oh, and I forgot to add -- if anyone has any questions regarding any of what I said, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to explain!

Hi an yes sorry, I realize I had explained myself poorly.

As you write, hacking in something completely different. I was accused of planning this which probably also shows a slight misconception on what it is. As KickingPixies says, if you account has been "hacked" you have probably a too easy password.

Also, if you do get a backdoor virus or malware on your laptop, this can also be the cause but it is unlikely as it is not really anything to gain from it. (yiu do not have credit cards details here f.example)

Is it really so hard NOT to trade!? there are trustworthy ways to do this eg bmi extange. Horse extange are NOT allowed. And every message of even time I get saying things like
"ill swap you --- for Pegusas/winter"

I'm like seriously! Things wrong with that statement

1) no trading
2) don't even make ridiculous offers (it states on my page)
3) winter isn't sellable
4) why would I sell Pegusas she is my first horse!

------

However in 1 way I am glad of these silly instedences which is we have our wonderful mods!
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i dont get this but soon i will if i read it again

I think that they should that's a good idea!!

I think hackers are selfish
sorry I just had to say that....!

my password was weak.... Is that bad....

Not my password like what it is.... But the little bar on the side read weak.

Weak means what it says - your password is not very secure.

You can add or substitute numbers or characters to make it stronger.