In December, the server that hosts Sentry Outpost was attacked by a virus that we now know to be Lucky5.exe. The attack irreparably damaged all of the files that we had hosted there while leaving directories and files on unused ports.

In mid-April, our forum saw a dramatic increase in registered users who claimed to have discovered the website not because of the network security focus but because a psychic in Florida had sent them a distributed puzzle via snail mail that contained the url to this website. Additionally, the packages that they received pointed them to Craigslist where the psychic appears to post her "dreams." It was through these "dreams" that we discovered the passwords to the directories left by the virus. It is still a matter of debate as to her intent and knowledge regarding the virus and Sentry Outpost.

Until just a few weeks ago, we were still in the dark about what happened to the website and how it was attacked. While searching for the virus that may have been responsible for the attack, the owner of ronomi.comdiscovered the Lucky5.exe malware. The program contains pieces of text that are similar to the text discovered in the hidden directories of our two websites as well as at least one other known infected server.That text seems to be an Arabic prayer to Yog Sothoth. Our research on this malware is still ongoing, but at this time it appears to be quite dangerous despite its extremely low viral potential.

The malware makes repeated attempts to contact various IPs selected through an algorithm that takes pieces from an Arabic prayer to Yog Sothoth. Upon a successful connection, information will be exchanged which will change the algorithm and initiate an attack on a web server similar to what occurred at Sentry Outpost in December. The purpose of this communication is not yet known.

It's notable that this malware is packaged with an installer and it will force you to agree to a rather long, convoluted, and poorly translated EULA. This EULA not only includes text about user responsibility and implications that this program will interact with your computer and the internet, but also health warnings that include symptoms such as headaches, blurred vision, light sensitivity, abnormal changes to moods and behavior, hallucinations, lucid dreaming, anxiety, and an increase in suicidal thoughts.

While the program does not seem to harm your computer, when considering the recent suicide of Kevin Cosby (aka GetMeOut) and institutionalization of Bryce Doher (aka TheMagician) as well as the bizarre dreams of "B.A. St. Feline", it is our recommendation that, if you find Lucky5.exe on your computer, you uninstall it immediately. Please note that while it seems that Lucky5.exe is a Windows malware, the compromised servers that we know of have all been UNIX variants.

If you have any information or would like to become involved in the research, please join us on the forums. We would love to hear from you!

A lot of the "boring" administrative stuff is below. Not that getting some forums and a wiki up in running isn't exciting, but how can it compete to getting our Outpost History and Jen's Betting Thread back? And, of course, there's been a bit of discussion, most recently on Pandora's Thumbdrive - an interesting piece of social hacking and play. Ok, so that's what I took from it - the others of course had their own take and we'd love to hear yours!

Even with that excitement, I must admit that it's been pretty quiet round these parts. It's just not the same without all the old posts and, really, without you. We're trying though! Bryce is still working on the server and the handful of us that have returned are dedicated to bringing this place back to its former glory. We can't do it alone. No matter how hard we try, the place just won't be the same until a few more people start helping to fill out the boards and the wiki. So, please, if you're still checking in, take the time to register an account and say hi. We'd love to see you and hear what you've been up to the past few months! And, if you're just finding us for the first time, Welcome! You came at the perfect time! So hop on over to the wiki and learn a bit more about us and the pop on over to the forums and let us know a bit more about you and your interests and of any great news you've heard in the past few weeks. Oh, and don't let Arthur scare you off. He's much more cuddly than he'd like us all to believe!

So, happy Friday the 13th! Let's hope it's your luckiest one yet!

No, don't get excited. Bryce hasn't recovered it from the ol' server (yet!). But the forum never was a good place for it anyway. It's much more suited for the wiki where we can build on to it and cross reference stuff. A living document of what we do. Imagine the possibilities!

You'll find the Threat Taxonomy on the Outpost Wiki where you are free to add whatever pages you'd like - just try to help keep things organized in the process. Like a lot of things around here, it's pretty empty and needs your help. So, go check it out and edit it to your hearts content.

As you can see from the overwhelming number of us who’ve bothered to return since the crash, we’re in a situation where each Sentry has already proven themselves an important contributor. Maybe we’ll be surprised and another fifty old sentries will show up next just having been too busy in January to re-register. But it’s more likely that we’ll be rebuilding from our smaller core group, where each of us is important.