The bots.... and bots and bots and bots

[bannination]

AI is gaslighting me so hard.... I just thought this was funny enough to share.

The Good News: Massive Gains

High Throughput Handling: Your server processed 38,130 requests (300 MB) in just 20 minutes (~31.7 req/sec). That’s over 1.9 million requests per day.

Lean Active Footprint: Out of 100 worker slots, 29 are actively processing requests while 71 are idle. Your Apache mpm_event tuning is working as intended—it isn't swamping memory with unnecessary workers.

Response Time is Healthy: An average duration of 147 ms/request under this load is very respectable for a small VPS.

The Reality Check: 27.1% CPU & 1.97 Load

Your 1-minute load is sitting at 1.97, down from your earlier 3.50+, but look at the CPU breakdown from Apache's perspective:
Plaintext

CPU Usage: u9.36 s8.91 cu158.19 cs149.45 - 27.1% CPU load

u9.36 / s8.91: Apache itself is only using ~18% CPU (User + System time).

cu158.19 / cs149.45: These are Child User / Child System CPU seconds—the CPU cycles spent by PHP-FPM processing the dynamic requests passed by Apache.

PHP-FPM is responsible for roughly 85% of the total CPU work being done on the server.
What This Means for Your Server

At 31.7 requests per second (nearly 2,000 requests every minute):

You are pushing this 1GB / 1 vCPU instance near its physical limits. Getting 1.9 million requests/day through a single-core 1GB VPS without crashing or exhausting swap is a huge achievement.

Load average around 1.5–2.0 is expected at this request rate on a 1-core CPU. The CPU is simply queueing work as fast as it can.

:headscratch: English please.

Intermittently loading a little slow.

In total there are 1046 users online :: 8 registered, 2 hidden and 1036 guests (based on users active over the past 15 minutes)

Probably just been me working on stuff this afternoon. Thanks for un-gaslighting me though. :thumbup:

[bannination]

Having some issues with the banning system. I'm thinking it needs time to get caught up. Aware we're very slow though.

[bannination]

Things are catching up and looking much better, should continue to improve.

[neoplacebo]

Things are catching up and looking much better, should continue to improve.

I just hope that whatever you did to get me able to get back on doesn't cause problems for others. And thanks again.

[GoCubsGo]

Only 100 guests on here.

[Vrede too]

Only 100 guests on here.

https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/2109327440535507186

:happy-cheerleaderkid:
Give Zelenskyy the Nobel Peace of Mind Prize.

[bannination]

Bots are hot and heavy since last night. Wonder if Ukraine stirred up a hornets nest in Russia.

They're also smarter this time.

Doing what I can when I can.

[Vrede too]

Bots are hot and heavy since last night. Wonder if Ukraine stirred up a hornets nest in Russia.

They're also smarter this time.

Doing what I can when I can.

Was slow earlier. You've done such a great job for months I thought it was my browser and didn't think to check.

In total there are 329 users online :: 11 registered, 1 hidden and 317 guests (based on users active over the past 15 minutes)
Most users ever online was 15533 on Fri Jun 12, 2026 9:53 pm

[neoplacebo]

Fuck a bunch of bots.

[bannination]

Fuck a bunch of bots indeed.

There's a lot left to work on. The ransom note they left... well they're idiots and encrypted their own ransom note. Would have loved to read it for the lols.

Things I know:
99% certain they exploited a vulnerability in an app that was hosted. Database was untouched. All files served through the webserver (so the apps basically were all encrypted). The forum software itself had an unpatched vulnerability and the fix was available only for a few days in advance. Probably one of the other apps though.

Doesn't look like any personal data was compromised at this point.

We're on a brand new server, took no chances of repairing the existing server if they left a back door.

Things that cannot be fixed
Profile pictures -- not likely to come back. They were among the "encrypted" files. I have no reason to believe they aren't encrypted, but if they are recoverability is not likely.

Known issues that will be fixed:
Media embeds, twitter, etc.
Spambot protection reduced.
Ability to defend against massive bot attacks reduced.
Smilies or emoticons -- no way they'll be restored like they were, but it'll get cleaned up.

Stuff that doesn't matter so much:
Digging into what exactly happened...

[Vrede too]

Fuck a bunch of bots indeed.

There's a lot left to work on. The ransom note they left... well they're idiots and encrypted their own ransom note. Would have loved to read it for the lols.

Things I know:
99% certain they exploited a vulnerability in an app that was hosted. Database was untouched. All files served through the webserver (so the apps basically were all encrypted). The forum software itself had an unpatched vulnerability and the fix was available only for a few days in advance. Probably one of the other apps though.

Doesn't look like any personal data was compromised at this point.

We're on a brand new server, took no chances of repairing the existing server if they left a back door.

Things that cannot be fixed
Profile pictures -- not likely to come back. They were among the "encrypted" files. I have no reason to believe they aren't encrypted, but if they are recoverability is not likely.

Known issues that will be fixed:
Media embeds, twitter, etc.
Spambot protection reduced.
Ability to defend against massive bot attacks reduced.
Smilies or emoticons -- no way they'll be restored like they were, but it'll get cleaned up.

Stuff that doesn't matter so much:
Digging into what exactly happened...

Should we blame Zelenskyy?

Isn't all this what you pay a host for? Shouldn't you get a refund? Are we entertaining enough to be worth the hassle to you? If not . . .

The emoticons look restored exactly like they were to me. :thumbup:

My avatar is back. Is that what you mean by "Profile picture"?

Functionality seems normal except the search feature seems broken.

What's with the logo at the top of the page, UAP above the mountain? ;)

Anyhow, THANKS! Great job.

[O Really]

Thanks for all your work banni - you're a force to be reckoned with fershure. You ain't afraid of no bots.

[neoplacebo]

Stomp the bots! Find the king of bots and seize it by the throat until its eyes are nothing but cartoon "x"s and its display is an erratic nonstop stream of digital nonsense.

[GoCubsGo]

Fuck a bunch of bots indeed.

There's a lot left to work on. The ransom note they left... well they're idiots and encrypted their own ransom note. Would have loved to read it for the lols.

Things I know:
99% certain they exploited a vulnerability in an app that was hosted. Database was untouched. All files served through the webserver (so the apps basically were all encrypted). The forum software itself had an unpatched vulnerability and the fix was available only for a few days in advance. Probably one of the other apps though.

Doesn't look like any personal data was compromised at this point.

We're on a brand new server, took no chances of repairing the existing server if they left a back door.

Things that cannot be fixed
Profile pictures -- not likely to come back. They were among the "encrypted" files. I have no reason to believe they aren't encrypted, but if they are recoverability is not likely.

Known issues that will be fixed:
Media embeds, twitter, etc.
Spambot protection reduced.
Ability to defend against massive bot attacks reduced.
Smilies or emoticons -- no way they'll be restored like they were, but it'll get cleaned up.

Stuff that doesn't matter so much:
Digging into what exactly happened...

Thx again for all you do.

Also. if you were not aware, the search function is not working.

Any way to send the hijackers over to CPF?

[Vrede too]

Thx again for all you do.

Also, if you were not aware, the search function is not working.

Any way to send the hijackers over to CPF?

What would be a clever ransom demand, folks?
Posted praise for Hillary, Biden and Democratic Socialism?
Admission that Dozy Don is a congenital LIAR and the worst POTUS ever?

[supesalemgr2]

I had to reset my access to the site. The previous access was not available.

[bannination]

Fuck a bunch of bots indeed.

There's a lot left to work on. The ransom note they left... well they're idiots and encrypted their own ransom note. Would have loved to read it for the lols.

Things I know:
99% certain they exploited a vulnerability in an app that was hosted. Database was untouched. All files served through the webserver (so the apps basically were all encrypted). The forum software itself had an unpatched vulnerability and the fix was available only for a few days in advance. Probably one of the other apps though.

Doesn't look like any personal data was compromised at this point.

We're on a brand new server, took no chances of repairing the existing server if they left a back door.

Things that cannot be fixed
Profile pictures -- not likely to come back. They were among the "encrypted" files. I have no reason to believe they aren't encrypted, but if they are recoverability is not likely.

Known issues that will be fixed:
Media embeds, twitter, etc.
Spambot protection reduced.
Ability to defend against massive bot attacks reduced.
Smilies or emoticons -- no way they'll be restored like they were, but it'll get cleaned up.

Stuff that doesn't matter so much:
Digging into what exactly happened...

Thx again for all you do.

Also. if you were not aware, the search function is not working.

Any way to send the hijackers over to CPF?

I'd forgot about noting the search then forgot -- re-indexing is complete, should be good now.

[Vrede too]

I'd forgot about noting the search then forgot -- re-indexing is complete, should be good now.

Yep, the things I tried searching for are now working. THANKS!

Any hope for getting BlueSky post shortcuts back up?

https://bsky.app/profile/kackbro.bsky.s ... 5hclvrs226

GoObamaGo!

[bannination]

I'd forgot about noting the search then forgot -- re-indexing is complete, should be good now.

Yep, the things I tried searching for are now working. THANKS!

Any hope for getting BlueSky post shortcuts back up?

https://bsky.app/profile/kackbro.bsky.s ... 5hclvrs226

GoObamaGo!

Planning to, along with twitter, etc.

[Vrede too]

Planning to, along with twitter, etc.

Fair enough, but I don't care about Mush's toy.

Were you in NYC on Saturday afternoon? ;)

Man fatally shot on NYC subway platform in Midtown by Deadpool look-alike