- Somewhere around 9AM on Feb 2, 2024, the server hosting marbleblast.com started showing signs of an infection. - It isn't known exactly how it was attacked, but the OS and software running on it had not been updated for a number of years - and it was inevitable that some botnet would succeed at exploiting it eventually. As a result, the site is currently offline - as the team hosting it determine the next steps. -
++ Somewhere around 9AM on Feb 2, 2024, the server hosting marbleblast.com started showing signs of an + infection. + It isn't known exactly how it was attacked, but the OS and software running on it had not been updated + for + a number of years + and it was inevitable that some botnet would succeed at exploiting it eventually. As a result, the site is + currently offline + as the team hosting it determine the next steps. +
-- Anything hosted on the server behind marbleblast.com, namely: +
+ Anything hosted on the server behind marbleblast.com, namely:
- No. That being said, the data is only really usable by the still-vulnerable software that was running on the site, - so “putting it back up,” even in a read-only format, is not viable as it will just get attacked again in the same manner. - Someone with access to the site can pull a copy of the Leaderboards' and Forums' data from the nightly backup, - but trying to convert it to a format usable by the community will likely take a significant amount of time. -
++ No. That being said, the data is only really usable by the still-vulnerable software that was running on the + site, + so “putting it back up,” even in a read-only format, is not viable as it will just get attacked + again in the same manner. + Someone with access to the site can pull a copy of the Leaderboards' and Forums' data from the + nightly + backup, + but trying to convert it to a format usable by the community will likely take a significant amount of time. +
-- Unknown. At this point the amount of work required to restart the services is likely greater than anyone is willing to put in. - Parts of it could recovered independently, though: +
+ Unknown. At this point the amount of work required to restart the services is likely greater than anyone is + willing to put in. + Parts of it could recovered independently, though:
- So realistically, the only part that would be truly difficult to recover is an interactive version of the forums. - Not that they saw much use these last few years, but they were a significant source of knowledge about the game - that was easily searchable. -
++ So realistically, the only part that would be truly difficult to recover is an interactive version of the + forums. + Not that they saw much use these last few years, but they were a significant source of knowledge about the + game + that was easily searchable. +
-- I dunno, go play Marble It Up! instead? They have actual funding to maintain their infrastructure, - at least for right now. If you want that authentic Marble Blast Gold experience, there's the - Marble Blast Gold Haxe Port - (and Platinum or Ultra) - and Marble Blast Webport. - There's also OpenMBU, an “open source” - (technically it's just source-available) rewrite of - Marble Blast Ultra, by the OpenMBU team. -
++ I dunno, go play Marble It Up! instead? They have actual funding to + maintain their infrastructure, + at least for right now. If you want that authentic Marble Blast Gold experience, there's the + Marble Blast Gold Haxe Port + (and Platinum or Ultra) + and Marble Blast Webport. + There's also OpenMBU, an “open source” + (technically it's just source-available) + rewrite of + Marble Blast Ultra, by the OpenMBU team. +
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