Whats happened to my forum?

[dotman]

hi

I tried to look on my forum today and its gone, instead i get the message "PHPBB crytical error" on a blank page!

Does this mean my forum has been hacked? I know phpbb has a few security issues but i did have the latest version.

It had only been online for a few weeks and only had a few members but its still a bit of a blow after struggling to get the thing off the floor

do you think in the future i should pay out to use vbulletin, is this more secure?

Thanks for any help people

[datat]

First thing you should do is log in and look to see if the database is still there.

If it is, check the tables, then just restore the missing files.

[Mr Webname]

It's possible it's been hacked but it's also possible that the server the site is hosted on has coughed ("cannot connect to database") - can your host assist? Do you or they have a backup?

[dotman]

ive just contacted my host and am waiting for a reply.

Ive looked on the my webspace and the forum files do seem to still be there. i have no idea whether any of the files have been edited though, my knowledge of these sorts of things is limited.

I have a couple of back up copys i can restore to, theyre a little bit old but they will have to do.

[datat]

edit:

Use the database on the server for the post files and your backup for the php/page files.

That way you should not loose any thing.

Good luck!

[dotman]

ok, thanks