SLS hacked???

[shy_couple 448]

Have you seen the new disclaimer on SLS? “SLS will never ask you for bill in info” 

 

This site is getting worse and worse. Changes that nobody likes or wants. Now my personal info including payment info is potentially compromised?!?!?!?!

[njbm 2,731]

I read it. Doesn’t sound good. Sounds like some people got phished/defrauded. It seems like that site is behind the curve, technically speaking. 

[cplnuswing 4,711]

If that is indeed the case, not too surprised. Nowadays, doesn't matter how with the curve or even ahead of it a site is. If criminals see a potential to make money by doing it, it's a matter of when, not if.  We've gotten phishing emails that could only have come from high profile mainstream websites or online services being hacked, and just hit the delete key and move on, nothing else you can really do in this digital age.  We've had our cards compromised twice - once was at a very popular locally owned mom and pop eatery that has been around for decades (know it was there because the guy with me for lunch that day got hit too), and then once after an online purchase from a site that Google recommended (just suspected that, no proof other than timing).  It sucks, but it's the age we live in I guess.

 

Not new in the swinging/adult personals industry either

 

AFF Hacked

 

 

[lcmim 1,033]

One little trick that is kind of fun. I happen to have my own web space with unlimited emails. Every vendor every subscription and every other place that I have to put an email address has its own dedicated email address. That way if I start getting any kind of mail at all other than from the vendor I know just exactly who has been hacked or possibly selling their mailing list.

 

That notice on SLS is making me consider pulling all my pictures off of even my secured folders.

[adamgunn 1,457]

The full message reads, "SLS will never send you any messages regarding your billing. If you receive any messages regarding billing, please report the profile using the "Report" icon on the profile and do not respond to them."

 

From that it appears to me that someone has created profiles on the site and is phishing other members. It doesn't appear to me to be a hack.

[AndrewandAnn 359]

19 hours ago, lcmim said:

 

That notice on SLS is making me consider pulling all my pictures off of even my secured folders.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a truly "secure" way to upload and store sensitive, adult-rated personal pictures and video on the Internet. The Internet is a leaking sieve with nearly limitless security vulnerabilities. And heaven only  knows what future hackers and thieves can/will do. If you put something sensitive out there and it hasn't been compromised, consider yourself quite lucky.

 

When the exchange of photos is necessary, Ann and I have always stuck with PG-rated pictures. If they are compromised, no harm done. The photos show enough to allow potential playmates to determine if a genuine level of interest exists. Then we exchange photos holding written and dated benign messages. It is simple and harmless way to ensure the people on the other side of the emails are "real". After that, we meet in person at a mutually agreeable vanilla location. It's a slow and methodical way to go about things, but it avoids unnecessary risk. And we have never been in a "hurry" to make lifestyle acquaintances (all due respect to the "speed daters" looking for shortcuts, but that's never been our thing.)

 

Also, we set up private email accounts that exist solely for our lifestyle communications. This allows us to keep our vanilla and swinger lives separate, and we know whom received which photos. If something goes sideways, it's not a big deal to tie it off.

[njbm 2,731]

I cannot get into SLS today. I got a 404 message, now server not found. 

We post cheerful face and clothed body pictures on SLS. We presume that there are people who capture naked pictures and send them around the internet. 
 

In my case, I do not want to revolt the world. 

[lcmim 1,033]

Still other problems. https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/  shows that the SLS server has been down for 1 day and 23 hours.

[lcmim 1,033]

Our pictures on line are also Vanilla. Still having them labeled as sourced from a swinger site  has its potential downside.

[GoldCoCouple 4,025]

We only post photos that are either PG or don't show our faces. On SLS, we don't post any photos that show our faces at all (unless we unlock our photos for a specific member). Too many fakes and picture collectors (not just on SLS but everywhere). That's why so many people are also posting disclaimers in their listing stating that their pictures cannot be used for anything else. Sad that it needs to be done, but no surprise on the Wild West Web...

[GoldCoCouple 4,025]

"SwingLifeStyle.com is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We will post an update by noon today, Eastern Time"

[SJBluebirds 176]

Well, it's well into the Afternoon, Eastern time -- and no updates.

 

We can't even access the site.  It apparently doesn't exist at the moment: "Server Not Found"

 

This is kind of worrying -- we had a couple we were making arrangements to meet, and hadn't exchanged email addresses, yet.  Hmmmm.

[njbm 2,731]

It is a problem for members. There are plenty of casual friends with whom we communicate only on SLS. Do not have their emails or phone numbers. I assume they can get back up soon. 
 

There a lot of travel businesses that rely on SLS. Problem for them. 
 

Fortunately, we belong to SDC also, but it is not used much in the Northeast. We joined for Florida. 
 

Don’t want to start a rumor, but the pandemic cannot help SLS’s financial standing. Less events, less new members. 

[lcmim 1,033]

I am not quite willing to see this as the demise of SLS. It does however point up the issue of how do you contact people. That is one reason why we use the same login across all of our memberships. We also use the same Avatar. That way if something like that were to happen when people migrated they would recognize us.

 

[lcmim 1,033]

Another way to address the loss of contact would be to create a repository of avatars , logins and email addresses I did that once on Yahoo for an art group that I was on that was losing its host server.

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by lcmim

[christnthms 325]

3:20pm eastern, and still can't see sls.com. I'm bummed. Had several conversations going, and had just sprung for the LT membership last month. 

[adamgunn 1,457]

5 hours ago, lcmim said:

 

Okay, so here's my take on it. SLS possibly has been seriously hacked, or (more probably imho) they tried to do some sort of a site upgrade that's gone horribly wrong. They are working feverishly on it. (Okay, take the word 'feverishly' out of it.) In a few hours or days it'll be back up. The economics of the site are simply too lucrative to be abandoned.

 

Patience, grasshoppers.

[SJBluebirds 176]

4PM Eastern, and the site isn't 'up', but there's now a notice that reads

Quote

SwingLifeStyle.com is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We will post an update by noon today, Eastern Time

Of course, they've had notices for months -- possibly a year or so -- that some new feature would be available in the next few days.  I got so used to seeing that one, that I stopped paying attention and no longer remember what it was that was supposed to be coming all fancy and new.

[njbm 2,731]

Maybe their IT people got a look at the private picture galleries and got distracted from their work. 

[cplnuswing 4,711]

39 minutes ago, adamgunn said:

or (more probably imho) they tried to do some sort of a site upgrade that's gone horribly wrong. They are working feverishly on it. (Okay, take the word 'feverishly' out of it.) In a few hours or days it'll be back up.

Yep, it happens.  Most here probably don't remember, but back years ago, SwingersBoard went down for I think it was like 10 days one time :(  That was related to a site upgrade that went horribly wrong, and I'm sure Julie was scrambling night and day trying to get it patched back together and up and running again.  There have been other shorter outages, fortunately usually measured in hours and not days. Since we've had the site, it's unexpectedly gone dark several times, and it's not fun, panic mixed with hurry up and wait.  It sucks for everyone, but just the nature of the beast.  A lot more goes into keeping a site up and running than most people realize, and unless you've got an in-house IT department, a lot of it is outside of the webmaster's control.

 

 

[Idahocouple6969 294]

Hmmm I just checked and sls is down. Some tiny print comes up and says they are working to get it back online.  It seems to have been kinda glitchey last few days. 

[cplnuswing 4,711]

Here's the current message, changed since when last time I looked yesterday.

 

We miss you as much as you miss us....please bear with us as we continue to work as quickly as possible to get back live with you!! The SLS Team

 

They are obviously working on getting back up as fast as they can.  I feel for them and wish them luck because I know how much it sucks when something like that happens.

[GoldCoCouple 4,025]

I doubt that they HAVE and IT team...probably like most sites where it is just the owners and MAYBE some friends that help out. When things (updates, upgrades, server crashes, etc) go wrong, then they have to scramble to figure out how to fix it. Recreating or uploading a huge database takes time and patience. I'm betting that is what is happening and not the end of SLS. I'm sure that they will be back in a few days (probably with some new feature that nobody will care about, just like the last couple of 'features').

[shy_couple 448]

10 hours ago, GoldCoCouple said:

I doubt that they HAVE and IT team...probably like most sites where it is just the owners and MAYBE some friends that help out. When things (updates, upgrades, server crashes, etc) go wrong, then they have to scramble to figure out how to fix it. Recreating or uploading a huge database takes time and patience. I'm betting that is what is happening and not the end of SLS. I'm sure that they will be back in a few days (probably with some new feature that nobody will care about, just like the last couple of 'features').

100% agree. 
 

 

[olycouple 62]

Our 1st post in a thousand years, but we hope SLS is ok. The quality is better than AFF or SDC.

 

We have been life members for a few years so we aren't concerned with a payment breach. But, it has been a mainstay of the community for so long, what will fill the void if it does not survive is more concerning.

[njbm 2,731]

Yes, I am starting to wonder if they went bust. It’s been a horrible year for swinging, swing travel, swing events, new swingers. The sport of swinging is not easy in a year of social distancing and easy transmission of the virus. Hope they can get it together, it’s the only contact info we have for a lot of casual friends. 

[luvtravel 39]

Does anyone know what happened to the SLS website? It has been off line for a few days now with no information.

[adamgunn 1,457]

I check the 'new folk near you' a couple times a week - hey, it's something to do - and I've seen the usual share of paid memberships to free memberships, so they're taking in some revenue. And the ads seem to be changing regularly.

[njbm 2,731]

55 minutes ago, adamgunn said:

I check the 'new folk near you' a couple times a week - hey, it's something to do - and I've seen the usual share of paid memberships to free memberships, so they're taking in some revenue. And the ads seem to be changing regularly.

I am rooting for them. Checking on that site is on my to do list. As are some of the members. 

[GoldCoCouple 4,025]

They keep changing the home screen which sounds like they are still w9orking on the problem. It currently reads: We expect to be online again in the next couple hours. Thank you for your patience. The SLS Team

[GoldCoCouple 4,025]

They've been having some sort of problem since the weekend. Now they are saying that they should be back online later today.

[Baconheads 397]

Hey!  Their logo is back up!  At least that is encouraging.

[luvtravel 39]

Yes, the same note was posted all day yesterday as well.

[Idahocouple6969 294]

Back online shortly......how long is shortly?? But at least they did update the msg.?

[njbm 2,731]

Not yet on line. But a different graphic on the notice. 

[lcmim 1,033]

Patience guys. Obtaining and training a new squirrel to run the hard drive takes time,

[AVeryBiWifeandHerGuy 6]

Looks like they are back up but are still in the process of restoring quite a bit of the site like photos. Sounds like that earlier cryptic message was a possible breach as according to the new header on the site was they took it down to protect member's privacy.

[cplnuswing 4,711]

Looks like things should be 100% back to normal soon.  They had an issue and they dealt with it the best they could while trying to look out for their members, don't know what else one can really ask of them.  I'll take that approach and the site being down a few days over ignoring a problem to try maintain an all is well face on it.

[GoldCoCouple 4,025]

They're back up!

[SAMnTINA 362]

Not sure why anyone would be on a site if discovery would end life as they know it. Over the years we have had a few people tell our answer is always the same "Who are you going to tell, we both know and what others think is un important." That is generally the end of it. Then again our kids know (their take is yuck parents and sex). Turns out when they were in high school they thought we were the weird parents but now that they are all married and have in-laws they tell us "who would of ever though your two would be the normal ones."

 

PS IT shit breaks and is never fully secure. The only thing truly secure is something only you know and not even your spouse knows and only as long as you keep it that way.

Edited March 25, 2021 by SAMnTINA

[Anonymous71 0]

The owners and management of that site is a joke. Taking down the site after a security breach is like pulling the plug on your laptop with a full

charge. The leadership has made unnecessary changes that few wanted and made the site worse. Really, how many times do you have to click “view image” before you actually see it?! Hot Date now screens what you can/can’t see? No more email? 
 

then to top

it off they are not compliant with international privacy laws in effect since 2017 and far from

compliant on with state laws like California and a few others that grant their residents the right to view, review, and decline to participate in all or part of cookie and personal information from surfing?!

 

They need to spend some money on web designers and attorneys and get their act together.

[AVeryBiWifeandHerGuy 6]

Well, that didn’t last long, SLS is apparently down again. Got this message when we tried logging in a few minutes ago and we had just been online not more than 45 minutes ago or so.

[adamgunn 1,457]

They're back up now.

[shy_couple 448]

Funny how they had “new features coming soon” for a year and a half but pulled down the message that they were hacked after a couple of days.

[cplnuswing 4,711]

I don't find it unusual that a business, any business, accentuates the positive by dangling out upcoming rewards of some type for existing or potential customers, and tries to move past the negative as fast as they can.  Pretty much how it works anywhere.  Look at the General Motors webpage and you will see a lot about what they would like to sell you and how great it is, but you won't see much about recalls, other than maybe a link in fine print at the bottom.

[njbm 2,731]

SLS is down again. 

[cplnuswing 4,711]

Working fine now, might have just been a short down for maintenance outage.  Getting a site back up and running usually isn't the end of it, there's often one or more short downtimes after that to do this or that to get back to full 100%.

[njbm 2,731]

Hate to be a broken record, but SLS is down on Thursday April 8. 

[njbm 2,731]

SLS is showing its cover page, but it’s 404 when I try to go to messages. Hope they fix it. Happens often lately. 

[njbm 2,731]

As of 10:30 am, SLS is totally down.