The following was sent to all customers:

phpBB Security Issues

phpBB, a popular third party script Lunarpages offers through Fantastico as a convenience to our customers, has recently been exploited numerous times.  Although the developers have been diligent in fixing the exploits, the frequency in which they occur and the amount of time it takes to manually make the upgrades causes customers to become frustrated.  Lunarpages must protect the servers from these exploits so must ensure our customers continually have the most secure version of the board.  Unfortunately, the severity of these exploits gives little time for customers to make the necessary upgrades.  We sympathize with this and have come up with a solution we feel would be beneficial.

After a lot of research, we have determined that SMF forums are more secure and easier to keep up to date.  Lunarpages is highly recommending customers change from phpBB to SMF forums.  We have created a step by step FAQ article on how this can be done.  You can find this here:  http://helpdesk.lunarpages.com/faq.php?do=article&articleid=349.  We have had feedback from several customers regarding the ease of this process so are confident this will not be difficult.  However, if you need assistance, please see our forums at http://lunarforums.com where staff, moderators and other customers can assist you.  If you feel you do not want to modify your board yourself, we can assist you with this.  We usually charge $75.00 per hour for script installations however, for a limited time we will upgrade your existing phpBB board to SMF for a flat fee of $19.99.  If you would like us to do this for you, please email support@lunarpages.com with your username, last 4 digits of the credit card on your account and authorization to charge your card.  Please specify that you want to convert your board to SMF.

Customers who want to continue using phpBB are certainly welcome to do so. However, it is imperative that upgrades occur as necessary and in a timely fashion.  phpBB needs to be upgraded to version, 2.0.16. For more information on this, please see http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=302011.  We are currently running a check on the servers for older versions.  Customers who have not yet upgraded will be notified and will have 24 hours to upgrade.  If you do not upgrade your phpBB board to version 2.0.16 we will have to disable the forum.  We apologize for the small amount of time given but the severity of the exploit has made this necessary.  We will also extend the offer of reducing the cost of script installs to $19.99 for customers who do not want to upgrade their boards themselves.  If you would like us to do this for you, please email support@lunarpages.com with your username, last 4 digits of the credit card on your account and authorization to charge your card.  Please specify that you want to upgrade your phpBB to the most secure version.

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring your account is secure.  We have staff working 24/7 to assist you, so please feel free to email us at support@lunarpages.com if you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue or if you would like us to make the necessary changes.  Please do not forget we also have our community forums at http://lunarforums.com where staff, moderators and customers can assist you also.

Thank you,
Lunarpages Support