Recent unusual search results in Winmx

[..Ñøßߥ..]

Some of you may have noticed thousands of random unrelated results showing up in search results in Winmx over the last few days.

It would seem at least one, perhaps more disgruntled ex-users (I'm sure some of you can guess who they might be) have decided to launch an attack against Winmx and its users.

Work is currently underway to attempt to patch the issue and prevent the attack, but this will take some time as we are short of suitable coders in the winmx community.

It is likely they are seeking to annoy the userbase to the point Winmx ceases to exist, please be patient and don't let them win, the issue is being addressed as quickly as is possible! If you feel you may have the skills required to assist the effort, please drop me a pm.

[Sable]

It would seem at least one, perhaps more disgruntled ex-users (I'm sure some of you can guess who they might be) have decided to launch an attack against Winmx and its users.

LMAO..we all know for sure who it is

Do we have a smiley for a guy with 2 letters ?

[Dr Detroit]

Yup, I've had the same problem and I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

...which shows the site can't be shut down by usual RIAA tactics so they took a page from the CIA/NSA playbook on Iran and are attempting to junk the site. Hopefully we have great coders....better than theirs....

[Sable]

I don't think it was the RIAA

[..Ñøßߥ..]

I don't think it was the RIAA

I think you might be right there!

[Teye]

It appeared to be fixed for a few days, but seems to be doing it again now...

[..Ñøßߥ..]

A fix is being worked on, but it will take time.

[AlCooper]

At least the "basic" program is still up. I'll pass along that the "good guys" are working on this. Us "worker bees" REALLY appreciate your talents and efforts, and especially as it's done from the heart, and is free.

[Mikki7469]

Search requests by users with secondary connections get referred to a primary for faster execution and feedback. Am I right here? That's the way Kazaa worked and I think WinMX is the same. I've been having the same problem with garbage search results. But, this morning I logged in and got connected to a primary in California. The search went lightning fast, found every match file in the world and didn't have one garbage result. So, I ran a little test. I hit the "disconnect". Then, "connect" again. This time it showed a connection in Japan. The same search produced a pile of garbage. I did the disconnect and connect over and over. Japan again. The IP address kept changing and every one was phoney. So, I think someone with a primary connection is sabotaging the searches being routed though that computer and then using an IP randomizer to cover up. It's not the network as a whole. Just one source that's there virtually 24/7/365 and gets selected in the "connect" because of it's bandwidth and availability. That has to be a big corporate or government system. I don't like to blindly accuse but SONY is in Japan.

[Teye]

How do you find where you're connected?

[Sable]

I'm wondering also......

[Canada Joe]

How do you find where you're connected?

You need to use a 3rd party app such as NetLimiter or TCP View.
I just tried connecting as secondary 11 times. The first 10 primaries were Japanese and the 11th was located in New Jersey, USA.

Code: Select all

p6050-ipad03okidate.aomori.ocn.ne.jp:6699
p9023-ipngn100102okayamaima.okayama.ocn.ne.jp:22355
kd118157108167.ppp-bb.dion.ne.jp:6699
d-219-121-142-178.d-cable.katch.ne.jp:6699
119.136.241.49.ap.yournet.ne.jp:9401
d219117026037.cable.ogaki-tv.ne.jp:6699
p3010-ipbf701hodogaya.kanagawa.ocn.ne.jp:8645
flh1add217.hkd.mesh.ad.jp:6699
188.93.150.119.ap.yournet.ne.jp:6699
ai221-121-240-193.ccnet-ai.ne.jp:6699
cablemodem-lbnn.fidnet.com:6699  <-- New Jersey


The one thing they all (including the New Jersey one) had in common is they returned a mixture of unrelated results. Almost all of them were obviously bogus.

[AlCooper]

I'm sure the a-hole attack on MX will continue. With a LOT of luck, I found (not created, but not remembering who to give credit to either!) that by going to then "Network" button, and choosing "secondary connection" and THEN making a search for a specific term...say "Beetles", you'll get legit or non-legit results. If the results are garbage, then disconnect and reconnect and do your search until you DO get "good" results. The connections are of course, MUCH slower, but until a hammer-down is made on the ones responsible, and a good permanent fix is made, this SEEMS to work. LOL, I'm a stubborn ol' cuss of a WinMX user. Please pass this information along for as long as it's still good. LOVE to the WinMX Community and long may we live!!!

[Mikki7469]

A freeware (totally, no registration, no spyware) that shows your Internet connections and bandwidth usage is "Bandwidth Vista 2.1". Powerful, user friendly, nice format. When you search for the download, go for v2.1 which is the latest Windows version. There are other, later versions for Mac & Linux but those don't work with Windows.

[..Ñøßߥ..]

I strongly suspect there is no corporate conspiracy here, it is much more likely a few disgruntled users who have already admitted to attacking the network!

[Debaser]

For the first time in what must be nearly 3 weeks: Search results are fine & and users are queing for my files again.
Was the problem fixed?

[AlCooper]

I think and I'm EXTREMELY glad that you're getting "normal" results. I just tried, and I'm still getting garbage back with a few good "finds".

[..Ñøßߥ..]

I am not aware of an available solution, work continues. There have been a good number of gaps in the attacks, I thinks thats all they are, gaps.

[RolandX]

Even if the WinMX client receives bogus search results, a possible solution is to have the WinMX client filter out any results that do not match the search phrase while displaying matches. This seems like an easy fix that would work around the problem.

[..Ñøßߥ..]

Even if the WinMX client receives bogus search results, a possible solution is to have the WinMX client filter out any results that do not match the search phrase while displaying matches. This seems like an easy fix that would work around the problem.

The attackers are exploiting an issue with MX protocol, the files are not bogus, they are in fact real files beging shown, there is no way I am aware of to filter these as such. The solution being worked on currently will simply slam the door and tighten the gap in the protocol to prevent this type of attack.

[woody99]

I think what RolandX might have meant, was to add filtering on the client side to only display what was being searched for. This might make the searches more 'Challenging', but would filter out most of the junk...

Woody

[Mikki7469]

I haven't had any problems in 2 weeks. Everything perfect. One thing I noticed though. I haven't drawn any primary connection in Asia even testing with "disconnect" and "reconnect". The primaries I've drawn are all in USA and Europe. For some reason, the Japan connection that was always there has disappeared from my sphere. I don't know if it's related to the malicious network in Korea that Google and some of the ISP's are going after & blocking. I am convinced the problem is a big operator located in East Asia.

[beach004]

Boy I wish I could say that! It's just random; one moment I'm getting the items I'm looking for; ten minutes later nothing but gibberish, and it'll stay gibberish for hours or days and then--bang, another clear window.

But I have another, naive concern: I've got perhaps twenty items in my Transfer screen, quickly put there during the clear windows when I could select them for download. But none of them recently are being downloaded! I'm accustomed to it sometimes being hours or days before the original source is back on line and the download can continue; but these aren't even starting, even though I'm looking for sources every 15 minutes. Am I missing something? Is this part of the rascality that's been plaguing WinMx recently?

[Canada Joe]

I suggest you try Open Nap.. either join one (or more) of the Help rooms in the chat channels or Google WinMX open nap.. you're sure to find some help there..

[beach004]

Well, I never heard of it, but it looks fairly simple even for a newbie; I'll give it a try and see what happens. Thanks!