FSE Communities Site Hacked/Restored

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What is FSEconomy?

FSEconomy is a multi-player "persistent world" add-on for flight simulators, with an economical focus. It is "persistent" because the aspects of the game - aircraft location and fuel levels, etc. - are controlled by the players. Other players see changes in these items within the "game world".

FSEconomy is not a Virtual Airline. There is no schedule; there are no "levels"; there are no requirements to start from the bottom and work your way up. However, many VAs do use the FSEconomy system to operate their VA.

FSEconomy strives to be a framework within which players can decide what FSE is to them... their "style of play" is the phrase frequently used. It is an open-ended platform, allowing each member to tailor their experience to their individual liking. Some members choose to use FSEconomy completely on their own; others choose to work with a few other players; and still others choose to join one or more communities of made up of dozens of other players.

The basic concept of FSEconomy is that players use aircraft to move virtual passengers or cargo. Players can own their own aircraft, or rent them from other players or from "the system". Players must be aware of their aircraft's capabilities and fuel levels so that they can carry the cargo selected, or to not become stranded at an airport without fuel. There are many expenses associated with every flight - rental charges, fuel costs, etc.; as well as income from the virtual passengers or cargo. The goal is to make more income than associated operating expenses.

As you may have noticed, the FSE Communities website was hacked, possibly multiple times. Several members have been reporting an anti-virus alert on specific files for about 2 months. We thought we had the file(s) narrowed down, and were continuously scanning for changes and fixing it manually when it did change. Then, on about May 25, the majority of members began getting a re-direct to a malicious site, at which time the FSE Administration team pulled our site offline.

After spending several days investigating and cleaning, with professional consultation, we belive that the FSE Communities site is completely free of malware. All server software and website software have been brought up to current versions and any necessary security patches have been applied. Being that this is the internet, nothing can ever be 100% guarunteed clean, but we are confidant that the current state of the site is secure.

We do NOT know what happened -- Joomla is a very popular CMS Platform and our site is one of millions with attemped attacks conducted against it daily. We cannot know if account passwords were compromised, but it would be prudent to change your account password just in case.

IMPORTANT: More importantly, if you use the same password on any OTHER site, especially ones were you maintain personal information or financial information, you should immediately change THOSE passwords as well. Never use the same password at multiple sites - or, at least keep your "high risk" passwords separate from your "low risk" passwords.

Terms of Service

Most websites have a user agreement or EULA of some sort. FSEconomy is no exception. However, unlike other sites where you "agree" without actually reading, the FSE ToS is very important to our game play. Many of our game world's rules are integrity based (not software enforced), and violating these rules (knowingly or unknowingly) can result in the loss of your account.

Please take a few minutes to read over our rules, and agree to play according to the "Spirit of FSE" before requesting an account.

Terms of Service

Getting Started

Complete the following steps to use FSE with your flight simulator:

Register for an account on this site. This is the "FSE Communities" website. All of our support and member interaction is done here.
Log on to the FSE Communities website, and visit our forums.
Request a "Game World account" in the "Game World Account Request" forum. This will be a separate account on a different website. We will email you a temporary password for this account.
Download the appropriate software client for your simulator version. You will need to enter the username and password of your "Game World account" in order to use the client application.
Read the user manual - at least read the "getting started" portion. View our new user tutorial videos on the YouTube link at the bottom of this page.