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Security on QuakeNet by Abdul
Tuesday 23. June 2009 at 19:34 BST
Over at Quakenet we thought we should remind you, our users, of a few important things that affect your security when using our network. We take security very seriously, and although we work very hard to ensure our users are as safe as possible, you yourselves can take measures against auth phishers and generally nasty people.
- Hide your IP Address
This is an often overlooked feature - but if you hide your IP address, people will not be able to do anything nasty to you (such as denial of service attacks) unless they get your IP address from somewhere else.
Simply use /mode yournickname +x when authed to Q to hide your IP.
- Phishing attacks
Unfortunately there are nasty people out there who would love to steal the password to your Q account and probably any channels you own. Of course, Q reminds you every time that you should not give your Q account password to ANYONE, not even Quakenet Staff. Please ignore any messages you get asking you to change your password. Report these to #help immediately and we can deal with them for you. Also, please do not type any strange looking commands, if you do not understand what a command
does - do not type it! Ask #help if in doubt.
- Keep your details up to date with Q.
If you were to lose or forget your Q password, you can request it to be sent to your registered E-mail address. But, if you have changed this or can no longer get to that email address, we will not be able to recover your Q account for you. So, please keep your email address current on Q - see /msg Q help email on IRC.
- Do not forget about our FAQs!
We have spent a lot of time writing our Frequently Asked Questions section to help with the common problems and questions about Quakenet and IRC. Before asking #help, take a look at the FAQs first. This goes double for the Security FAQ which contains further
details and useful hints and tips to keep yourselves safe and secure on our network.
Of course if there are any questions which are not covered by the FAQs, feel free to ask in #help at any time. We would prefer seeing you asking a silly question that keeps you safe, rather than having to retrieve stolen accounts and channels! :)
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New Webchat Client by meeb
Sunday 15. February 2009 at 20:24 GMT
We're please to announce that our brand new webchat client is now out of testing and live for public use. The webchat client is the best way to connect to QuakeNet from a web browser, and offers many many excellent features such as full integration with QuakeNet and our "Q" channel service bot.
The new web client is entirely the work of our dedicated development team and you can expect more features soon. The client can also be embedded in your own sites, at no hassle or cost to you, and you can customise its appearance and default settings.
Please give it a play at http://webchat.quakenet.org/! You are welcome to comment on the web client in #dev on QuakeNet to provide feedback.
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New US Server! by meeb
Friday 09. January 2009 at 09:48 GMT
Hello again!
We're pleased to announce the successful link of a new US based server hosted by Velocity in California, further increasing our US capacity for our state-side users. A new server means new staff, so please also welcome Exstatica as the new cluster admin for Velocity.
You can try out the new server by /connect'ing to velocity.ca.us.quakenet.org on the usual ports, and the server will be appearing in the main US server pool shortly.
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Q upgrade! by meeb
Saturday 22. March 2008 at 14:29 GMT
As many of you have noticed we've just upgraded our main channel service, Q, to a new version.
This is a fairly major upgrade (the new Q has been rewritten from scratch) but it does replicate all the previous features of Q and add some new ones. There may be very minor teething troubles but we hope to have those resolved pretty soon :) All of your old channel, access flags and other settings have been migrated from the old Q so there's nothing to worry about.
One of the major changes this upgrade brings is that L has been replaced with Q as well. All channels that had L now have been 'upgraded' to Q automatically. L will no longer be on QuakeNet. A list of some of the new features are as follows:
New messages
The new Q is a rewrite from scratch, so all the messages the bot uses have been rewritten. This means most responses will be slightly different even when commands are otherwise the same. One general change in this area is that many commands now send confirmation after making a change, e.g. if you use CHANLEV to alter someone's flags it will show what their flags are after the change for confirmation.
Messaging mode
You can now configure Q to either send you NOTICEs or PRIVMSGs. This is done using the new USERFLAGS command:
/MSG Q USERFLAGS +n - sets to NOTICE (default)
/MSG Q USERFLAGS -n - sets to PRIVMSG
New features
New flags
Some new flags have been added to users (CHANLEV):
+k KNOWN - This is a new level of access below VOICE (+v). It doesn't entitle you to getting op/voice on the channel, but it identifies you as a known user. This allows you to set personal flags, and use the INVITE command. It is also used in conjunction with the +k chanflag (see below).
+g GIVE VOICE - Similar to L, this combines with +v to give you autovoice when you join the channel. Note that +av will no longer do this (and in fact is no longer allowed, see below).
+p PROTECT - This protects your op or voice on the channel (i.e. restores it if it is lost for any reason). It has the same effect as +p CHANFLAG, but on a per-user basis.
+d DEOP - This is a "punishment" flag that prevents the user ever getting ops.
+q QUIET - This is a "punishment" flag that prevents the user ever getting voice.
Personal flags
Personal flags are a new category of chanlev flag. Accessed via CHANLEV as normal, these can only be set and cleared on yourself and cannot be seen from others. Note that you will need at least known (+k) access to set these on a channel. The personal flags are:
+w HIDE WELCOME - you can set this if you get bored of being spammed with the welcome message every time you join the channel
+j AUTOINVITE - if you set this, Q will invite you to the channel when you AUTH.
CHANLEV operation changes
Q is now strict about not allowing non-sensical combinations of flags. For example, you can't be banned (+b) if you are a master - since masters can just remove +b. You can't have autoop (+a) without op, and you can't have autoop and autovoice at the same time. Also, the new PROTECT (+p) flag includes autoop/voice functionality so you can't have +a/+g set if you are +p.
Like L, you can remove any of your own flags (except +b, +d or +q).
GIVEOWNER
A new command GIVEOWNER has been added for the purposes of giving +n to other users. This is no longer possible via a normal CHANLEV command (although CHANLEV still allows for owner removal). The GIVEOWNER command needs to be run twice - the second time using a code provided the first time. This should make accidentally giving away +n a lot harder.
Channel ban features
Q now has a few new functions related to bans, these are:
Ban enforcing
You can configure Q to kick banned users off the channel automatically. This is controlled by the +e chanflag.
Ban expiry
You can configure Q to auto-remove channel bans after a certain time. This is controlled by the new BANTIMER command.
Temporary bans
You can now set "Q bans" with an expiry time, using the new TEMPBAN command. For clarity, the old BAN command has been renamed to PERMBAN (but BAN still works for now).
Channel mode feature
You can configure Q to enforce, or prohibit, any combination of modes on the channel (including limits and keys). This is done via the new CHANMODE feature - CHANMODE +mode will enforce that mode on the channel, and -mode will prevent it being set. Note that because both + and - modes are allowed, you have to specify the complete list of modes whenever you change it. This replaces the SETINVITE feature of L, and the +k and +l chanflags and associated KEY and LIMIT commands from Q.
Auth history feature
A new feature to track auths to your account has been added. Accessed via the AUTHHISTORY command, it shows you the last 10 logins to your account with the hostmask (and disconnect times). The old AUTHHISTORY command from Q is now called CHANOPHISTORY.
Channel flags
The list of available channel flags has been overhauled, and the following flag settings are now available:
+a, +g, +p (AUTOOP, AUTOVOICE, PROTECT) These have exactly the same effect as giving the chanlev flag to every eligible user. So you can turn autoopping on and off for the whole channel in one place - although the chanlev flags can still be used as well (either being set is enough).
+c, +f, +t, +b, +p, +w (AUTOLIMIT, FORCETOPIC, TOPICSAVE, BITCH, PROTECT, WELCOME) function the same as the old Q
+e (ENFORCE BANS) - see above
+v (VOICE ALL) - This chanflag will cause Q to voice everyone who joins the channel, unless they have +q chanlev flag set.
+k (KNOWN ONLY) - This chanflag will cause Q to kick anyone who isn't known (+k or above) out of the channel. Useful for extra security for private channels. It will ban users if they aren't prevented from rejoining by +i.
Note that +k and +l have been removed, replaced by CHANMODE as described above.
Channel statistics
You can now get some statistics including maximum size and total number of joins on your channel. Statistics are maintained from the time each channel is created, but "resettable" statistics are also kept that can be reset. Use the CHANSTAT command to view these statistics, or reset them.
Channel user list
It's now possible to get a list of all the users on the channel, who they are authed as and what flags they have on Q. In order to get the list you need to be known on the channel and be on it. Use the USERS command to see the list.
And that's it! We hope you like the additional features the new Q provides, and the upgrade of all channels to Q from L. Have fun!
[ 45 comments
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IRCd Upgrade! by meeb
Wednesday 30. January 2008 at 16:18 GMT
It is with great pleasure and much fanfare that we can now announce that the recent maintenance to the entire QuakeNet network was completed successfully. The QuakeNet network was recently upgraded to the latest version of our IRCd software, codenamed 'snircd', which is still based on IRCu from the lovely people on the Undernet IRC network. Snircd is a significant upgrade to the network and replaces our previous version, codenamed 'asuka'. The upgrade provides a large number of new features accessible to you, our dedicated userbase, to play with as well a multitude of other behind the scenes enhancements. The highlights are detailed below, which include new channel modes and some new commands:
Channel mode changes:
Channel mode +m (updated):
When the channel is moderated (channel mode +m) regular users (users without a voice or ops) cannot change their nicknames.
Channel mode +r (updated):
When +r is set on a channel (only authenticated users can join) any regular users (users without a voice or ops) in the channel who are not authenticated are unable to send anything to the channel and additionally are unable to change nicknames.
Channel mode +M (new):
The NEW channel mode +M allows unauthenticated users to join a channel, but does not allow them to send (speak) to the channel or change nicknames until they authenticate.
Channel mode +T (new):
The NEW channel mode +T disallows any multi-target messages that are sent with PRIVMSG (normal messages) or NOTICE. This blocks (for example) anything sent by /AMSG with certain clients from showing in channels with +T set.
Command changes:
/AUTH command (new):
All QuakeNet servers now support an easy to remember AUTH command. This command can be used instead of the old method to authenticate to our main network service, Q. For example:
/MSG Q@Cserve.quakenet.org auth [username] [password]
can now be:
/AUTH [username] [password]
This update also reduces confusion in remembering what you have to authenticate to and increases security.
/SILENCE command (updated):
The /SILENCE command now supports multiple hostmasks in a single command, for example:
/SILENCE +*!*@*.host.com,-nick!*@*,+*!ident@*
/SILENCE now also supports exceptions by prefixing the hostmask with a “~” character, for example:
/SILENCE +~nick!*@*
will allow you to see messages and invites from that user even if their host matches another ‘silenced’ hostmask. /SILENCE now supports CIDR masks to silence a large block of IP addresses for example:
/SILENCE +*!*@12.34.56.67/24
Please note that only CIDR masks that are /16 and greater (up to /32) are allowed for security reasons. /SILENCE now supports authnames using the +x hostname format to silence users by their Q account name, for example:
/SILENCE +*!*@authname.users.quakenet.org
/WHO command (updated):
The /WHO command now has two additional flags to compliment our other upgrades, these are the ‘a’ flag to match authnames (account names), which for example can be used as:
/WHO [authname] a
which will return a normal WHO reply for any user with that authname. The ‘a’ flag can also be used on conjunction with the other /WHO flags such as:
/WHO [authname] a%h
and so on. The other additional flag added is the ‘d’ flag which lists users hidden by the delayed join (channel modes +D and +d) and can be used as:
/WHO [#channel] d
/LIST command (updated):
The /LIST command now supports pattern matching for channel names, for example:
/LIST #*channel*
matches any channel with the string ‘channel’ in the name. Whereas:
/LIST !#*channel*
matches any channel without the string ‘channel’ in the name.
Please use “/LIST help” to see a full list of options for the /LIST command.
Other changes:
Ident rules relaxed:
The minimum requirement for idents have been relaxed to the following rules:
- Only one '-', '_', or '.' is allowed (or two, if not consecutive), but not as the first char
- No other special characters are allowed
- Name must contain at least one letter
And that’s all folks!
We hope you enjoy the new features. Until the next mass-update, remember to drink your milk and to be kind to molluscs.
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