Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?

Subject: Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Feb 26 - 04:23 AM

Hi, Everybody -
I'm the guy that handles registration for Mudcat membership. If you need to register or to reset your password, email me, [e-mail]. My email client sends a lot of emails from unknown senders to "junk mail," so I check the junk mail list about once a week. Sometimes I miss one because I delete junk emails rather quickly, and I think I just deleted a legitimate request too quickly.
If I don't respond to your request in a few days, contact me again. I do my best, but I'm not as infallible as I was when I was young.
In the meantime, you can post at Mudcat without being a member.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 05:13 AM

I keep getting told that my Mudcat name and password has been compromised so it should be changed. To be honest though, having to have someone change it for you is almost as bad as having it out there on the web. It's not that I don't trust the team here and I'm sure that no-one would purposely let the new password out but the more people that know it, the more chance there is of an inadvertant leak.

Could we not just have the facility to change our own passwords?

Subject: RE: Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 12:15 PM

We used to have that, during which time the old Mudcat Troll set up several hundred fake accounts and would then choose one to rename and use to torment regular Mudcatters with his nastiness and fake posts (in the 2009 - 2013 range.) We never want to go back to that again (and I won't write my uncharitable thoughts for his wished-for demise here.) Max finally figured it out and was able to remove them, and a lot of cloned accounts on other non-Mudcat venues were reported and closed in the couple of years following that, so the troll evidently moved on to a new set of victims. That's the short version.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 01:19 PM

Security packages seem to like to tell people their Mudcat password is compromised, and then they ask me to change them. I think it's a waste of time, but I change passwords if people ask me.

The password system at Mudcat is not meant to be particularly secure. It's kinda like a bathroom door inside your house. It's meant to give a modicum of privacy, but you should know that Mudcat is not intended to be secure enough for financial transactions. It just gives you access to personal messages and a variety of features here.

If you want security in personal messages, send an email. We're a music forum.

Joe, Mudcat Registrar
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 02:01 PM

Thanks both. I am pretty sure that the 'cat user and password data was compromised as a number of security packages have reported it. The password I use here is very low level and I have never used it elsewhere so, yes, no big deal. The worse that could happen is that someone could post as me! As long as the team think that is an acceptable risk, I can live with it.

The bigger worry is that someone less savvy may have re-used their password for more sensitive data and may not be award of the risk. I think that that is worth publishing here in case it leads to more serious loss of privacy.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?
From: DaveRo
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 03:22 PM

These warnings probably mean that your password appears on the haveibeenpawned database
https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords

Read about it here
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_I_Been_Pwned?

Mine is there. Every short word in the dictionary is there.

At least you post with a username, Dave. If only people were required to complete a capcha every time they post as a guest, or to identify images of traffic signals in a foreign country, mudcat threads would be much easier to follow!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Registration: Did I Miss You?
From: GUEST,Little Robyn
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 04:14 PM

I've forgotten my password and last time I tried to reset it, it didn't work. So as long as you don't mind, I'm happy to be a guest for now. I don't visit as often as I used to, a few years back.
Robyn