In August 2017 during the peak of the whole UYScutix fiasco, I conspired with rogue operators Cyro1999 and UYScutix to exploit a known design flaw in the TotalFreedomMod's imposter system to give Cyro administrative power illegitimately. The flaw in question was that you could bypass the imposter system by changing your username to one belonging to an admin who used a cracked username to play on the server.
I had known about the exploit years before and reported it all the way back in July 2015. I wasn't exactly right about how the exploit worked when I wrote my report, however that didn't matter. Mark and Prozza understood what the issue was but still closed it anyways because "it's not an exploit, it's a feature". The design flaw would then carry over into the rewrite of the TotalFreedomMod as part of the 5.0 update, which would come back to bite the server in the ass.
With this exploit in mind, the plan was simple: Find an admin lacking an actual Minecraft account, change an alternate account's name to match it, and then force the server into online mode for a period of time. Cyro would then use that alternative account to log into the server whilst in online mode, thereby granting him admin-level privileges. If we were in a perfect world where every admin had a legitimate and valid Minecraft account, this plan wouldn't have worked. However, there was an admin with a cracked username, and his name was xDarkYAY. When Cyro changed his alt's username to it, UYScutix then spambotted the server. I then put the server into online mode, seemingly in a not-so-subtle attempt to cover up my involvement in the matter.
Cyro would then go on to ban everyone online from the server en-mass under xDarkYAY. When I explained to Steven how Cyro managed to breach them, he seemed suspicious that I knew this information (and I don't blame him because it's stupidly obvious).
The cover-up didn't work. Ryan suspended me within a week of the incident. He gave a rather vague reason for the suspension and refused to elaborate on why I was suspended. Rightfully so, because he wanted to avoid compromising the investigation he was doing. However, he failed to properly communicate even to StevenNL2000 and Windows (the Security Officer and Owner of the time) at the time of the suspension, failing to provide evidence. Despite the lack of evidence presented at the time however, Windows still approved the suspension.
| User | Message |
|---|---|
| Wild1145 | Hi, I have suspended Video based on a mix of confidentially informed evidence and most recently the post he removed from a thread I created, that post them ended up on a DoxBoy pastebin before it was removed. I am confident that he is one of the informants that has been attacking Marco and other admins, and am requesting an immediate suspension as a result. Regards Ryan |
| Wild1145 | Just to add to this, as soon as I removed him in game (After verifying he had no panel access) the server started getting hit by a Spambot. I am confident he is involved with UY and has just been caught out in the game. |
| StevenNL2000 | For your information: Mike and I have also had Video on the list for a while, and we almost got to a removal, but it got stuck on us not having a counterargument for a confirmation bias. I've removed him on the forums for now, but you will need to provide the evidence, and I will throw in ours. |
| Wild1145 | At the moment, I cannot provide anything more than my word on this situation, doing so would compromise ongoing operations that are underway and I'm not in a position to risk that currently. |
| _Windows | The suspension is definitely valid. There were suspicions of him being involved earlier too. |
Because Ryan refused to elaborate on my suspension, for quite a while the majority of the community was actually left in the dark regarding the details of the suspension. This led to a lot of criticism about the lack of information regarding the suspension. I obviously knew I was suspended for being involved with UYScutix, but like a fucking dumbass, I pretended I wasn't and continued to downplay my involvement.
When UYScutix's DMs were leaked to the public in late October 2017 (we'll talk about that in another thread I reckon), I couldn't deny my involvement anymore so I apologized for my involvement shortly afterwards. At some point before, after, or in between these events (I genuinely cannot remember), StevenNL2000 created a thread for Senior Admins explaining the suspension more thoroughly so that at least the Senior Admins knew what I was suspended for.
Years later, this case influenced my decision-making as the Executive Admin Officer (ironically working under Ryan) when I was investigating the Granite Castle. It felt really weird to be on the other side of the fence after experiencing a similar situation myself, if I'll be honest.