Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Welcome to the MalwareTips Forums!

 We are a community of tech enthusiasts, professionals, and experts who come together to share knowledge and help each other troubleshoot and solve problems related to malware and other cybersecurity threats.

To make sure that our community is a safe and welcoming place for everyone, we have a set of rules that all members must follow. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with these rules before participating in our forums.

Community forums are at their best when participants treat their fellow posters with respect and courtesy. Therefore, we ask that you conduct yourself in a civilized manner when participating in these forums.

The guidelines and rules listed below explain what behavior is expected of you and what behavior you can expect from other community members. Note that the following guidelines are not exhaustive, and may not address all manner of offensive behavior. As such, the forum moderators shall have full discretion to address any behavior that they feel is inappropriate.

Your access to these forums is a ‘privilege’, and not a ‘right’. We reserve the right to suspend your access to these forums at any time for reasons that include but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by these guidelines.

  1. Respect other members. Treat others with kindness and respect, and avoid personal attacks or insults.

  2. No spam or self-promotion. Do not post spam, self-promotional content, or irrelevant links.

  3. No illegal or malicious content. Do not post or link to illegal or malicious content, including software cracks, malware, or phishing scams.

  4. No piracy. Do not request or share pirated software or content.

  5. Stay on topic. Keep discussions relevant to the forum in which they are posted.

  6. Follow the instructions of moderators. Moderators are here to help keep the forums running smoothly and enforce these rules. If a moderator asks you to stop doing something or to follow a specific rule, please comply.

  7. Report any violations of these rules. If you see someone breaking these rules, please use the "Report" button to bring it to the attention of the moderators.

By following these rules, you can help us create a positive and helpful community for everyone. Thank you for your cooperation, and we hope you enjoy your time on the MalwareTips Forums!

We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case-by-case basis. The action we take may be more lenient or more severe than those listed under each category:

 

Inappropriate Content or Behavior

This category includes:

  • Excessively communicating the same phrase, similar phrases, or pure gibberish
  • Creating threads for the sole purpose of causing unrest on the forums
  • Causing disturbances in forum threads, such as picking fights, making off-topic posts that ruin the thread, insulting other posters
  • Making non-constructive posts
  • Abusing the Reported Post feature by sending false alarms or nonsensical messages
  • Numbering a thread, IBTL, TLDR, or any other fad statements

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, depending upon severity he/she will:

  • At least +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.
  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

 

Racial or Ethnic

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • Promote racial/ethnic hatred
  • Are recognized as a racial/ethnic slur
  • Allude to a symbol of racial/ethnic hatred

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, depending upon severity he/she will:

  • At least +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.
  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

 

Extreme Sexuality or Violence

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • Refer to extreme and/or violent sexual acts
  • Refer to extremely violent real-life actions
  • Pornography

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

  • Be permanently banned from the forums

 

Real-Life Threats

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which refer to violence

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, depending upon severity he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.
  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

 

Posting Code for Hacking, Cracking or Exploiting

This category includes:

  • Posting Code for Hacking, Cracking, Bypassing, Exploiting, or other forms of malicious content that might put members at risk.
  • Posting warez, cracks, serials, or illegally obtained copyrighted content.

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, depending upon severity he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.
  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

 

Obscene or Vulgar

This category includes both clear and masked language in posts, signatures, and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • Are an inappropriate reference to human anatomy or bodily functions
  • Are pornographic

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

  • At least +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.

While these repercussions may seem harsh, we feel very strongly that this behavior has no place on the forums due to its extremely offensive and inappropriate nature.

 

 

Inappropriate Language

This category includes language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • Are a mildly inappropriate reference to human anatomy or bodily functions
  • Are otherwise considered objectionable
  • Bypass the Mature Language filter

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.

 

Harassing or Defamatory

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • Insultingly refer to other members, MalwareTips Staff, or groups of people
  • Result in ongoing harassment of other members, MalwareTips Staff, or groups of people

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, depending upon severity he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.
  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

Harassment takes many forms and is not necessarily limited to the type of language used, but the intent. Repeatedly targeting a specific member with harassment can lead to more severe action. The idea behind this is to prevent any member from consistently being uncomfortable in the forums.

 

 

Major Religions or Religious Figures

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • Negatively portray major religions or religious figures

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.

 

National

This category includes language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • Promote national hatred
  • Are recognized as national slurs
  • Allude to symbols of national hatred

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level

 

Illegal Drugs or Activities

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

  • In reference to abusing illegal drugs
  • Reference to performing illegal activities

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, depending upon severity he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.
  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

Advertising

This category includes advertisements of:

  • No commercial advertising and spamming. This includes using the forum, email, and private message systems to spam other members.
  • This includes self-promotion. Generally speaking, promoting your projects here will be treated like any other spam.

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, depending upon severity he/she will:

  • At least a +20% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.
  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

 

Discussing Disciplinary Actions

This category includes:

  • Creating posts, profile posts, or threads to discuss disciplinary actions taken against a member

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

  • At least +10% Warning Level increase and posting privileges suspended depending on the member's current Warning Level. You can find more details about our Warning System from this "The Warning System FAQ" thread.

 

Circumventing a Suspension / Ban

This category includes:

  • Posting on another account
  • Having someone post on your behalf
  • Creating multiple accounts per user
  • Register using a disposable email address or with a VPN/Proxy

If a member is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

  • Be permanently banned from posting on the forums

Important Notes

  • This policy is not language-restrictive. The language that falls under this policy will always be subject to the repercussions listed, whether it is inappropriate in English or any other language.
  • Your posts are public and will not be deleted unless they are against the forum rules or contain personal information.
  • Other general rules include:
    • All your posts must be made in English with proper spelling and punctuation.
    • Your posts should be relevant to the thread subject.
    • Don't post just to increase your number of posts. Avoid short sentences or single-word posts. If you have nothing relevant to say on a certain matter then don't post.
    • Do not bother making posts with only one or two words (e.g., "cool" or LOL) or a smile, or post simply to have the first reply in a thread. Such posts waste everyone's time and will be deleted. Posts saying "I agree", "1", "this", "me too", or the equivalent are also routinely removed, so don't post them. If you aren't interested in a thread, skip the thread; don't post to tell us you aren't interested.
    • Excessive text formatting (bold, caps, font size) is not allowed. Use text formatting to highlight short passages only.
    • Foul language is not allowed. Do not try and avoid moderation by replacing letters, i.e with a *.
    • No blatantly juvenile toilet humor. Simple rule. Moderator's judgment applies here. Talk about what you do to relieve yourself, although popular (for some odd reason) is not needed here.
    • Posts similar to “I'm leaving because..." or "Should I leave?"- are considered drama and they're not allowed.

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