2.0.11 - Random loss of some forum members

[Ru88ell]

Hi
Our forum has been running very well for some time, however, since Thursday 18th August 2016 we have seen 4 of 280 members randomly deleted. All of their posts are now attributed to Guest. I have no idea how this has happened, but have put into Maintenance Mode as I investigate. Any ideas?
Thanks
Russ

[d3vcho]

Maybe they've deleted their account?

[Ru88ell]

No. All confirmed as not having deleted accounts.

[Kindred]

Some admin has probably run the delete users routine...  There is no way for the system to randomly delete users

[Ru88ell]

Which users does the 'delete users routine' delete? I can't imagine any admin doing that, in fact I'm totally sure it hasn't been run.

[Kindred]

You can delete users by last date logged in...  Or by selecting in the admin user list.

Seriously, there is no way that smf is doing that on its own.

[Ru88ell]

Thanks for help so far. I've spoken to all deleted members and none deleted themselves. Am I left with an inside job? One of my admins deleting members? Is that what you're suggesting? Or someone gaining access via an admin account?

[Shambles]

Are there any related entries in the Admin log?

Admin > Maintenance > Logs > Administration Log

[Ru88ell]

There isn't an Admin Log I can see by that path.

[Shambles]

Pity you haven't enabled such logs in the Core Features.

Maybe now's the time to do so?

Admin > Configuration > Core Features

[Illori]

Pity you haven't enabled such logs in the Core Features.

Maybe now's the time to do so?

Admin > Configuration > Core Features

dont forget to save the page when you are done enabling the features.

[aegersz]

what is common about the deleted members ?

are they all the oldest ?, for example ... that might be a clue.

don't forget to take regular database backups (i take them every 4 hours but that's probably excessive) also.

[shawnb61]

Slight possibility of corruption.

I'd also run forum AND DB maint procedures.