Symbiota portal outage messaging archive

The items below are a reference archive of messages sent to the Symbiota community during the unprecedented portal outage in late summer 2025.

9/11/2025

The Weevil Portal has been successfully restored.

9/9/2025

The following portals have now been successfully restored:

Cretaceous Vertebrates of Madagascar. This portal has moved! You can now find it at https://cretaceousmadagascar.symbiota.org/portal/. Please inform all colleagues who may be affected by this change.

9/2/2025

The following portals have now been successfully restored:

BioGator
Gabon Biodiversity Portal

8/29/2025

The following portals have now been successfully restored:

Consortium of Pacific Herbaria
STRI Panama Portal

The Consortium of Pacific Herbaria URL has moved. You can now find it at https://pacific.symbiota.org/. Please inform all colleagues who may be affected by this change.

8/28/2025

New portals available

Cooperative Taxonomic Resource for American Myrtaceae (CoTRAM)
Herbario Virtual Austral Americano
Neotropical Flora Portal

The Neotropical Flora Portal URL has moved. You can now find it at https://neotropicalflora.symbiota.org. Please inform all colleagues who may be affected by this change.

8/27/2025

New portals available

Open Zoo Museum

8/26/2025

New portals available

Open Herbarium

8/25/2025

New portals available

Diatom portal
Taphonomy portal

8/25 Symbiota Portals updated with “hotfix”

Dear Symbiota community,

Symbiota Support Hub-hosted portals have now been updated to the newest “hotfix” release of the Symbiota code, 3.3.6. This should fix several reported problems, including:

Printing labels & annotations
Exporting labels and checklists to Word documents
And others

Barcode printing should also be restored on all portals. Additional portals are being brought online. Users of these portals will be notified in separate messages. You can view which portals are available through our updates page.

We have also largely completed the mapping of images from the old media server to the new media server, and thus most SSH-hosted images on available portals should be visible. Please let us know if you see any large discrepancies.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

8/22/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

Images:

The new image server for Symbiota Support Hub-hosted images has been successfully launched. We are now in the process of re-mapping the image URLs in your portals to this new server. Most SSH-hosted images will now be visible in your portals; however, this process is not expected to be fully complete for another week. There is no need to report broken image links until this process is complete.

We do not yet have a workflow set up to batch upload new images. Uploading to Globus will continue to be nonfunctional for the time being.

The “thumbnail maintenance” tool (mostly utilized by snapshots) will not work on these images at this time.

Please note that the URLs to your images have changed. If you know of any third-party platforms that use the URLs, please put them in contact with us so we can help them remap the old URLs with the new URLs. Because publishing to GBIF is not yet restored (and thus, we cannot update the links there yet), media links in GBIF will continue to not resolve as well.

Regarding portal performance:

We are aware that many portals are experiencing random timeouts and disconnections. This appears to be largely due to overzealous bots repeatedly hitting the newly-reinstated portals. We understand how disruptive this is to your operations and are working to shut down these activities as permanently as possible.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

8/19/2025

The following portals have been newly re-instated on KU servers and are available for use:

All Asia TCN
Bee Library
Consortium of Vertebrate Collections

8/18/2025 – Portal de Biodiversidad de Guatemala

¡Vea abajo el mensaje en español! (Scroll down for the same message in Spanish!)

Dear Symbiota community,

As the majority of portals have been reinstated, we will announce the remaining portals to their portal communities rather than to the entire mailing list. Thank you for bearing with us on this journey of restoring the portals from the security breach. We will continue to keep you informed of updates that affect the whole community, such as the restoration of images on SSH servers.

The following portals have been newly re-instated on KU servers and are available for use:

Portal de Biodiversidad de Guatemala

For your security, users of these portals will need to reset their passwords prior to being able to use these portals. Otherwise, you will not be able to log in.

Important notes:

Because the servers hosting the portals are new, there will be a tuning period during which you may experience performance issues. If you experience a webpage timeout, please try again in a few minutes. If you experience this repeatedly, let us know at help@symbiota.org.
Images hosted by the Symbiota Support Hub at ASU (i.e., those uploaded via Globus) are not yet available. The servers hosting the images are still being vetted to ensure that they contain no malicious content. We will let you know when you can expect to see SSH-hosted images again.
Publishing to GBIF directly from the portals is also in the process of being configured.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

Estimada comunidad Symbiota,

La mayoría de portales han sido restablecidos, por lo que continuaremos compartiendo anuncios únicamente con las comunidades relevantes. Gracias por su paciencia mientras los portales se van restableciendo luego de la interrupción por la brecha de seguridad interceptada. Los mantendremos informados con actualizaciones pertinentes para la comunidad, como la restauración de imágenes en nuestros servidores.

Los siguientes portales han sido reactivados en servidores de la Universidad de Kansas, y están disponibles para su uso:

Portal de Biodiversidad de Guatemala

Por seguridad, los usuarios de estos portales deberán restablecer sus contraseñas antes de poder ingresar a los portales (ver instrucciones al final).

Notas importantes:

Porque los servidores que alojan los portales son nuevos, habrá una etapa de ajuste en el que pueden experimentar un servicio irregular. Si el sitio no carga adecuadamente, por favor intente nuevamente en unos minutos. Si estas interrupciones son frecuentes, por favor envíenos la información a help@symbiota.org.
Las imágenes alojadas por el Symbiota Support Hub en ASU aún no están disponibles. Los servidores que contienen las imágenes aún están siendo evaluados para asegurar que no poseen contenido malicioso. Les comunicaremos cuando sea posible acceder a imágenes alojadas en nuestros servidores.
La publicación directa a GBIF también está en proceso de reconfiguración.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

Instrucciones para Restablecer su Contraseña

En su portal, haga clic en el botón Iniciar Sesión.
Ingrese su usuario o email en la casilla “Iniciar Sesión”.
Haga clic en el enlace Restablecer Contraseña.
Revisar su correo para obtener la contraseña temporal, el cual debe originarse desde symbiota-noreply@ku.edu. Asegúrese de revisar su carpeta de spam si no ve el mensaje.
Ingresar en el portal utilizando la contraseña temporal.
Para cambiar la contraseña, hacer clic en Mi Perfil > Perfil de Usuarios > Cambiar Contraseña.
Ingresar la contraseña temporal como “Contraseña Actual” y la nueva contraseña en las casillas correspondientes.
Hacer clic en el botón de Cambiar la Contraseña.

8/13/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

The following portals have been newly re-instated on KU servers and are available for use:

ecdysis
InvertEBase
Marine Life of Panama portal

For your security, users of these portals will need to reset their passwords prior to being able to use these portals (see instructions at end). Otherwise, you will not be able to log in.

Important notes:

Because the servers hosting the portals are new, there will be a tuning period during which you may experience performance issues. If you experience a webpage timeout, please try again in a few minutes. If you experience this repeatedly, let us know at help@symbiota.org.
Images hosted by the Symbiota Support Hub at ASU (i.e., those uploaded via Globus) are not yet available. The servers hosting the images are still being vetted to ensure that they contain no malicious content. We will let you know when you can expect to see SSH-hosted images again.
Publishing to GBIF directly from the portals is also in the process of being configured.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

8/11/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

Thanks, as always, for your patience and support as we not only work on re-instating portals, but face the additional challenge of tuning the existing servers now experiencing “load” from users. We are troubleshooting the timeout issues that many users are experiencing, particularly on the SEINet portals.

Concurrently, the following portals have been newly re-instated on KU servers and are available for use:

African Plants Portal
New Brunswick Museum portal

For your security, users of these portals will need to reset their passwords prior to being able to use these portals (see instructions at end).

Important notes:

Because the servers hosting the portals are new, there will be a tuning period during which you may experience performance issues. If you experience a webpage timeout, please try again in a few minutes. If you experience this repeatedly, let us know at help@symbiota.org.
Images hosted by the Symbiota Support Hub at ASU (i.e., those uploaded via Globus) are not yet available. The servers hosting the images are still being vetted to ensure that they contain no malicious content. We will let you know when you can expect to see SSH-hosted images again.
Publishing to GBIF directly from the portals is also in the process of being configured. The remaining portals (yes, including Ecdysis!) are being worked on and will be reinstated as quickly as possible.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

8/7/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

The Symbiota Support Hub is continuing migrate and re-instate hosted portals at KU. The following portals are now available for use:

Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria
Consortium of Great Plains Herbaria
Consortium of Lichen Herbaria
Consortium of Midwest Herbaria
Intermountain Herbarium Consortium
Mid-Atlantic Herbaria Consortium (MAHC)
North American Network of Small Herbaria (NANSH)
Red de Herbarios Mexicanos

For your security, users of these portals will need to reset their passwords prior to being able to use these portals (see instructions at end).

Important note:

Because the servers hosting the portals are new, there will be a tuning period during which you may experience performance issues. If you experience a webpage timeout, please try again in a few minutes. If you experience this repeatedly, let us know at help@symbiota.org.
Images hosted by the Symbiota Support Hub at ASU (i.e., those uploaded via Globus) are not yet available. The servers hosting the images are still being vetted to ensure that they contain no malicious content. We will let you know when you can expect to see SSH-hosted images again.
Publishing to GBIF directly from the portals is also in the process of being configured. The remaining portals are being worked on and will be reinstated as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and support!

~The Symbiota Support Hub

8/6/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

The Symbiota Support Hub is continuing migrate and re-instate hosted portals at KU. The following portals are now available for use:

Algae Herbarium Portal
Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria
SEINet AZ-NM (swbiodiversity.org)
SERNEC
TORCH

For your security, users of these portals will need to reset their passwords prior to being able to use these portals (see instructions at end).

Important note:

Because the servers hosting the portals are new, there will be a tuning period during which you may experience performance issues. If you experience a webpage timeout, please try again in a few minutes. If you experience this repeatedly, let us know at help@symbiota.org.
Images hosted by the Symbiota Support Hub at ASU (i.e., those uploaded via Globus) are not yet available. The servers hosting the images are still being vetted to ensure that they contain no malicious content. We will let you know when you can expect to see SSH-hosted images again.
Publishing to GBIF directly from the portals is also in the process of being configured. The remaining portals are being worked on and will be reinstated as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and support!

~The Symbiota Support Hub

Instructions for Resetting your Password

Click the Sign In button.
Enter your username or email address into the “Username or email” box.
Click the Reset Password link.
Check your email for a password reset message, which should originate from symbiota-noreply@ku.edu. Make sure to check your spam folder.
Log in to the portal using the password in the password reset email.
To change your password to something of your choosing, click My Profile > User Profile > Change Password.
Enter the password from the password reset email as the “Old Password” and the new, secure password of your choosing into the “New Password” boxes.
Click the Change Password button.

8/5/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

We are pleased to announce significant progress on resolving the security issues that precipitated the 2-week shutdown of SSH-hosted Symbiota portals. First, we have taken multiple security measures, including improvements to the code, to secure the portals. Next, we have taken this opportunity to accelerate the migration of portals to KU servers.

The following portals have successfully been secured and migrated and are now available for use:

CCH2
PteridoPortal

For your security, users of these portals will need to reset their passwords prior to being able to use these portals (see instructions below).

The remaining portals are being worked on and will be reinstated as quickly as possible.

We cannot thank you enough for your patience as we do our due diligence to ensure this problem does not happen again. Your support has meant a lot to our hardworking team and reminds us why we love working with this brilliant and collaborative community.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

8/4/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this month’s Symbiota Support Group discussion about the recent security issues in Symbiota portals and next steps in restoring the portals.

A recording of the session is now available on our YouTube channel: Meeting Recording

7/31/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

As you may be aware, the upcoming Symbiota Support Group meeting was originally intended to cover recent improvements to Symbiota Docs.

Given the recent portal outages, we have decided to repurpose this meeting to provide time for the Symbiota users to connect with the Symbiota Support Hub on this matter. Monday’s meeting will thus include substantial time for Q&A. Time permitting, content regarding Symbiota Docs may also be delivered.

Please register to join us this Monday, August 4th at 12p Pacific / 3p Eastern: Register Here.

Estimada comunidad de Symbiota,

Los invitamos a la sesión en español de Preguntas y Respuestas acerca de la reciente disrupción de actividad en los portales. Por favor registrarse en este enlace para acceder a la sesión que se relizará el lunes 4 de agosto a las 3:00pm Kansas/2:00pm Centroamérica/8:00pm UTC luego del Symbiota Support Group, donde también se abordarán estos temas.

~ The Symbiota Support Hub

7/30/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

We want to thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we navigate the ongoing outage affecting Symbiota portals.

Our team is in constant communication with the technical team at ASU, who is working to contain and diagnose the issue, as well as to take steps to prevent its reoccurrence. We are actively exploring all options to restore the portals.

We will continue to keep you updated as we make progress. You can now find a record of our communications at Symbiota.org (see the Updates page). Please feel free to share widely with any users who may be affected.

In the meantime, we deeply appreciate your patience, and we’re grateful to be part of a community that values data security, collaboration, and transparency.

Thank you for bearing with us.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

7/25/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

As you are aware, most Symbiota Support Hub-hosted portals continue to be down. We understand how frustrating and inconvenient this is, and we deeply regret the disruption this may be causing you and your collections.

The downtime is due to ongoing security-related issues that we are actively investigating in close coordination with ASU Security Operations. We are committed to resolving this situation as quickly and securely as possible. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the issue and the time cost of re-constructing the portals, we foresee that getting the portals back online is going to take some time, potentially more than a week.

We should be able to provide another update by mid- next week. We are “all hands on deck” to resolve this, as is the ASU IT team. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

7/24/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

We regret to inform you that the security issues affecting the 5 reinstated portals (CCH2, CNH, Lichen Portal, Bryophyte Portal, NEON) are not yet fully resolved, and we have shut down the hosting server once again.

We will be in touch as soon as we have more information. Again, we sincerely apologize for the stress and delays in productivity that we know this is causing. Thanks again for your patience.

~The Symbiota Support Hub

7/21/2025

Dear Symbiota community,

We want to inform you that Symbiota portals, Symbiota.org, and the Symbiota Help Desk are currently experiencing a temporary outage as we address a recently identified security issue.

As part of our ongoing commitment to keeping your data safe and secure, we have taken most portals offline for their protection and to apply necessary updates. Several portals, including CCH2, the Lichen Portal, Bryophyte Portal, Consortium of Northeast Herbaria, PteridoPortal, and Algae Portal are accessible in a read-only state.

At this time, there is no indication that data loss or corruption has occurred, with the exception of any edits made this morning (7/21/2025). We are currently making extra backups of the data to ensure this continues to be the case.

Our technical team is working diligently to resolve the issue and restore access as quickly as possible. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will continue to be in touch with more information as it becomes available.

If you have any urgent questions or need assistance, you can temporarily reach us at hub@symbiota.org. Emails sent to help@symbiota.org will not be received until our Help Desk is restored.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding during this time.

~Katie, Lindsay, and the rest of the Symbiota Support Hub