Lifecruiser

September 19th, 2006

Yesterdays blog problem

Posted by Lifecruiser in Attention

If you experienced something odd with our blog yesterday, it’s because it was hijacked!

No nice experience I can tell you, when suddenly your database tables are gone and someone take over the control as WP admin.

I think that we might got it under control again, with assistance from the webhost and a backup. Pheew.

Consequences: If you left any comments here yesterday, they may be gone if it were after the backup was taken. Sorry!

It can happen to anyone and is difficult to completely avoid.

I hope that you never have to experience the same!

Cruise list: Irish Church Lady, Martin, Fruitful Spirit, Chana, Mrhaney, Eph2810, Tricia, Wolfbernz, Mar, Chi, Jean-Luc Picard, Froggie, Happy and Blue 2, and Melli.

14 Responses to ' Yesterdays blog problem '

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  1. Melli said:

    I THOUGHT that was what had happend! Poooor you! Your hi-jackers were rather crude too! I’m so glad you got the problem solved — I’m not sure I would have known HOW to BEGIN to solve that one! It’s great to have you back - just the way you belong!

    Lifecruiser: Yes, it was NOT fun and they were NOT exactly “friendly”. But I was rather calm anyway, I knew that you, my regular readers, would understand what happened, that is was not me. Luckily, I got some experiences to know what’s going on and how to handle things and together with a good webhost, it’s not a catastrophy.

    September 19th, 2006 at 4:33 pm

  2. Happy and Blue 2 said:

    Glad you got everything fixed up. I’ll have to check on steps I can take to prevent this happening to my blog..

    Lifecrusier: Let me know if you get some useful info, because I don’t think the informatio written about it is very precise or helpful. That’s also because they can’t write some of the things out, because then “the wrong people” get tips on how to do evil things. so it’s a very different situation! I’ll let you know if I got some more information about it too!

    September 19th, 2006 at 4:52 pm

  3. Froggie said:

    Oh no!!! Blog hijacking… sounds utterly terrible!!!! I’m glad to see you got things coming back under control. Hopefully the blogjacker is gone for good.

    Yes, I do hope so, though I’m a little worried of a “come back”….

    September 19th, 2006 at 5:12 pm

  4. Jean-Luc Picard said:

    Hijacked? To Cuba?

    Lifecruiser: Yes. Oh, if it only had been so good… *lol* At least it’s warmer over there than here ;-)

    September 19th, 2006 at 8:52 pm

  5. Chi said:

    I am so happy to see you back blogging…how awful that you were hijacked though! You’d think someone would find better things to do than destry someone’s hard work!

    Lifecruiser: Thanks Chi :-) Yes, I don’t get it, what’s the pleasure in it. Their lifes must be very bad… It’s sad actually.

    September 19th, 2006 at 9:05 pm

  6. mar said:

    This is scary… I wouldn’t know what to do!! I don’t even know what to do to prevent something like this happening to my little blog :shock:

    Lifecruiser: Well, I’m no expert myself. I don’t know much about how they do it on the different kind of blog software we have. I guess it can differ from WP, Blogger and others and that there are several ways they can do it. By get hold of passwords (often by virus on your computer), security holes in scripts or software and so on.

    Because of that, the preventing of it looks different too and can have other “side effects”. In WP you can check out/change permissions on folders and files, minimalize amount of plugins you use and other certain features - for an example. Standard installations or Blogger templates would be rather safe to use, but you can’t be 100% protected.

    But overall, it doesn’t happen that often. The main thing is to make sure that backups are done of your posts (database) or other files (WP Theme, changed files, wp-config, .htaccess also) and other settings if you’ve that too, so you can put it back as fast as possible.

    In Blogger you should backup (copy and paste all the text in it) your blog template also to a text file and save on your computer.

    Very often there is help to get from the responsible, the webhost, wordpress.org or Blogger.com. And other bloggers, so we aren’t left totally on our own :-)

    September 19th, 2006 at 9:28 pm

  7. wolfbernz said:

    Wow, That’s aweful! I would freak out.
    What kind of person would do such a thing? It sounds like you handled it very well.
    Happy Blogging

    Lifecruiser: Yes, it’s not exactly the thing that makes you happy… I suppose I take it rather well because I’ve been in the IT branch for so many years, have worked as a technician and a manager for a helpdesk too, so I’m used to solving problems :-)

    September 19th, 2006 at 11:58 pm

  8. Tricia said:

    I had problems with one of my websites a couple of months ago too. Luckily the hacker didn’t ruin my sites, but he or she added new directories to my domain and hijacked my bandwith.

    As Mar You (corrected by Lifecruiser) said - back up your site frequently, change file permisions on any folders or files that you can so that they are protected better, and change your passwords frequently as well. Have a different password for your Domain host, and a different one for you website administration.

    I’m sorry this happened to you, but I’m happy to see that you got your site back up and running. :)

    Lifecruiser: This things are not that common, but exactly like virus on your computer, they can happen, so better to be as prepared as you can be.

    September 20th, 2006 at 7:09 am

  9. eph2810 said:

    I am sorry that you had someone mess with your blog. That really stinks. Glad you had a back-up.

    Lifecruiser: Yes, it does stink. I’m glad I have the background I have in the IT branch, so I know a bit how to handle things. It makes it much easier of course.

    September 20th, 2006 at 2:22 pm

  10. mrhaney said:

    i do not like it when my site gets all messed up or they go down for maintenance. i like to go there every day and when ever any thing is broken i want to fix it and i have no control. i also like to have control of things. some things you can not fix so you just have to wait. have a great day.

    Lifecruiser: Yes, I totally agree and it’s the same with our computers - they shall be OK and functional, period! ‘lol*

    September 20th, 2006 at 2:55 pm

  11. Chana said:

    :roll: i wasn’t in the computer yesterday so i missed the chaos..or actually, i was here, left the best comment ever and you never got to see it and it’s bloggers fault…yeah, right, that’s it…:lol:

    glad things are better today..

    Lifecruiser: Yes, isn’t that sad, you’ve all left me the most exciting comments and I don’t get to see it…. But, you know, you can have a second chance to do it agian, go ahead! He…he….

    September 20th, 2006 at 3:37 pm

  12. Fruitful Spirit said:

    Oh how terrible! So far I have never had that problem but I do read a lot about it! I have been giving some serious thought to changing from blogger and getting my own domain and place but so far I have been lucky with my area! But it must be frightful after all your work to find it missing and in someone elses control. Hope it smooths out for you!

    I keep back up copies of all my templates and changes but there is not much I can do with copies of my postings! Blogger does not give a really easy way to back those up!

    Lifecruiser: Yes, I know, that’s why I don’t like Blogger at all. There is one way to backup the posts to, I’ve read somewhere, but it’s at the same time a bit risky, so it’s not so easy to dare to take the step.

    I think I trust wordpress.com more in that case actually! But an own domain at a good webhost that makes backups for you is of course the best alternative!

    September 20th, 2006 at 3:38 pm

  13. martin said:

    Hey! I did leave a post and sorry if you did not get to read it due to your problems.

    What I said was that I was at your nearest train station hoping to meet you, I had 10,000 euros to give you as a gift if you could get to see me within the hour before my train left.

    Because you did not turn up I spent all the money on chocolate instead for the journey. Oh wll, never mind! tee hee

    Hope you are both well.

    bye for now

    M

    Lifecruiser: That’s totally cool, we have our own chocolate, heartshaped….. Hope you’re rolling ;-)

    September 21st, 2006 at 4:34 pm

  14. Irish Church Lady said:

    Sounds nasty! Yikes! :???:

    Lifecruiser: Yes, that was NOT a nice experience. Usually i think everything is an experience that’s useful, but not this one. YIKES x billions.

    September 23rd, 2006 at 2:14 am

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