My definition of the word "hack":
All of the above.
I was hacked. I'd like to say I was not personally hacked, but I can't say that. Because when you give birth to a blog, it's like giving birth to a child. You create it, nurture it and protect it. And when something goes wrong, you feel as if your left arm was abruptly cut off.
Protecting your blog can be as difficult as protecting your child from the cruel realities of the outside world. Just as I followed the advice of Dr. Spock and T. Berry Brazelton after the birth of my son, I also followed advice I learned about tending to my blog.
Saving my files daily to a backup system and using a highly recommended antivirus software did not stop the hackers.
According to James Lyne of Forbes in his article "30,000 Web Sites Hacked A Day" he explains, "..a widely held web threat misconception is that cyber criminals only go after large enterprises or government organisations." He goes on to say that cyber criminals have automated tools they use to search the web, looking for vulnerable places to insert their malicious code.
It could be a personal blog.
Well, thank you hackers (I won't capitalize the word to give you credibility.) You really gummed up the works for me. You succeeded in:
1. Interrupting my ability to disseminate important information for the disability and midlife communities.
2. Creating great stress for this writer when the current world situation was enough stress to handle.
3. Inventing a need for me to ask for more forgiveness from the Big Man/Woman Upstairs during my Rosh Hashanah prayers for my vicious thoughts about you.
4. Deducting money from my bank account to pay my webmaster and various other necessary charges for the damage you caused.
After seeing the movie "Silver Linings Playbook" three times (yes, 3!) I now try to find a silver lining in everything. This time it's more difficult for me to find one. Not only am I angry that my and my husband's blog was hacked, but my father's computer was also hacked.
That third malicious piece of ransomware that struck my family pushed me over the edge of reason and into the world of rage.
What could possibly be the silver lining in all of this? This is going to be a tough one.
1. Arm yourself with a great webmaster. Fortunately this was the one thing in my favor. My webmaster is also a friend, and has rescued me on more than one occasion. She helps me when I need her, and I owe her more than a debt of gratitude. At 54 years old, and someone who gave up working to rear my son, the learning curve for the world of technology is steep. My young, bright friend always has time to teach me, and never chuckles at my endless, inane questions. Thanks to Julie DeNeen, Webmaster Extraordinaire. (Check out her blogs Fabulous Blogging and JulieDeneen.com.)
2. Be aware of the customer service your host provides. In times of need, this is important. I found out the hard way how important this is. Adios, Company No-Help-At-All-And-Wait-For-My-Yelp-Review.
3. Reach out to others for support. I can't tell you how heartened I was by my unbelievably supportive and generous blogging communities. At last count, Generation Fabulous listed 71 comments of support, with many offers to guest post on their blogs and websites. Several friends also private messaged me their encouragement and understanding. The bloggers at Bloppy Bloggers were also supportive and generous, and I'd like to give a special shout out to Eddie Gear (thanks for helping me over Labor Day weekend) and Julie DeNeen. I love you all. You are incredible people.
My final thought about this is to, like the Boy Scouts, be prepared. Be as prepared as you can, but also be prepared about what to do if this happens to you. The hackers are sly, nasty and malicious, and their tools are changing every day. There are laws to protect us, but catching these malcontents is another story. (See this article on "HowStuffWorks: How Hackers Work")
My hope is that you never experience any hacking, and that you continue once again to read An Empowered Spirit (you can't blame me for this shameless plug, can you?)
What security do you have for your blog/computer, and how has it worked for you?
Welcome back!
Well, you've scared me enough to look into this. So glad your back. Your experience I'm sure made other people start thing about the security of their sites. I'm calling my Host on Monday. Thanks and welcome back.
It must have felt awful, awful, awful! What do hackers have to gain by doing their "thing?" I don't get it. Yes, tough to find the silver lining - except maybe it's that you realize how your strength and resilience can bring you back - welcome back!
Welcome back, Cathy! Although you and I never lost our connection, I missed your beautiful blog and am so happy to see it's restored. This is another example of bad things happening to good people. Hopefully it will never happen again to you.
The silver lining is that you get to see once again how supportive the blogging community is, and how much you are loved. Excelsior! xoxo
Welcome back, Cathy! Your (as usual) positive attitude is what pulled you through the muck. Send out good vibes and good karma boomerangs back.
Thank you Cathy for the shout out. Your blog is a beautiful expression of an empowered spirit online and I was happy to help rescue your blog from the grips of malware. xox
Wow. Thank you for the shout out! I was glad to help you. Your blog is a beautiful expression of the empowered spirit and we couldn't have you down for long!
Congratulations! Although it must have seemed like forever to you, it really didn't take that long. And now your blog is back and looking better than ever.
Been there. No one should have to go through this. I have multiple backups of different types from local external drive to several cloud, and a great host who backs up and responds very well. So glad your 'baby' is back up and running again.
Thank God you're back! And whole again. I was going crazy without you!
Wow Cathy , I has no idea. So sorry you had to go through all of that. I can feel the pain...and the anger! May the new year be smooth sailing.
I'm so glad you got everything straightened out. This is one of the reasons that I stay with wordpress.com --- because I am a complete and utter idiot when it comes to these things. I know I should switch, but I know I'd get hacked --- because I'm sure I'm vulnerable, sure of it... As I am considering building my own site and have researched quite a few, would you mind PMing me and giving me the name of your host --- the one that was of no help --- so that I can be sure NOT to use them. You say such great things about Julie --- I was thinking of trying to build mine myself --- or, more to the point, to have Fang build mine --- but now I think Julie may be the way to go!
Thanks so much for the insight. Again, I'm so glad to have you back! Don't let the turkeys get you down!
Glad you survived everything!
This is scary but is a very real fact. So many blogs get hacked daily and one of the biggest issue is hosting. Avoid cheap hosting if you are affordable for it.
No point saving a few bucks when you can save your documents.
Good luck and thanks for writing!
Reginald
Kudos, Cathy! You were determined that these hackers would not have the last word and you got your blog back and running- YAY!
You ask about our own personal blog security which leaves me wondering just how vulnerable I might be. Because I live on a private road with neighbors who are elderly and known to me I am a little more lax about my wireless world. As for backups? I rely on my wp site to do backups and don't check often enough.
This should be a cautionary tale for all of us! Though it sounds like your issue is connected to a bigger one of all 3 of you got hacked. So sorry and so glad to see you back!
So glad you're back. Hugs to you for all you've gone through. And kudos to you for sharing the experience to warn us all. Thank you.
So sorry this has happened to you Cathy! Karma will take a big bite out of their you know what one day! So glad you're back! You make such a difference for so many! Good luck!