Posted by: Eric Key in websites, joomla, hacked on
Sep 09, 2010
There are many websites which host malwares but camouflage themselves as nice and authentic sites in order to trap the visitors. Google Safe Browsing tool is a tool developed by Google which helps you to test a website that you think may not be authentic, before you visit the website and get infected with malware.
In order to check it, you just need to type the following in your browser address bar - http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=website url. For example we checked our site by going to http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=googletutor.com
Posted by: Eric Key in hacked on
Mar 11, 2010
Yesterday, we had 3 different sites hacked. They were all running different versions of Joomla (none unfortunately were current) and they were all hosted by different companies. One of the sites was able to be restored to a point, but it took most of the day and night to resolve and brought the business to a halt. The 2nd site we are still troubleshooting and the 3rd is gone - all files deleted. The hackers changed the C-panel to the Arabic language and created sub-domains under the original website in order to obtain some free hosting. We also found out they hijacked the domain as well which is making it difficult to even try to start building out a replacement site.
You may or may not know that it is the policy of most web hosting companies to do a "courtesy" weekly backup, but the problem with this is that if you discover your site has been hacked after one week has passed, then there is no way to restore the site to the way it was. Also, the back-up for the hosting companies is an automated process so even if your site is down, there is no way for them to know before completing their backup.
We feel the need to now offer the service of monthly backups which we will charge a yearly fee of $120, less if you pay for two years. We will check to make sure sites are intact before we do each backup and will keep your backups secure on our server.
We are also offering an upgrade service for security patches and updates that are critical for the security of your website. Normally, we charge $45 per upgrade, but they are coming out more frequently than some clients care to pay for. For an annual price of $99 we will keep your site up-to-date with every security patch and upgrade that becomes available.
Lastly, one serious recommendation, make sure your passwords are difficult to figure out.
It has been very unfortunate that this has happened, but we will do everything we can to ensure the safety and security of your sites. We have set up a store on our site at http://www.imgforge.com/store, we suggest you purchase one of the three backup plans and the update service.
We understand if you don't want to do this, but we wanted to at least make you aware of how quickly your site can disappear due to malicious attacks.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or email.
