(photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dudemjk/)
Learn from my experience. Don't take your website for granted. Considering I use a PC (which is prone to virus attacks), I pride myself on being very careful when using the Internet. I only use Firefox when browsing and I have antivirus software that automatically updates in real time. I also automatically run a spyware program every morning.
I stupidly thought I was protected. Oops.
Somehow, someway, not only did my main website get compromised, but all my domains were shut down by Google! Malware was detected on my site that was dangerous to visitors. And, thus began a three week battle to find out what the problem was, how it happened and how to get it fixed. (Meanwhile, I was basically out of business.)
Evidently, the hackers had come in through my hosting company and therefore were able to attack all my domains. The conversation back and forth between my hosting company was a frustrating experience of cryptic emails that sometimes made sense and sometimes didn't. Every time I called, I talked to someone different at the hosting company and every time I received an email it was from a different person at the hosting company. Back and forth we went for weeks.
I was finally told the problem was fixed by the hosting company and told I now could ask Google to allow my sites up. So, I hired someone to get me back in the good graces of Google. Unfortunately, I hired the wrong person for the job and after a week of waiting to hear back from Google, contacted another person.
Come to find out, my website (and other domains) still were infected. My hosting company hadn't fixed the problem after all. Surprise, surprise.
But here's the good part of the story. I hired the right person this time. She was an excellent detective and quickly figured out what the problem was and how to fix it. In just a few days all my domains were up and running again. I was back in business.
Who was this brilliant detective? Check her out at Little Fish Studios.
And, what was my learning experience from this? I now realize that if you are using a PC and have what you think is adequate virus/malware protection, you probably don't. One of the most dangerous types of spyware are keyloggers that hide on your computer to record all your keystrokes. So, if you go to a site and enter your password, it is recorded by the spyware. At that point, the hackers can get your private information and use it in any way they want. We think this is how the hackers were able to get into my hosting account.
Simple Low-Tech Solution
An easy low-tech solution to prevent your confidential information from being stolen by keylogger malware is to simply not type in your user name or password on the websites you visit. Rather, put together a spreadsheet of all your user names and passwords, so you can copy and paste them into the websites. This way, you are not allowing any of your confidential information to be given out through key strokes. A simple copy and paste can prevent the keylogger malware problem.
Here's my final thought. No matter what virus protection or spyware you are running on your computer, DO NOT assume you are safe. Everyday new viruses, spyware, and adware are being created. Sometimes your luck just runs out and tag, you are it. So, get multiple antivirus, spyware and adware programs, make sure you have the latest updates on these programs and consider buying a Mac; they don't have these problems! (All you Mac owners are allowed to gloat at this point.)
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