We Were Hacked – Twice

I apologize to all our subscribers for the unfortunate hacking incidents that have taken place over the last month at this blog.

In the first instance, my attackers gained access to my WordPress installation and defaced it with unpleasant anti-Israel propaganda and disturbing imagery. I was able to regain control by accessing the MySql database directly and I cleaned everything up. I was unable to clean the theme I was using, so I just switched to a different theme temporarily. I changed all the passwords and was hoping that was the end of it.

Unfortunately, last week another attacker retook the site and posted his Arabic rantings on my home page. I’m guessing that I didn’t clean up sufficiently and left over a backdoor that allowed another attack to penetrate. This time I had my provider reset the account and I restored everything from backup. I didn’t have my theme backed up though, so I’m still using a different one until I can put everything back together. Guys, make sure your blog is completely and regularly backed up!

I also subscribed to the free monitoring service Montastic to check my blog every hour. This way I will be notified immediately if I am subjected to yet another incident. I sure hope it doesn’t happen again – I just don’t have the time. God, please afflict all hackers with something really nasty. Something that will keep them busy and away from my blog. Thank you.

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