Malware infection, this must be every blogger’s nightmare. Imagine clicking on your blog, Facebook or Instagram LINKS, and you get redirected to some apps download, spam or even porn website.
SengkangBabies wish to bring you FUN, not virus. Our blog was infected earlier this month and I hope to share the cleanup “challenges” which I encounter.
Confusion, Panic, Frustration
(Most) Bloggers know how to add content and change a few fonts, but we are helpless when infected.
– We might not even realised our blog is infected. Do we know the source of infection, is it questionable plugins, un-patched WordPress, hacked passwords, or perhaps host was compromised?
– Assuming you know the source of infection or virus, you will Google for solution right?
There are so many links out there which claim to have the SOLUTION. Many are click-baits, but HELLO, how do we identify reliable websites? After getting spooked by Malware infection, I am paranoid that a website providing “solution” might inject more Malware into my blog Argh!
– Do not expect me to troubleshoot lines (thousands!) of PHP codes to find which code (or codes) is infected! I cannot even identify the strain of malware π
– Assuming if you do find a reliable website, the steps to remove the Malware might require you to have some coding skills. I am quite a techie, but I struggle to find the affected codes (plural as in there are likely more than one infections).
– Enterprises and bigger establishments might have their own IT folks, but bloggers and small webshops are on our own. It was disappointing, my host could not even provide a “repair” quotation!
Good luck finding a reliable (and affordable) vendor in Singapore. Some quoted me $200 per hour (without guarantee that problem will be solved). I was literally under vendor’s chopping block.
– This leads us to the most important question. When was the last backup performed?
We might need to restore the root folder as part of the remediation steps.
And how many of you are comfortable with navigating Cpanel (Control Panel)?
Desperation, Accountability
You might ask why is it so critical to ensure your website or blog is not infected.
It is all about reputation and accountability.
Although SengkangBabies do not do online transactions, we are in the business of generating Content.
People read our content because our experience is genuine and authentic, I hope they find our tips useful.
Our stakeholders are our readers.
Our blog should not infect readers’ machines when they are researching for the next staycation.
I own SengkangBabies, and I must be accountable for the blog.
The last thing you need is to be blacklisted by Google!
You can say bye bye to your traffic and reputation.
Damage Control, Recovery
In the end, I had to pay good money to Sucuri to secure my blog (scan and firewall) for the next 12 months.
In addition, I have changed all passwords, keep WordPress and plugins updated, and ensuring my Host is backing up my Blog more frequently. All these additional steps are required to give myself more assurance, and to keep my readers safe.
Even with all these mitigations, I am still not optimistic of the future.
Malware are notorious for re-infecting websites, as they have some back-doors.
Is my blog really safe now?
Do I need to extend my contract with Sucuri to keep my blog safe?
The anti-malware sector needs more resources. The lack of responses from authorities and vendors, are as unnerving as the Malware itself! I tried at least 5 vendors in Singapore without success, someone please share your “Security consultant” with me.
– SingCert might write in to inform you about infection. Instead of warning that my website is infected, they could be more helpful in advising on next steps forward. Or perhaps NO, since Singapore Government is shutting down Internet access too!
** If you suspect your blog is infected, use the FREE Sucuri scanner https://sucuri.net/scanner to scan your blog.
In summary, self-hosted websites are more vulnerable, compared to blogger or WordPress.com
After your blog is compromised, you feel like you are all alone and so vulnerable.
After engaging Sururi, most of the Malware infections (injected codes) had been removed.
Suruci is like an anti-malware concierge, very proactive in ensuring that their customers’ concern and questions are answered.
Although I am impressed with their services, I sincerely hope your blog will not be infected π
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Thanks for sharing. If this happened to me i would be so lost and helpless!! It would be a complete nightmare. π
I am glad your website is ok now
Ju Ann
http://www.ngjuann.com
Ju Ann recently posted…Cute Doesnβt Even Begin To Describe These Baby Photos!
A lot of folks assume (me guilty too) that hackers will only attack corporates and companies, not bloggers.
A wake-up call for me π
Oh no, this can be really nightmarish..Even on my blogsite, I keep on getting so much spam comments..Must be careful!
Spam comments we can filter off 99%, but this “inserted malware” really spooks me!
Thanks for the post… reminded me to backup my blog too which I haven’t done for a long time…. how often should we do this?
Wondering roughly how much was spent for ur damage control?
~ Jamie Chaw (http://karmie080808.blogspot.sg/)
Backup as often as you like, but generally once a week or a month is fine. Check with your host whether you can “automate schedule” backup.
Besides protection against virus, it protects again blog crash too.
You might want yo run through the scan again. I just got redirected to another site earlier. Had to go back to facebook and link back here again.
Michelle recently posted…The Lifting Cream I’ve Been Telling Everyone About
This is what I realised sometimes too, these malware/adware really very persistent and hard to remove!
(will need to scan again)
Such a scary malware attack which can happen to any of us! Our blog was also down few times and it caused us great agony and lots of to and fro communication with the host to get it restored again. Glad your blog is working fine again now.
Angie.S recently posted…Return to S.E.A Aquarium β A Special Book Launch!
100% agree, I always “sian” went if blog gets attacked or some goon insert/tag nonsense photos onto my Facebook/Fanpage.
Not many of us are equipped for damage-control, we can only escalate to the experts.
Glad you are able to fix this on your own at the right time. We all have to be cautious with these things happening to our blog.
Pooja Kawatra recently posted…Spongebob Run 2016 (Discount code)
Hi Pooja, you can be cautious 99% of the time, just 1% lapse and the adware will sneak in.
Hacking Statistics are quite sobering…
Oh my goodness Andy! This is scary! I’d be pulling my hair off if this happened to me! Is it all good now? I was reading into your second line in the blog just now and I got redirected to download a media player. Usually I will just click CONTINUE but I was worried for a moment since I’m reading a topic on virus infection!
Wah! Now your bot so high tech! I gotta count DOTS? lol
May recently posted…Small Spaces: Children’s Room
Thanks for update, May.
On and off, some content might get “Redirected”, but most are safely clean already.
I guess the “bots” are always evolving to outsmart the spams π
OMG! That is such a nightmare. Remind me of the time my hard drive clash and all my high res photos all gone. My precious kids’ photos. And I went to recovery center and each one of them quote me thousands of dollars to repair it. Really feel like a carrot. Thanks for sharing.
If physical hardisk crash, repairs of $1000+ is “industry standard”, and out of reach for most common users And even then no guarantee all files recovered, file structure/hierarchy also messed up. The only way to protect ourselves is scheduled backups, (and test those backed-up files too). We are really at vendors’ mercies :p
Cool information. Really like the free scanner and I just did a scan on our blog! Thanks for the information. π
Phoebe recently posted…Joe & The Juice @ Quayside Isle (Sentosa Cove)
Most welcome, hope more people will be aware of steps to protect our websites/blogs.
Thanks for sharing, what an ordeal for you to go through!!! All your years of work! We were just recommended Sucuri for our corporate site, the person told us of a friend who owned a skincare business, the website was hacked and gory photos (like kids being abused?!) were put up, and affected business. He also said once you’ve been attacked the website is never the same again, i.e. It’s better to start anew. Horrors!
Mummy Ed recently posted…Lipomassage fat burning at Aura & Miracles (review & discount code)
Yes Edlyn, once thos hackers come in, very hard to remove them!
Most of us will require professionals to help us check our setup again.