Yes, We Were Hacked...
So that’s what getting hacked feels like! No, the picture to the left isn’t what the homepage looked like. That’s just my spoof of the classic hacker yadda yadda…the laughing quaker is a staple in the forums at Fark.com. For those of you who emailed me to let me know, I thank you.
Of course, waking up to the laughing quaker would be one thing. Waking up to a screen full of Arabic text followed by a ten digit number is another. Granted, this site doesn’t seem like something terrorists would be too interested in attacking (frankly, why would ANYONE be interested in hacking me?), and as always, Google came to the rescue. By copying and pasting the Arabic text into their translator, the mysterious hacker’s true motive became clear.
His message?
“Site infiltrated by Moshari The Phallic. Questions: 4829754834.”
That’s not the real number, of course. And then he listed a fake hotmail addy.
Well, Moshari The Phallic, you have bested me today!
Sort of. I mean, it took about two minutes to undo what he did (which was basically change the index page). Naturally, I’m going to be spending a little time in the upcoming days to try and patch up any security holes here and maybe reevaluate some of the peripheral software we use on the site (possibly change our chatware), but this, I suppose, is a cost of being on the web.
For now, this wasn’t as much a crime as a bit of silly teenage vandalism. I guess, in a way…I’m flattered. I mean, it’s great to have you guys as readers, but…Moshari The Phallic? Here? On my site?
swoon
4LL Y()UR B@$E AR3 8EL0N9 +O U5
if only your wife was in labour again, you could ring up john august for advice … ;)
God forbid!
Moshari the Phallic. Can we call him Moshari the Penile instead?
Hey, Craig, I’m glad you’re flattered, but it’s MARSILII the Phallic. Okay? Guy goes to this much trouble to hack your site, the least you could do is get my name right. Sheesh…
So much to say! — and none of it polite in mixed company — or any company for that matter.
Wow, this is just amazing. I mean, wow. What a small world! My site got hacked by Moshari The Phallic! Oh, happy day! He infiltrated my forums, only to titilate my own unrealized desires for anonymous site-screwing, then fanished without a trace. I never thought I would hear of him again, but here, of all places, he chooses to leave his mark. On my favorite screen writing blog! I’m so happy I could spit!
Moshari the PHALLIC of all things… can we say your site was PENETRATED by a hacker?
Paging Dr. Freud, I know…
Did someone also hack Christopher Lockhart’s Two Adverbs blog, or did he delete the blog himself?
christopher says it’s just a problem with blogger and he has informed their help desk.
The man is obviously overcompensating for something… I’m guessing it has to do with the size of his keyboard.
Just some advice for the future:
I don’t know what your backend looks like, but I imagine you are on a php/SQL system.
To offset even the WORST hacks, back up your SQL database in a zip file to an offsite location (mine goes onto my home computer hard drive). Do this every week or so. With the gigabytes of empty memory space just lying around on computers today, this is no big deal. If your webhost has a cPanel interface, there is an SQL backup feature which is pretty self-explanatory (i.e. easy to use).
Since your front end is a template - if you get hacked beyond belief, all you do is start over with a fresh slate, reinstall your template, upload your last zipped SQL backup and VOILA, you’re back in business in about 20 minutes.
(I was hacked recently - it took the whole site down. It took me over a week to figure out what to do but once I figured it out, it was a 20 minute process to restore. — You might already know what I just told you, but in case you didn’t; I hope to spare you the pain I went through.)
Yo Craig… i just discovered blogging.. and just discovered you (your my favourite)
please check out my tribute to blogging and yourself on my own crappy myspace blog ‘I Find Your Artful Lack Of Screenwriting Disturbing’ www.myspace.com/hellojason69
:)
Hey, very cool! Thanks.