Miscellany: September 2006 Archives

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