Hackers

[GLF]

There is a group of hackers that is actively hacking websites. An admin from another vbulletin website emailed me on Thursday night and informed me that his website had been hacked. Most of the time they alter a web page to leave a mark. Here are a couple of examples of some of the marks they are leaving now.

Most of the hackers get in through exploits in a websites software. Once they get in, they can go almost anywhere. You can have the most secure website on the internet, but if you are on a shared server, you could become a victim. Hackers can move from one website to another via the server.

What to do if you visit a website that is hacked. You should attempt to contact the owner ASAP. If you are the owner, you should immediately contact your host. There is a good chance your host can track how they accessed your site. This all depends on how good your host is.

If you are aware of the hacker soon enough, your host should also be able to do a restore of your database and ftp site. This will get your site back on line.

Once you are back online, you should address the issues with the hole(s) in your software to prevent being hacked again.

[GLF]

I spend a lot of time on my websites keeping them up to date with the latest software. I have other measures in place to also prevent being hacked.

Hopefully this is enough to deter would be hackers.

[bluedevil]

Mike,

Is there a reason why people would hack into a site like this?

I could see why a criminal would hack into a system like a bank or something but why a site like this? Just some geeky kid that likes to mess with people?

[GLF]

The site that was hacked was a waterfowl hunting site. www.greatlakeswaterfowler.com There is no reason why this site should have been hacked.

I did some checking up on the group that did the hacking. They are known as the Saudi Virus Team, and their website is vxx9.com They have hacked into a lot of sites owned or hosted in the U.S.

This could be a retaliation against any U.S. site, for some of the terrorist sites being hacked into, and or shut down.