HostGator Warning!

Ok, so i installed Interspire, on a shared hosting account.

I was only going to use it for a newsletter, all whitehat, no spam.

So, after installing it, I got a bit busy and kinda forgot about sitting there

So sitting there, default settings.. guess what happens. someone hacked in and sent out a 9k email list.

not good, i got 2 notices from my host (hostgator) and then my account was suspended.. for about 12 hours.

nothing enough to hurt my rankings. so, after going back and forth with them.

my account was fixed,, and now im changing all passwords and changing where that script is located. and put an ip restriction on it.

so heres the warning, make sure your sites are secured, even the ones you don't use, if you have a good site going, someone could mess it up.

So go fix all problems and vulneriabilities.

Make sure you don't get your domains banned

time is money !

CyrusVirus

Thanks for the heads up! In your opinion, was the hack based on some type of vulnerability by HG or is it a general c-panel issue? Something else? I have HG accounts as well as other c-panel based accts I want to secure properly.

that doesnt have anything to do with hostgator, more of a security issue.

What's the best way to avoid such problems ?

password protect sensitive stuff or restrict using .htaccess.

I just use the following code in .htaccess where i don't want somebody to mess around and when i myself want to work there i just rename the file and then back again when done. do it all manually of course, but it's not a big issue


:idea:

Nookie Monster said:

What's the best way to avoid such problems ?

Click to expand...

this guy right here explained it perfectly

wickedguy said:

password protect sensitive stuff or restrict using .htaccess.

I just use the following code in .htaccess where i don't want somebody to mess around and when i myself want to work there i just rename the file and then back again when done. do it all manually of course, but it's not a big issue

PHP:

AuthName "Restricted Area" 
AuthType Basic 
AuthUserFile /home/.htpasswd 
AuthGroupFile /dev/null 
require valid-user

:idea:

Click to expand...

teeniegenie said:

Thanks for the heads up! In your opinion, was the hack based on some type of vulnerability by HG or is it a general c-panel issue? Something else? I have HG accounts as well as other c-panel based accts I want to secure properly.

Click to expand...

the hack was based on my interspire script, wasn't really hostgator's fault...
although i did do the .htaccess before it was hacked and no one should have been able to get it. maybe hostgator didn't update my files or something, they are supposed to put a .htacess file on every suvdomain but didn't. per my request. anyway, its resolved now,

Thank you for the code, wickedguy! I am quite a newbie in hackerproofing files. So please do not be mad if my question is stupid.

Does using this code in .htaccess protect the whole folder where .htaccess is located.

Thanks for the heads up.. For those using WP sites, you should also protect your login page with Login Lockdown plugin

hostgator servers 100% safe , ithink the probblem with your pc

have u hired someone before? and u forgot to change ur password after he/she completed the task u asked?

i believe it''s 70% cause of ur problem...

i always asking my customer/client to change their password after shared the info with me, and record my fixed IP as their trusted IP and block the other.

art79 said:

hostgator servers 100% safe , ithink the probblem with your pc

Click to expand...

no, it wasn't my pc.. if you read my last post, you would know it was a problem with my script installed on their server

sangbiru said:

have u hired someone before? and u forgot to change ur password after he/she completed the task u asked?

i believe it''s 70% cause of ur problem...

i always asking my customer/client to change their password after shared the info with me, and record my fixed IP as their trusted IP and block the other.

Click to expand...