2. Write a blog post about something you felt/feel frustrated by.
My first indication that something was wrong was about two weeks ago when I tried to login to my blog dashboard and my password wasn’t working. That’s never really happened before, but I was able to reset my password and login successfully so I shrugged the whole thing off. A few days later John and Patty both emailed and were like, “your comment section is broken” and sure enough the comment section was giving a 403 Forbidden error.
I thought maybe I just needed to update plugins on my site, but after a few quick attempts to freshen things up, the comment section still was not working. I used to pay a blogging friend to keep my site in working order but over time that just fell to the wayside and I have the reins. So I took to Google to find out what 403 Forbidden codes indicate and google told me it’s possible there are issues with a plugin OR my WordPress “files permissions” OR .htcaccess file.
Of those three options, plugins was the most familiar and easiest to assess. I disabled all of my plugins and then checked my blog…still forbidden. I opened an Incognito Window hoping a fresh look at my site would give me better results….still forbidden. I went back to Google and to learn how to manage file permissions and the .htcaccess file. According to my findings, certain files hosted in my Bluehost PHP account are supposed to be set with a 755 and other files should have a 644. I don’t know what any of it means, only that if the numbers are wrong it could leave my site vulnerable to hackers. Lo and behold one of the 644 files was not 644 and I nervously updated it while hoping I didn’t break the whole damn thing. After the update I popped over to see if I fixed the issue but it was still Forbidden.
At this point I was wondering if my site had been vulnerable all this time, perhaps it was already hacked. Back to Google University I went to find out what to do if I suspected a hacking. At this point I was feeling beyond frustrated because I blog once a week and I am not interested in pouring all of this extra time into keeping it working. Especially when the solutions were unclear, weren’t working, and threatened to break everything.
Google advised me to download the Wordfence plugin and scan my site for malware. So I did. And there was. My site was infected with malware and as far as I could tell was being hacked even while I was attempting to remedy it. The Wordfence scan provided me with many files and the showed which lines had been inserted to cause corruption. I went back to my Bluehost database, found one of the MANY lines of corrupt code, deleted it and went back to my site to see if the issue was resolved. My site was gone…I broke it. I added the code back in and voila it was back. Still hacked, but back.
The Wordfence scan also provided the option of deleting what they reported as corrupt files, but they were clear that before deleting them I should know what I’m deleting because the files COULD be files that were created outside of the basic WordPress code. I’m thinking that when my site was designed, certainly my designer added code to make it function the way it does. I didn’t want to delete all of the files and then end up deleting her work and breaking the damn thing again. At some point in this process, I viewed my site again in an Incognito Window and saw that many of my links were changed to things like hookup app Malaysia and meetville search.
I was feeling quite in over my head coupled with a growing panic that my site was slowly being turned into some sort of Adult Virus site. I started a Live Chat with a Bluehost specialist and they also ran a scan and confirmed the hack party. Google said if you want to pay someone to fix your site for you, check out Sitelock. So I did. They charge about $90 for a year of protection which I was not excited about paying but was desperate enough to just throw all of my money at it. Once connected to my site it started scanning immediately and after 24 hours or so I received an email that said something like, “Your site was infected with malware, but we fixed it. You have a healthy site now.”
You can no longer meet up with anyone in Malaysia through my website. And the 403 Forbidden is GONE. Everything is operating as it should and I can finally stop staying up past midnight learning code from Google while invaders take over my mommy blog. Nobody has time for that! I love technology but if it is not also the most frustrating thing sometimes. My 8th grade journal never gave me this kind of trouble.
Now it’s your turn!
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!
The Prompts:
1. Write about something you are looking forward to.
2. Write a blog post about something you felt/feel frustrated by.
3. Write a blog post inspired by the word: last
4. Share a list of 7 things you love about Spring.
5. Tell us about a run-in you had with a cop.
Abby says
Hey! Hello! Hi! I can comment? I also experienced the 403 error here and thought about letting you know, but confess…”I bet John’ll tell her” :P
Isn’t that the WORST feeling? That your site was hacked?! Then trying to clean it up? I use Malwarebytes. Pay them annually and trust that they’re doing their thing. You’re right, journaling was much safer in 8th grade. What did the Malaysian hookups do then?
Betsy says
That sounds like a problem I would have! Glad you were able to find a way to fix it.
John Holton says
Thank heaven for tech support! I’d’ve been totally lost, and I worked with software all my career. Glad you were able to get help to figure it out. It was money well spent.
Wouldn’t you like to get your hands on the freeloaders that did it to you?
Patty says
I just sent you an email regarding my previous issues with a nasty web designer and Sitelock, both who held my website hostage….until I employed a “big gun” to rescue me and show both who was boss!
It’s so frustrating, Kat, and something we can all, too easily, fall victim to.