Starting tonight, this blog may be inactive for a day or two. It’s come under a nasty spybot attack, which may require drastic measures to repel.
Yesterday I decided to make a few minor changes to my WordPress templates, which power this blog. While hacking my way around the code, I discovered someone else has apparently been busy doing the same. The evidence was there for all to see in my footer template… Hundreds of URL referrals to porn and pharmaceutical sites.
Well, actually, it wasn’t there for all to see. The hackers were clever enough to make sure the code included a command to keep their vile handiwork invisible. Visitors to this blog are safe. It’s not a virus that can be passed around. Apparently these parasites are attempting to increase their page ranking in Google by making it appear my site (among others) is linking to them.
So, as I say, for the next day or so I’ll be updating my WordPress infrastructure and beefing up security. There’s a risk involved. From what I understand, other bloggers who have updated or installed the necessary patches have crashed their sites. Hopefully, I won’t suffer the same fate. But in case I do, keep checking back. Even if it means starting from scratch, I’ll be back. Sooner rather than later.
