Viruses Took Down Website & Forum

[Flow]

Viruses took down website & forum - how this happened, I ain't got a clue. I got Bit Deffender Total Security that comes with a firewall.

Trojans all over - so bad that google put up a warning against visiting my site and my forum.

I am in the process of resolving the problem.

Question: how best to protect my website and forum to avoid this from happening ever again?

Your advice is appreciated!

[filingaccount]

Viruses took down website & forum - how this happened, I ain't got a clue. I got Bit Deffender Total Security that comes with a firewall.

Trojans all over - so bad that google put up a warning against visiting my site and my forum.

I am in the process of resolving the problem.

Question: how best to protect my website and forum to avoid this from happening ever again?

Your advice is appreciated!

Do your website hosting with a professional company...

At the very least host your site on a linux server.

Never rely on a Microsoft software for critical apps/systems.

[jackdanielsesq]

I had a similar problem a long while back, and went with a Linux site, made my life so much easier.

I never hosted a forum - that I would never do on the same site for obvious reasons.

I have never had a problem, also dont flame clients, as they are wont to do on forums.

Perhaps there was some conflict of interest there. Why even pay 50% of your hosting fee to M$

BR>Jack

[Crushdepth]

Was your web/forum software up to date? Probably the most common cause of getting hacked like this is falling behind on the security patches. Once an exploit is out there people just write simple automated tools to look for vulnerable sites. If you are using a well known CMS or forum software then this isn't some hypothetical threat, its *normal*.

Second most common cause - if you use shared web hosting, there is a good chance the server was compromised by some of the junk that *other* people were running, in which case either your hosting company needs to address the problem with the server, or you could consider moving to a different hosting company (or better, rent a virtual private server so you don't have to share facilities).

Whatever you are using, someone will probably have published a guide to locking it down. Take a good look at your system and tighten everything you can. Then burn a backup to DVD once a week or whatever and keep it in a time series, so you can restore your system from any point during the past.

[wxpwzrd]

Do your website hosting with a professional company...

At the very least host your site on a linux server.

Never rely on a Microsoft software for critical apps/systems.

Do you even know what you are talking about? There is nothing wrong with hosting on Microsoft platforms. Platform is determined by need. There are plenty of exploits for PHP/MySQL.

[H2oDunc]

Same old same old! " go with Linux" crap whenever anybody has a problem with anything to do with MS. Try looking in the Linux forum and reading some of the problems running what I still class as BETA software. 99% of people want to have their OS to run straight out of the box and be compatible with most software on the market.

[webfact]

Same old same old! " go with Linux" crap whenever anybody has a problem with anything to do with MS. Try looking in the Linux forum and reading some of the problems running what I still class as BETA software. 99% of people want to have their OS to run straight out of the box and be compatible with most software on the market.

I'll totally agree with you when it comes to software. For my business I need Adobe software. Many hardcore Linux supporters forget that some major software developers still do not offer Linux versions. Must have a reason IMHO... yes I know, its a bit off topic...

[Crushdepth]

Depends where the hole is. If the vulnerability was with your forum software then it doesn't matter what OS you were using.

[jackdanielsesq]

I wonder if any of the flamers even have a website?!

BR>Jack

[filingaccount]

Do you even know what you are talking about? There is nothing wrong with hosting on Microsoft platforms. Platform is determined by need. There are plenty of exploits for PHP/MySQL.

Yes I have "a little knowledge about related things..."

Nothing wrong? In this case plenty of things went wrong.

Without knowing particulars of the situation one can only give very general suggestions, just as I did.

There are plenty of exploits for any platform but not as many as on Microsoft solutions (one can always argue why) so the likelihood of getting infected is less on non-microsoft solutions. It has nothing to do with "this software is better", just simple arithmetic.

Further, hosting with a professional company reduces the risk, but does not eliminate it. One would think a professional hosting company would be on top of security though. This does not eliminate the need of doing your own research, from top to bottom.

Oh, and for anyone questioning my suggestions... where are yours? (besides the apparent bashing of some very general suggestions).

[wxpwzrd]

Yes I have "a little knowledge about related things..."

Nothing wrong? In this case plenty of things went wrong.

Without knowing particulars of the situation one can only give very general suggestions, just as I did.

There are plenty of exploits for any platform but not as many as on Microsoft solutions (one can always argue why) so the likelihood of getting infected is less on non-microsoft solutions. It has nothing to do with "this software is better", just simple arithmetic.

Further, hosting with a professional company reduces the risk, but does not eliminate it. One would think a professional hosting company would be on top of security though. This does not eliminate the need of doing your own research, from top to bottom.

Oh, and for anyone questioning my suggestions... where are yours? (besides the apparent bashing of some very general suggestions).

Intentionally vague as is your general bash of Microsoft products... I get paid for my work. And yes, I design, I develop (both PHP and .NET) and I have extensive knowledge of systems design and implementation.