Hacking a website

[Guest coenie]

Come on Chris, give us more detail

[traaidmark]

Hackers are evil kids. We just underwent an attack, and although no harm done, we now once again have to go through steps to ensure security. changing all passwords throughout our system, reinstalling two servers just in case. meh.

[Solstice]

Hackers are not evil kids. Misguided maybe.

Remember, not all hacks are meant to cause harm, only raise awareness or suss out the infrastructure in prep for a full scale attack.

So, why the question...still.

[Vuilgoed]

Hackers are evil kids. We just underwent an attack, and although no harm done, we now once again have to go through steps to ensure security. changing all passwords throughout our system, reinstalling two servers just in case. meh.

 

Seems to me you should be trying to find those kids to offer them jobs as security consultants! They potentially saved you a lot of time and effort by highlighting your security short comings (without causing damage) before someone more malicious came along and did some serious damage....

[mark ellis]

I think...........the HUB was hacked......................and this thread was not started by the real Chris Willemse........ah, the plot thickens...

[Vuilgoed]

Cool! So the hub Chris Willemse has been possessed by an evil hacker and is talking in tongues or something!?!

 

Sounds like an episode of Isidingo or Lays of our Wives or something...

[Gasping]

It is not merely misguided kids that hack into websites - some very clever souls know how to fdo this. It goes deeper than misguided.

 

Someone suggested employing them as security consultants - "poacher turned game keeper" is a very good way as long as they have reformed or else it is a good as getting a fox to guard the henhouse.

 

Sounds like an episode of Isidingo Its a Dingo or Lays of our Wives or something...

 

Fixed.

[covie]

Out of every million script kiddies out there maybe 1 is capable of hacking, 99% of the time, a hacker finds the flaw and then posts the flaw on the "interweb", and then designs a little program to exploit that flaw. Script kiddies download these and sometimes they get lucky. They are more dangerous than any hacker since hackers know when they are about to cause damaage (and they hardly ever do, since they know the concequinces) whereas script kiddies just fumble away till they manage to break something.

 

In any event, your number one defence is simply to update your site (assuming its something like CS cart) and make sure you are with a descent hosting provider that regularly patches web/db/OS with security patches.