My web server was hacked again, so I’ve had to reinstall everything. This site SEEMS to be ok again now (the hackers entered via another site that I host for Cafe Scientifique, which is a whole other problem) but there’s so much stuff that goes on in a linux server that it needs a few hours to settle down in order to be sure everything’s working properly. So it’s probably best not to post anything until I give the go ahead.
I’m sick of linux, sick of drupal, and sick of shady people who want to use my server to attack an innocent Russian newspaper, so I’m looking at alternatives. For ages I’ve wanted to move over to Azure, because I’ve been a Windows developer for decades and it will make life a LOT easier when I come to write web code to interface with the game, so that’s my plan and I’ve started working on it. But it’s a low priority compared to the game itself, so for now we’ll stay here.
Anyway, check back for updates…
Edit: Ok, everything seems stable, so it’s alright to start posting again! The problem was actually with another site that I host. It was bringing this one down purely by causing the server to run out of resources. It’s JUST possible the hackers caused some damage to this site but I can’t see any evidence of it so far. I haven’t put the other site back (I’ll find a new home for it later). So the only thing left over from the previous install is this site’s database and since that’s not how the hackers got in, I think it’s probably clean.
We live in a crazy world. I rather suspect we got caught up in a fight between the Russian Mafia and a dissident Press, this time! It makes a change from spambots, I guess, but whatever the motive, these people are a waste of space. My anonymous little web server gets attacked several times a second, 24 hours a day. Imagine what a big one has to contend with and how much junk there is, clogging up the world’s bandwidth! Anyway, I reinstalled linux and drupal, updated everything, added Fail2Ban and an http firewall, blocked the IP addresses of everyone I know was involved, and moved the hacked site to my local machine to look at later. If you notice anything I missed reinstalling, let me know. It couldn’t have happened in a worse week, from my perspective – I was right in the middle of a massive overhaul of the genetics system, which is the core of the game. Still, I’m pretty sure we’re back to normal now, apart from the impact on Science Cafes across the world.
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