Friends, if you have followed me on Instagram this past week, you know that our little site was hacked! Initially it sent me into a panic (mainly because Alex was away, I was home alone with three kids and I needed to make phone-calls and clean the mess up fast!) However, once I took a step back, God was gracious with me and gave me a peace that only comes from Him! The site is now clean and my heart rejoices because through this “trial” I was able to learn a few things and to grow as a blogger and deepen my faith!
Three things I learned from my site being hacked.
- Everything happens for a reason- Seriously. I say this ALL the time but do I really believe it? The answer is yes! Romans 8:28 says “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” What’s the exact reason my website was hacked? That I can’t answer, but I can say that this trial gave me the opportunity to connect with a few online friends as well as learn a few things about properly protecting my site. The hack could have been worse. There could have been bigger consequences. My site being hacked raised up a flag for me and led me to educate myself on properly protecting this website.
- Prayer changes your perspective– It’s easy for me to feel like a victim. In this case, my website was hacked and someone out there was actively harming my little space of the internet. However, when I take a look at the bigger picture, I can see that there is a soul out there who is doing harmful things because he/she is in need of Jesus. So, I can either be angry at them or PRAY and ask God to have mercy on them. Maybe no one has ever prayed for them before, maybe God is allowing me to have a small impact on their salvation story. Not sure. But man I prayed for the hackers and for the people who are searching for very sinful things in the internet. I asked God to save their souls and thanked Him for an opportunity to really pray for someone I would have never thought to pray for.
- Be on guard- I wouldn’t say I’m naive to the fact that sinful people do sinful things on the internet, but I’m usually one of those people who say “I never thought this would happen to me!” I honestly never thought someone would want to hack a little ol’ family website, but they did. This incident has taught me to protect myself and my children and to ask God for wisdom when it comes to sharing on the internet, and protecting my family on the internet.
Also, this is what I did to fix the problem:
Contact your hosting provider– My hosting provider referred me to a website security company that talked me through the steps I needed to take. I ended up going with a security company that best fit my budget, but that initial call helped me understand what was happening and what steps I needed to take to fix the problem.
The security company cleaned up the malware and asked me to do the following:
- update all content management system to the latest version
- update my website plugins
- change ALL my passwords
- restore from backup (I never backed up my site, but if I did, this would have solved the issue)
- scan my computer
- re-submit your website to google
- re-sumbmi your sitemap to google
- set up a firewall
This could have been prevented had I updated my plugins. I ignored the notifications for updates and that’s how the spammers found their way in. Go figure!
Oh my friends, I am praying for you today. For your websites and for His peace and mercy to be with you!
Any tips on how you keep your website clean?
What you may have missed:
Finding balance in the everyday
A little about what we believe
