Beware of Geeks Bearing Online Gifts
A Blogjacking We will Go
Hi Blokesters. I’m back again! Crikey, I don’t know of many bloggers who have been resurrected from the grave as often as I have but as you can see I’ve lived to tell the tale.
I’m guessing that you would like to know all the gory details of what happened to me over the past couple of weeks, so here goes:
What Happened?
1. Somebody had sent me a link via an email that was addressed to me personally. Although I didn’t recognize the sender, the message was addressed to “Blog Bloke” indicating that the sender knew me and was not your run-of-the-mill spam.
Although I was suspicious it was enough to perk my interest and I decided to check it out anyhow. The site hung for about a minute which made me even more suspicious that something was amiss. It was making my hard drive spin like crazy and eating up all of the cycles on my computer, so I decided to close the browser tab.
2. Not long after that my internet connection started to drift in and out. My heart sunk and I suspected the suspicious site had installed something behind my back.
3. Worst of all even if I could still surf the net in general, I could no longer view my own blog site or my Wordpress dashboard. Meaning, I couldn’t log in to write a post.
4. I called my ISP cable company and asked them to check the internet feed. They reported that the signal was a little low and decided to send a repairman out.
5. I also called my blog host company and asked them to check my site. They said they could see it fine on their servers but for some reason only I was being blocked. I asked them to check and see if my IP address was being blocked, and they reported “no”.
6. When my ISP repairman showed up at the house he noted that my internet connection had dropped out at least 20 times. He gave me a brand new (faster) modem and a signal booster. I also bought a new digital TV tuner for blog central. 
7. Unfortunately I still couldn’t view my blog site. So I called my blog host company and asked them to check their firewall again. Sure enough this time it showed that my IP address was blocked! Finally I was getting somewhere.
8. Apparently someone had made several unsuccessful attempts to log into my blog dashboard.
9. After the blog host company removed the block I could now view my blog and log into my Wordpress dashboard.
Woohoo!
10. But not long after that my computer suffered a catastrophic crash that destroyed my hard drive and I could not longer boot into Windows.
How did I fix my computer?
1. Much to my dismay I couldn’t fix it right away. I have a plethora of emergency CD utilities available to me but nothing worked. All I can figure is the virus must have damaged the MBR or something similar that was irrevocable.
So after days of fiddling with it I eventually had to take the bull by the horns and do a low-level format. It is extremely destructive and zero’s out all the sectors in the hard drive. Only then was I able to reinstall Windows.
Oh yeah, the computer doesn’t work anymore and I had to cannibalize parts from three other non-working computers to get this one that I’m now using.
2. After that I had the problem of recovering my data from the backup hard drive. After formatting the master hard drive something bad had also happened to the slave, despite the fact I had disconnected it at the time. So more than likely it was the trojan virus that did something.
3. It showed up as an “unknown” partition, or in other words it had lost all it’s formatting. Geesh! So I had to run a special data recovery program which eventually recovered my lost data.
4. After that it was simply a matter of reinstalling all of my software again.
Beware of Blogging Geeks Bearing Online Gifts
What’s to learn from all this? Fact:
1. I was locked out of my account because someone had tried to hack into it. My blog host company is set up to automatically block an IP address after several failed attempts to log in. Which explains why I was unable to view my site or login to my Wordpress dashboard. Unfortunately they didn’t figure it out until I told them to check their firewall (twice).
2. I was obviously the victim of an attempted hijacking of my blog (also called blogjacking) and they destroyed my computer in the process.
3. I had caught a virus from an unknown emailer who sent me a link to a malicious site injecting me with a trojan. This was done intentionally by someone who knows me.
How can I tell?
1. Was it a coincidence that all my computer troubles started right after clicking on the link to the maliscious site?
2. Was it just coincidence they used my personal email address that is only available to visitors on this blog and addressed it to “Blog Bloke”?
3. Was it just coincidence that someone had tried to hack into my Wordpress account at the same time? The trojan was using my hijacked IP address and it most certainly wasn’t me because I couldn’t even view my blog dashboard let alone try to log in. Besides, I already know my password.
4. Was it just coincidence that my hard drive was also destroyed making my computer unusable?
5. Was it a coincidence that I had just written a series of posts on the problogger/splogger community and blog ethics?
I don’t know about you but that’s just too many “coincidences” for my liking.
What did I learn?
1. Clearly this was not a random act of unkindness. It was a malicious act by someone who knows me.
2. I will no longer click any links sent to me if I don’t know who the sender is, even if it is sent to my personal email address and addressed to Blog Bloke.
3. I need to purchase another backup computer (just in case).
4. I need to purchase an ‘external’ hard drive for backups.
5. I will continue to speak out on the subject of blog ethics no matter what they try to throw at me. Hopefully (more sooner than later) they will get the message.
But for now:
Until I am able to purchase another computer I will have to share this computer with my wife and child which will take away time that I have for blogging. But at least I’m back.
Oh yes, much thanks to everyone who sent me their well-wishes and a special thank you to Kathy and Jaffer who notified my readers of the problem.
Cheers!
Filed under: Announcements, Blog Ethics, Blog SEO, Featured Articles, Miscellaneous Blog Tips, Misguided, Security
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Bloke — What a sad and incredible story! I’m so sorry this happened to you, but I’m glad you recovered to the point where you could get up and running again, with your data, and of course, blog again. This is scary stuff and a good warning to others about the evil among us. Welcome back. We missed you.
Kathy’s last blog post..Don’t Worry, He Won’t Bite
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Glad to have you back bloke! Its too bad there are people in this world that only want to hurt people or steal something. I feel for you in your computer woes. I have formated hard drives so many times that i lost count.
Curtis’s last blog post..My Bloggers Bloom Day, March
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Thanks Kathy and Curtis. I’m considering sending the email to the FBI computer forensics lab for further investigation. I will also contact the authorities to shut down the maliscious site.
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Glad to see you back! Sorry to hear of your computer troubles. I hope everything gets back to normal for you soon (minus crazy computer issues, of course!)
Kirsten’s last blog post..Love at First Sight
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Thanks Kirsten. Everything is looking ship-shape and better than ever.
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Wow, THAT frightens me to even turn on my new computer!
Sorry to hear about your troubles and being targeted. Teri
Tica Macha (Teri)’s last blog post..Church on Sunday
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I guess it goes with the territory Teri.
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Bloke, please do us all a favor and share information on steps you’re taking to deal with this. I think we should all know what needs to be done to work towards shutting these idiots down. It’s getting ridiculous the things one needs to do to be protected any more. I have two virus checkers running at all times, plus about three different spyware filters up and running. And I’m sure that I’m still not completely safe.
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Will do Lee.
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Wow… so sorry to hear of this Bloke. Why the heck would someone be so malicious to try and steal a Blog???? I don’t understand how people can be so destructive. So glad to hear you didn’t lose any data… a lesson that frequent backups are ciritical nowadays!
Glad to have you back.
Maureen’s last blog post..Good Friday Traditions
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Thanks Maureen. It’s good to be back. To answer your question — they’re sickos, that’s why. I use this blog to speak about blog ethics and the lack thereof. Obviously they don’t like it (or get it) and if they can steal my blog then they can take away my voice (at least according to the theory). What they don’t seem to realize is their subtrifuge is only a temporary setback (not to mention illegal) and have made me all the more determined to get the word out. I’m also determined to prove who the culprits are and I will prosecute to the full extent of the law.
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What was it in the email that made you suspect that it was the cause of your problems. It would be good to know so that we can watch out for similar threats. After having lost all my data lately I now realize how vital an off computer backup is - a backup drive on the same machine is not enough.
Sueblimely’s last blog post..Blog for Autism Awareness Month
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I have added a few more pages by request to the site, main ones were
Autism in teenagers and Gluten Free diet.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback! Ill keep
it updated as i get time
Thanks Again
Lee
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Bloke, that really sucks! And I think the bastards are after me. My last post contains a reply that askimet caught, but I thought was sent by you because it has blog bloke in the header, so I let it through. Go over to my site and check it out. Is this you? Or not? Let me know. Thanks. Ellen
PS I promise nothing bad will happen!
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..The Sea of SEO
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Hi Ellen. I don’t recall so I took a look at your blog but I don’t see the comment you are referring to. Can you provide a link please?
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www.wilsonswordsandpictures.com/
The 1st comment. Thanks.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..The Sea of SEO
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I just ran Spybot and dumpted the comment into spam box. I think it was really weird this happened as you mentioned getting blogjacked and then I get the bogus comment. I was too nervous to keep it up. I have a router so I hope I’m okay. I don’t have tons of bucks to dump into my blogging efforts either!
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..The Sea of SEO
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You were smart not to click on the link and check with me first. Leaving the comment without a link would not have harmed you. You can edit it out in your dashboard. Here’s a nice plugin that I use called “Delink Comment Author” that easily removes links with just one click:
http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress
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It is a shame that there are people out there who would be this malicious and intentionally cause damage, even if they disagree with your views. There are a number of sites available, like http://www.recovermypc.com and others, that can help with data recovery when this happens. This can save a lot of time.
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The moral I get out of your story is to back up your work. It’s a frustration to try to work through an attack, a damn shame to lose if you lose your what was stored on your computer.
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Just want to say what a great blog you got here!
I’ve been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!
Thumbs up, and keep it going!
Cheers,
Christian
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Very good information and you write it very clean. I’m very lucky to get this information from you.
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Thanks for great information. It’s wonderful.
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[…] my recent bout with a virus Lee asked the question: Bloke, please do us all a favor and share information on steps you’re taking to deal with this. […]
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