The Importance Of Hosting Redundancy & Backups

I was recently hacked (about 48 hrs ago) – I cannot begin to explain how important backups & server redundancy can help! It seems like someone had it out for me & they decided to hack some of main sites. These included (but not limited to) This blog, DNKO.com & TasteDrop.com. I guess I have been flapping my gums too much, giving away domaining drop catch secrets and just been a negative domainer.

I admit to be the one to swim up the stream against the water & current. But tough work pays off & I must say that I was blessed to have a full redundant backup plan – in place.. just if.. worse case scenario just incase I was ever hacked.

I am a sucker, as I should have noticed thousands of requests trying to login to some of my paid & serious sites. That should have been a flag as my hosting account was brute forced in.

The logs clearly demonstrate the depth & dedication this hacker had. Lol, eventually he or she gained access to a database connection file. This file has since been deleted & may have been compromised via email messages. Long story short, The breech happened around 10AM CST Time. By 1PM I had restored the nightly backup (from the night before). Some of my databases are hefty & around 20 – 50GB in size. Hence the 3 hours to restore my sites back.

Luckily, the hacker only deleted all my databases (even wordpress) with a combinaton of SQL Execute strings.

I restored everything and removed the files in doubt – changing all passwords. So far, so good.. But next time it happens – I will be more prepared. It’s nice to prepare yourself for such “hits” as there’s no telling who does something or what will happen next in this “nutty” domaining world.