Share the Love
Signup for Updates:

It seems, lately, that hackers are out in full force. Several of my friends have been targeted in the past year and it’s really getting quite ridiculous.

While I can’t name names at this time, I will be getting permission from some of my friends who this has happened to lately to share their tips.

For now, I would like to share a guest post from my friend, Kim Roach, who, unfortunately, suffered a hacking 6 days ago.

She sent an update to her mailing list, which I am happy to be on, so I asked if I could republish it here to help you guys. She graciously and generously agreed.

Please read this awesome piece (I love her perspective) and leave a comment at the end. Kim could use some love after all she’s been through.

BuzzBlogger.com Hacked

Guest Post by Kim Roach

Today is a sad day for BuzzBlogger.com.

You may have noticed that our site has been down for a bit.

6 days ago a hacker got into our registrar (NameCheap.com)
and transferred BuzzBlogger.com to a different registrar.

Essentially stealing our domain name.

Fortunately, we caught it VERY early and notified Namecheap.

We’re currently in the middle of a transfer dispute. Which
essentially means it’s just a matter of time before we’re
able to get it back.

Unfortunately – it’s created some downtime for our site.

So we’ve created a *temporary* solution and you can now access
the full site at http://www.buzzblogger.org.

This will be our temporary housing until we get
the domain name back :)

Being hit by a hacker is no fun. However, it also reminds you
how strong you are. An essential characteristic for ALL
entrepreneurs.

Most people online give up at the first sign of trouble.

Others fight to the death. Work late. Get up early. And that
is why they succeed.

Although some of the ‘gurus’ would like you to think you
can just hit a few buttons and out pops a successful
business.

You and I both know it takes hard work and determination.

And once you’ve built a successful business – there are a few
steps you need to take to protect that business.

Here are the changes we’ve made to make sure this never
happens again…

1. Change your passwords regularly. VERY important. Also make
sure that you’re using different passwords for every account.
Include capitals, numbers and symbols.

2. If you’re using Gmail, enable 2-step verification. This adds
a very important extra layer of security to your account.

3. Backup your website on a regular basis. One of the easiest
ways to do this is using BackupBuddy.

4. Keep WordPress updated. Make sure that your blog’s version
is up-to-date. WordPress is constantly releasing updates to
fix any security holes.

5. Improve the security of your WordPress blog using a free
plugin like ‘Better WP Security‘. This plugin adds a number
of additional layers of security for your blog.

6. Add whatever security steps that are available at your registrar.
(i.e. Registrar Lock, 2-Step Verification, and WhoIs protection)

7. You can also use wildcard emails so that your real email
is never revealed in public at any point.

It’s easy to get laxed about passwords and protecting your
site so I would strongly encourage you to put this on your
to-do list.

Obviously you don’t want to be paranoid but you do want to
take every step possible to protect the hard work you’ve
put into your business.

Fortunately, entrepreneurs are tough ol’ birds and we always
come back stronger :)

I’ll keep you updated and let you know as soon as BuzzBlogger.com
is back up. In the meantime, our temporary home is at
BuzzBlogger.org.

Cheers,
Kim

To support Kim in recovering from this, I will ask her to be on my podcast and/or be mailing about her in the coming weeks – as she’s a smart cookie. :)

Please comment below if you have questions or concerns – or if you would just like to send Kim some love.

Thanks!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean