Site is up (again)

Sorry about the recent downtime. I’m as annoyed as anyone. This site has been hit twice in the last week with a malware attack. I’ve learned a lot about web and desktop security in the process, and I hope to stay on top to avoid a similar situation again.

I did a bit of research to understand why this happened. Apparently malware attacks have tremendously rising this year. According to CNET, Google is blacklisting about 40,000 sites per week, about double from last year.

The type of malware that hit this site seems to work as follows. First, malware infects unknowingly when a casual user like me browses the web. Malware can exploit vulnerabilities in PDF files or Flash video, for example. Second, the malware injects itself on my site when I update web files. Third, the malware steals my web credentials and spreads the malicious script to any partner site I manage. The malware then spreads by infecting visitors of any such site.

This is why I take drastic action with malware. I take down the site immediately and redirect to a safe mode. I also feel safe that Google does its part by blocking visitors with the message “reported attack site.” Once I fix everything, I then request Google to review the site. After Google verifies the site is clean, only then do I put it back up. This whole process takes time, unfortunately, and I thank you for bearing with the site’s maintenance.

And now that things are working, I will get back to posting about real content.