jayhands wrote:
In my limited understanding i guess somebody would require FTP access to change a page...which means a server security issue.
I know that the bloke who owns the server will say its a software problem. I just need to tell him and my client that it is not software with some kind of certainty.
For the benefit of others I'm "That bloke who owns the server"
Jay, you really should stick to design and SEO and leave the techy stuff to others. Unfortunately it was down to the sites excellent search engine listings that led to the problem as all the would be hacker had to do was search for "powered by CMS Made Simple version 1.1.2" and then exploit the known problem with that version. he was not targeting the site as such but looking for opportunities made available by the faulty script. how do you think all these Phishing sites get hosted? The hacker did you a favour really by leaving his signature otherwise it could have gone unnoticed till someone complained about a Phishing scam.
We have not had a server compromised in 9 years, it's always the out of date or insecure php scripts that cause the problems.
You owe us an apology it WAS the software, NOT the server security.
Here are the logs to prove it.
Here are the log entries to show that the part of the CMS script which was abused here was "lib/adodb_lite/adodb-perf-module.inc.php".
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You can see that this insecure php page has been used to load various files into the sites hosting from hosts such as
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TIP: If I had to use this script, the first thing I would do is remove the footers and all searchable references to CMS Made Simple and version numbers.
Now if you'd like to tell OUR client that you cocked up and used an insecure cms system and did not CHMOD the files to the correct permissions I would be grateful.
And the next time you offer to do a web site for FREE just think about this one. It happens every time, they come back and bite you. I know that from hard experience.
How would you feel if she left your accounts, statements and other private information in the street for all to see?
Citrus.
