Russian Hackers - protecting your blog

[Notspot]

Couldn't work out where to put this so feel free to move if you like mods.

I'm just about to go live with my new blog, but I'm concerned about the amount of blogs and forums that are getting hacked recently using annoying redirects.

Is there anything I can do to protect my blog before it goes up?

[paul]

Check if there any weak spots in your system through scanning; secunia.com/software_inspector/

[WelshTom]

Why have you specifically narrowed this down to "Russian" hackers?I can assure you, hackers are from all over, and not just Russia.

[flesso]

Due to the nature of this post, it has been removed, as it may cause offence.

[DPS Computing]

Originally Posted by flesso

Due to the nature of this post, it has been removed, as it may cause offence.

That could be construed as racist (or at least unfair!) - which might not be the best thing for someone representing a company! - just a word of advice .

Hackers come from the UK, US, and any country in the world. A lot of famous US / UK hackers in the past have ended up in employment with the CIA/NSA/FBI and MI5 respectively.

Also don't forget, an IP address doesn't identify the hackers location - it just represents the computer the attack was last routed through. A British hacker could redirect an attack through a Russian computer on a UK target (such as a hosting company).

For example, many other illegal activities (including under age pornography) has recently been relocated to servers in Syria - and as we know, they would be very reluctant to help a Western country and the people doing this relocation know this.

Illegal sharing website hostings etc constantly relocate to different countries to evade law enforcement

These countries, such as Eastern European, Asian, African among others, are used as relays for these attacks as the police of the country where the hacker lives will most likely not be able to gain any information about the attack or enough to prosecute due to the fact the evidence lies in another nations polices jurisdiction.

Don't forget, regarding the Internet, very little is enforced - ranging from copyright infringment to harrasment - its all very hard to prove!! Also, to be honest, cybercrime (unless linked to terrorism or national security) is so far down on the list of priorities for the police its nearly doesn't register on their radar!)

[Notspot]

It was absolutely not meant to be offensive in any way. Sorry.

It's just that those were the one's I'd noticed as saying that's where they were. I thought it might be something more well known as they've hit a few website hostings I visit regularly recently.

This isn't case of people hacking for financial benefit, but to make a name for themselves as hackers.

There's now another band of hackers from another country who are doing the same. Hacking a website hosting, placing a meta refresh redirect to their own website hosting - a page saying who they are (a hacking co-op) with no outgoing links. No actual damage is done to the website hosting itself and all that is required to sort it out is locating and deleting a few lines of code. It seems to hit forums and blogs.

I have no idea about where they are actually located - it's just what their homepage says.

I hope you now understand why I called them Russian hackers, not because I had done any research into IP's etc, but just because that's what they call themselves and I thought they were a well known group.

[paul]

Originally Posted by Notspot

It was absolutely not meant to be offensive in any way. Sorry.

It's just that those were the one's I'd noticed as saying that's where they were. I thought it might be something more well known as they've hit a few website hostings I visit regularly recently.

This isn't case of people hacking for financial benefit, but to make a name for themselves as hackers.

There's now another band of hackers from another country who are doing the same. Hacking a website hosting, placing a meta refresh redirect to their own website hosting - a page saying who they are (a hacking co-op) with no outgoing links. No actual damage is done to the website hosting itself and all that is required to sort it out is locating and deleting a few lines of code. It seems to hit forums and blogs.

I have no idea about where they are actually located - it's just what their homepage says.

I hope you now understand why I called them Russian hackers, not because I had done any research into IP's etc, but just because that's what they call themselves and I thought they were a well known group.

Over internet anything can be vulnerable to hackers if you leave a security hole in your system (here it is not matter hackers are from which country, hackers are hackers). I would like to suggest you should “harden” your systems eliminating basic vulnerabilities on your computer system. Make sure to follow some basic instruction to eliminate such possibility;

* Passwords: Use strong Password.

* Updates and Patches; Check you have all the recent upgrades and patches for your Operating System and other software applications that you are running in your PC.

* Default Passwords. Change them!

* Use Antivirus and Antispyware Software.

* Firewalls: Make sure your firewall is turned on!

* Disable Cookies (in your browser)

* Install a Spam Filter.

* Check your ISP would assign a dynamic IP Address.

* Don't open any suspicious mail.

[DPS Computing]

I wasn't saying anything was definitely offensive - after all its only offensive if someone says that it offends them or is obviously offensive!, just that it might possibly be offensive to some other readers (PS, I wasn't particularly talking about the first post or the title!) - The main point of my post was that hackers are from all over the world and western hackers normally route their attacks through other countries systems.

[eUKhost.com]

Originally Posted by Notspot

There's now another band of hackers from another country who are doing the same.

Turkish Kids

Right ?

[DPS Computing]

Originally Posted by eUKhost.com

Turkish Kids

Right ?

Surly not? - You mean like Younes said he was?

[jc8654]

Lol! Brings back memories. . If only some "hackers" were so amusing as him!

[Notspot]

Turkish Kids

Right ?

Yep - that's them. Oh, to be 15 again with all the time in the world to mess about. Beats writing space invader programs for spectrum!

BTW - thanks for the advice Paul

[eUKhost.com]

Originally Posted by Notspot

Yep - that's them. Oh, to be 15 again with all the time in the world to mess about. Beats writing space invader programs for spectrum!

BTW - thanks for the advice Paul

lol. They wont change at least for few years and new kids will join their group every year. They have big community on a online portal and they share knowledge over there.

There's no other way to get rid of these Kids so its worth to keep your servers secure to avoid any sort of problems they may create.

[DPS Computing]

Its easier to protect one server than eliminate every hacker!! - Its like the old theory, "its easier to defend than attack".