Of Spammers and Derelict Sites

(Image by Seraphmx)

A few weeks back, I posted about a possible hack attack against my blog.  A week later, I found another litter of spam in my Read List.  I found a solution on-line, and I haven't had any additional issues--yet.  While I posted it on my Stern Rake Studio blog, I forgot to do so on Station WTFO.

My apologies for not posting this soon in order to re-assure readers.

Here's what I found:

 Last week I discovered the Reading List on my blog's administration page was overrun by Indonesian gambling sites. 

In response, I changed my password and filed a complaint with Google, who owns and runs Blogger.

The gambling spam was still in my Reading List the following day, so I fired-off another complaint to Google.

On the morning of the third day, the spam was gone, so I thought my problems were over.

But then a couple days later, I discovered two spam posts from the same Indonesian gambling sites.

This time I Googled "Spam found on Blogger Reading List."  Fortunately, I found a woman who had the same problem two years ago.

The first person to respond told her that the problem wasn't her blog, but one or more of the blogs she had on her reading list.  Spammers hijacked one of the blogs she was following and was using to spam other blogs.

It was like facehuggers infesting a derelict spaceship.

(Image:  The derelict ship in "Alien," found on Electric Shadow)

The recommended solution was to find the infected blog and delete it from her Reading List. 

I was following over 100 blogs.

Was I reading them every day?

No, of course not, but they were blogs I was interested in and would check out some of them when the mood struck me.

So I scrolled through my list.

I found five that were infected.  

However, I didn't just delete the five infected ones--I deleted over 40.  Some of them were from close friends and family.

These blog owners hadn't posted in anywhere from 1-5 years.  I figured sooner or later, these "cyber derelicts" would be too inviting for facehugger/spammers.

There were some I hated deleting, but I didn't want to run the risk of being spammed, or worse, passing along viruses.

(This Halloween-appropriate image found on The Richest: The 10 Most Dangerous Computer Viruses Ever)

Now I scroll down my Reading List every day I log on and scan for facehugger/spammers.

Possible Blogger Account Hack

I think my Blogger account has been hacked.

On my Blogger homepage there's usually a Reading List displaying the latest posts from the blogs I follow.

About an hour ago, instead of seeing other bloggers' activities, I now have a list of Indonesian gambling sites.

I filed a complaint to Google, which runs Blogger, along with initiating a password change.

I'm not tech savvy enough to determine whether reading any of my blogs will cause any virus or malware to be transferred, but I thought I'd transmit this warning.

I hope to get this resolved soon.

Please accept my apologies.

Adding "Ad Sense"

Writers are always on the lookout to earn money for their work. With this in mind, I finally signed up for Google's Ad Sense this evening. After Google reviews my blog, there will be advertisements placed in the side bar. I could have opted to have ads attached to each post, in addition to the sidebar notes, but I didn't to bombard my readers with "This post brought to you by..." messages.

Learning to Link & Lightening Up

A blog is a perpetual work-in-progress, since there is always something that can be improved upon. A friend of mine just showed me how to use the Link function in Blogger's toolbar. 

So now I can turn this:  http://www.marksteyn.com/ ...

...into this:  Mark Steyn 

It may not improve my writing, but it will help make my posts more presentable.

And speaking of presentable, I also changed the template.  Initially, I liked the black, X-File-esque background.  The black template went well with the heading photo.  But after reading comments from professional writers, I learned that most people hate black backgrounds with white letters.  Apparently it's also harder on a reader's eyes.

So I tried "lightening up."  Unfortunately all the lighter templates used dark lettering, which blended into the heading photo, making it nearly impossible to read.  Plus the dark photo, stood out like the proverbial sore thumb.  The current template, I hope is a happy compromise.

Station Relocation

My divorce was finalized last month, so I've spent most of my off-duty time looking for, and moving into a new home. So my posts have been sparse and sporadic lately. When I get resettled, I hope to resume posting at my normal, or even better, rate.