April 21, 2015
Editor:
Dave Uphoff
The MinonkTalk website was down for a few hours last week due to the uploading of a malicious file by a hacker. The file was caught before it was able to do any damage but the server that processes the MinonkTalk website wanted to make sure the file was eliminated before bringing the website back up. During this process additional safeguards were installed to detect malicious files from being uploaded into the system.The outcome from this event is that the MinonkTalk website is safer from hackers. The incidence of hackers getting into a website is increasing dramatically. Last week it was learned that hackers even got into the White House website and stole some data. Even large websites with huge support personnel are not immune to the efforts of hackers. The MinonkTalk website inspects everything that comes into the website for malicious code. If detected, the input is rejected and an email is sent to me alerting me of the potential intruder. I then block that user's IP address from entry in the future. Every week I receive notices of hackers trying to get into the system. Last week a hacker from Bucharest, Romania tried to submit malicious code into the system. Bucharest is notorious for having the greatest number of hackers per capita in the world. Most hackers that try to get into the MinonkTalk website are from Russia, China and Romania although there are some from places in the United States as well. It is obvious that a person from Bucharest is not interested in the latest news in Minonk but instead has nefarious motives in mind. Most hackers want to inject links and advertisements into the website's database so when someone clicks on a webpage, they will be directed to the hackers website which is usually a website that wants to sell you something. Small community websites like MinonkTalk are usually not targeted by hackers for passwords or secret information, but rather want to direct viewers to another website for advertising purposes. Most of the potential hackers into MinonkTalk want viewers to be directed to an ad for Viagra or a porno site or some other low grade website.
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So as the MinonkTalk website has grown, so as the security precautions that are needed to keep the website safe from hackers. It will be a never ending battle to stay one step ahead of the hackers. When the MinonkTalk website was down last week, another webpage appeared indicating the website was down. Even though the website was only down for a few hours, some viewers were not able to bring back up the website, instead getting the message that the website was still down. The reason for this is the downed website page was still in the browser's cache. In order to bring up the latest edition of the MinonkTalk website you must clear the cache from your browser by either clearing the history from the menu at the top of your browser or by clicking the refresh indicator on your browser. We apologize for the inconvenience. However, the MinonkTalk website is safer from hackers after last week's episode. In the future, if you think you are pulling up an earlier version of a website, either refresh the browser or clear history. If you know of someone who still has this problem, please pass on this information as they will not be able to get it from the MinonkTalk website if it still shows the earlier web page.
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