Website hacked due to Drupal vulnerability

Full alert and everyone to battle stations! I came across an article about a Drupal vulnerability that exposed any website made in version 7 of the popular content management system. In total, it was suspected that no less than 12 million sites had been exposed to hacking, with the hackers using automated tools to get control of each individual site. After reading the article, I quickly opened this website. At first everything looked fine, until I logged in with my content management account. Then it became blatantly obvious that the site had been hacked. Another clear sign was that I couldn't even log in any more as the site's admin.

Well, to make a long and arduous story short, I had to take drastic measures to get those weasels out of my property. Because of the distinct possiblity that the hackers had installed backdoors that would allow them to regain control, I had to disinfect the server with medical alcohol, weed killer and DDT. Luckily I had a recent back-up, which allowed me to revert the site to a version from before this vulnerability was created in Drupal.

So what was the damage? All in all, not much really, apart from some anxious hours spent cleaning and reinstalling the back-up. Hackers are mostly interested in passwords and people's personal data, but apart from my personal accounts there was nothing to find here (I don't keep mailing lists for intance). They weren't able to hack my admin account, just delete it and create their own accounts (which I deleted with diabolical laughter after I'd discovered them). I don't use may accounts for other sites and just for safety I changed my passwords after this business. So it seems that my prudence has paid off. But on the other hand it was also an eye-opener: however prudent you may be, if there is a vulnerability in the software you're using, you are completely helpless. That is an important lesson for a software developper.

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