Back From the Hack
I’m ecstatic (and relieved) to be writing this blog on the newly resurrected JEFbot site! It took all the time I’d normally be writing and drawing strips to get the site back on its feet, so no new strips this week, but next week I’m happy to say everything should be back on schedule. It’ll be nice getting back to writing and drawing the strip, and back to the characters and storyline. I’ve missed it!
For those just joining us, my site was hacked this week by some Internet AI that began hiding code within my files, the function of which was to release trojans and malware onto unsuspecting visitors. Well, thanks to the response from you readers, I was able to shut the site down before that could happen. Unfortunately, my corrupted files did get me placed on the Google “threat” list which warned browsers to stay away from my site. Fortunately, over the past week I was able to get rid of all the malicious code and clear my site’s name with Google and other search engines. If your browser warns you of any suspicious activity on this site, let me know.
You’ll notice the site is a bit under construction – I decided while I was mucking about in the site’s files that I might as well get some other maintenance done while I was in there. The biggest changes to the site are the elimination of the huge ad banner at the top of the page and the Flash-developed header. I’m extremely appreciative to everyone who advertised on that banner, but I’ve always felt it overpowered the site. And while I loved doing the little Flash animations in the header, with more and more readers accessing the site through mobile devices that aren’t Flash-compatible (like the iPhone and soon-to-be-released iPad), it just didn’t make sense to keep such an important component of the site (the title!) invisible to a large portion of users. Keep watch for updates to the new header with fun, seasonal graphics and buttons linking to random stuff, just like I did with the old one. I’ll continue updating the site over the next week or two, so hopefully this “under construction” business will be done, soon.
Thanks for all the support you guys have sent my way during this craziness. It was a strange, strange week not being able to work on the strip and interact with you readers like I normally do, so it was nice being able to still feel connected to you all through your encouraging emails and tweets. Believe me, taking the site down was the last thing I wanted to do, but it was necessary in this case, so thanks for the understanding. I’m hoping I won’t have to do that again for a long, long time.
Now it’s back to the (digital) drawing board, so I can start updating the site again with new comic strips! See you next week!
I belive Sonitan is the one who noticed the hack, isnt he? Good job on finding it and good job goes to Jefbot to restart site allready. KUDOS guys!
It looks like it was JefBotFan#300 who first reported it in the comments of the last strip. Nice work JF#300!
not sure exactly who was first, Maryz. Sonitan was definitely up there, though, as was JF#300 and a few others. also got a bunch of emails and tweets when it started happening, so yes, BIG KUDOS to everybody who let me know before this thing got even worse!
I did? Wow. I was useful!
In reality AVAST was the one that found out *LOL*
and… I’M a SHE!!!!
;__;
I’m still a she.
*hides under computer desk to cry brokenly*
halleluja, i was getting worried
me too, Animie fan! i’m just relieved i was able to fix it.
and if i’m not mistaken sooner than expected
Yay! I’m so glad you’re back up!
I agree w/ you on the title banner and really like the new one you’ve put up.
thanks Zanne, glad you like it! more changes to come, soon.
yay. hurray for jb. hope ur goin to continue and kicks ass. also the hackers ass. if i were u i’d probably do a mini strip concerning vengeance ala assasins creed. just a thought though. lolz
heheh. unfortunately, the hacker is probably just some code that searches the net looking for vulnerabilities in websites. although if i could send Altaïr or Ezio to “assassinate” that code, i totally would, JF#300.
YAY!!!
WOO-HOO!
Just say no to the h4xorz!!!
I’m glad that you got your site back up Jeff and made some improvements along the way. Hopefully you won’t have to encounter this problem again any time soon (or ever)
i’m totally with ya, Charles – i’ve put a *lot* more precautions in place to prevent being hacked again, but the people that make that stuff are pretty resourceful. happy to be online again, tho!
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I REALLY love the lighter, faster header design, too.
well the website’s definitely stronger now, Timothy! let’s hope it stays resistant to hacks for the foreseeable future.
and glad you like the new header!
Woohoo!! You’re back!! I was still checking everyday just incase
thanks for checking on the site, Lily! it feels good to be back in action.
Nice to have you back! I was about to call the Lor to see if you were OK!
heh. yeah, i’m back! you should persuade the Lor to be a programmer so she can help me out with the site, Pearl.
Well done getting rid of the bad code in a relatively short period of time.
On a vindictive note, do you know who wrote the evil AI that bugged your site?
thanks, K. nope, no idea where the code originated from. some anonymous programmer, no doubt. wish the laws would crack down harder on all these malicious coders and spammers. ah, well. the only thing i can do is to try and fortify the site against future attacks.
I thought the flash was cute, but the site loads a little faster for me now, so that’s a plus.
Really glad the site’s back.
i really did love doing the Flash banner, Sharra; i thought it separated my site from other webcomics, a bit. but yeah, it really wasn’t very practical, and it’s nice to hear the site’s running faster now.
Yay!!!!
Yippee!!!
I also forgot, death to those who write hax codes!! Ugh. I have 3 computers in the shop now because of that sort of crap. >:-@
Welcome back! Glad you were able to get everything sorted out. <3
thanks for the warm welcome, Foxmouse! i’m digging your new avatar!
Oh, thank you! Yeah that’s my little mouse character named, well, Mouse. My father’s nickname for me was Mouse growing up so I thought I’d adopt it online. The original sized one is in my DA gallery.
Woo hoo! The site is back from the land beyond (wherever websites go when they die). I like the new banner too. It fits your more recent drawing style/color schemes a bit better, I think. It really looks great! We missed you! It’s good to have you back.
i missed you all too, Shanna! thanks! and it’s a good thing websites can be brought back from the afterlife, otherwise i would’ve been in serious trouble. heheh. glad you like the banner. it’ll be easier to update and add new links to, even though i kinda miss the old one.
Woohooo!!! Jeffbot’s okay!!!!!…. well not really…he kinda got kickeded in the face with a door, but that’s besides the point. Great expression entering into unconsciousness.
heheh. yes, he’s definitely kinda okay, Eptha. and i’m sure there’s no one he’d rather be knocked-out by than cel.
Glad to have you back! I was checking in daily (sometimes more often) to see if you’d come back yet. If you ever find out who did this to you, make sure to “accidentally” slip their name/url/country to us. I know some of us would be more than happy to let them feel a bit of wrath of ON-LINE COMIC READERS!!! I mean hell we ARE geeks for a reason right?
Keep the strips coming!
if it was just one person who thought it would be funny to hack the site, i would love to unleash you all on him/her, Jereme! unfortunately, it was just a website’s equivalent of spam, which got in somehow and made itself welcome. ugh. someday, i may need your geek wrath, though, so good to know it’s there! heheh.
thanks for checking in on the site!
Welcome Back! Good job with the clean up. I agree with the assessment that turnabout is fair play. *Ahem* i mean I hope they catch those guys.
ha! sadly, i think at this point viruses and malware are just a fact of life being on the web, epikto. that said, if i ever need vengeance, it’s comforting to know you guys have my back.
Hallelujah, me too! Greetings from Barbados! Good to see you back. Like the new look! Hope the site is safe now.
No fair Mombot! You’re in Barbados? I wanna be in Barbados – it’s snowing here right now.
I hope you are having a great time!!! 
greetings, Mombot! hope you’re having a fun time in Barbados and staying away from too much rum. oh, what the heck, have as much rum as you want – you’re on vacation! good to hear from you.
Yay, the long awaited comics will be back. (:
hooray! soon, Nat!
Awesome! Glad to see the site back up man! Damn shame what happened.
thanks, Steve! was indeed a damn shame. good news is, i’m much more prepared now should something like this ever happen again. (gods forbid!)
Yeah! The Bot is back! The vivacity of the Cheddar Man dance is in full effect!
woo-hoo! i’m shakin’ it to the Cheddar Man dance with ya!
Hooray! Thanks for working so hard to get the site back up. I’m glad to see it looking better than ever
great to hear you like the look of the new site, Lauren! new and improved with virus resistant protocols!
Whatever you did to fix it seems to have worked extremely well. I dunno if its just me, but the site as a whole seems to be running actually a fair bit faster. Could be the lack of hack. But congrats getting everything going again.
glad it’s working better for ya, Alexander! while i did streamline some of the code when i repaired the site, i’ll bet it’s the removal of the flash banner that’s making things run more smoothly. while i love flash, it does tend to be a resource hog, hence its removal.
I was actually starting to wonder about that. I sometimes get false positives from ad banners on websites, but I was getting an AV warning every time I came to check the comic. I just assumed it was the same banner each time. At any rate, I’m glad to here that you got everything fixed and look forward to more comics.
it was so frustrating, Senso, since i work on a mac and couldn’t see any warnings about trojans or malware whatsoever! hard to troubleshoot when i couldn’t tell what was happening. anyhow, finally figured it out and got things fixed. let me know if you ever get those warnings again, tho.
That’s what you get for working with macs: a false sense of security. Like living in a bubble that then explodes when you least expect it and in the worst possible way.
*evil laugh of doom*
That’s why I got a Dell Precision T7500. that baby can kick butties!
*evil laugh of doom*
*cuddles with PRecision*
NOTE FOR ALL MAC LOVERS AROUND: This evil comment is NOT intended to start a war (I think. *blinnks* Eh, yes, I’m mostly positive about that. No war. Just accept that macs are annoying. *bwuahahahahahahahahahaha*) I was being sarcastic and still love my Dells and HPs. I reserve my right to hate Macs.
*evil laugh of doom*
Aw. I think I had an early post in here too. Danged hackers.
CEL TO THE RESCUE!!!
Good to have you and the ‘bot back, man.
With all the badness crawling the web out there… I am finding myself working on a site’s comment script, and cranking the anti-spam settings up to “paranoid survivalist”
paranoia is the only thing that will protect us all.
I may need to pump up the paranoid survivalist feature in my programs as well.
Jeff, I still get that Firefox warning. Looks like it’s Google’s assessment.
That’s what you get for working with macs: a false sense of security. Like living in a bubble that then explodes when you least expect it and in the worst possible way.
*evil laugh of doom*
That’s why I got a Dell Precision T7500. that baby can kick butties!
*evil laugh of doom*
*cuddles with PRecision*
NOTE FOR ALL MAC LOVERS AROUND: This evil comment is NOT intended to start a war (I think. *blinnks* Eh, yes, I’m mostly positive about that. No war. Just accept that macs are annoying. *bwuahahahahahahahahahaha*) I was being sarcastic and still love my Dells and HPs. I reserve my right to hate Macs.
*evil laugh of doom*
why in the worlds did this post became doubled???
*sulks*
stupish internet…