Security against website defacement?

[Negative]

If your site is hosted by hostrocket, there's nothing much you can do about how they run their servers. It's their servers, they decide how to configure them. On their site though, it says it comes with a web-based control panel. It might be worth looking into that panel: it might allow you to set FTP-access, change your FTP-password(s),...

If not: email hostrocket and ask them to change your FTP-password(s).

Another possibility is that you have a trojan/keylogger on your computer, which could be used by the attacker to obtain your FTP-password(s). In this case, changing your FTP-password won't help much. Get an anti-trojan scanner to check for this possibility.
Tauscan has a 30-day trial period.

Something else: you say your site got defaced AND you lost all of your data? If you had a forum, your (forum)data should be in a database. They may have defaced the forum front-end through FTP, but it might be worth to check the database (or have it checked by hostrocket if you don't have access) It's unlikeley that they AND got access to your FTP, AND to the database. Unless that entire web-based control panel is the problem.

Spyder > I know who it was... I deleted the post where the OP said who it was

[Spyder32]

I know who it was... I deleted the post where the OP said who it was

Ahh, si. Anyway's, Negative bring's up a good point. All of your database file's must have been in one web-based control panel in which he hacked or gained access to.

email hostrocket and ask them to change your FTP-password(s).

Must be a pretty bad host if you couldn't do that manually yourself in the event of a hack though, right? I mean it could take their tech support days maybe a week or two to get to that. Heh, dunno.

[yourdeadin]

hey lissen i guess the hackers got thorough a expoit of the ftp as i did with my college , it was running a ws ftp i got a exploit from the net ran it and i was through with the security , i don say this has happened but i say that this might have happed as script kiddes like me use this exploits

[MIDnightKAO]

The guy who defaced it left his little tag on the front page, and i did a search on his handle. His handle info said that he has defaced over 100 websites, as part of this defacement clan or something.

My ftp password was very complex...I dont know how he could have cracked it. I've changed my passwords manually. The server suggested I change them often. I scan my computer every day to prevent adware, spyware, and all of that, so I dont think that could have been it.

[therenegade]

I'm assuming that if your password was complex and you didnt leave it lying around and there want a wee lil logger or something of the like running,he could've found a vulnerability in the ftp client your server's running..if ftp was the way he actually got in

[SittingDuck]

Is your web site hosted by hostrocket in an shared enviroment. I.e more than one customer is hosted from the same server? And do you have access to cgi-bin?

SittingDuck

[djplaya216921]

WEll man not only do you have to worry about FTP even though that isnt a hacking tool, then again it isnt really a tool, but you also have to worry about people who know how to use PHF that can really screw your whole site up and if they got your IP Address or the IP Address of the person who made that site they can sure do alot of damage that way along with your computer or they could have used command pormpt. And if they where really good crackers they could have used C++ and make a couple of programs and kill your site, but im sure it was only newby wanna-be hackers with NMap and im not saying NMAP is bad but it would be used by anyone talented because all they gotta do is banner your IP Address. SO I hope you work it out. and what is your web-site anyway?