I’m back, I’m back!!

So sorry to everyone who’s tried to reach me over the last month or so. Ooobop was subject to a nasty hack and took me completely off line. I kept telling myself that worse things happen at sea and that maybe it was a sign to take me away from the screen for a while but actually I was devastated! And guilt-ridden. For weeks my screen displayed a message of danger in black and red. The possibility of users inadvertently and unknowingly downloading malware was too much to bear. My host suspended my blog to prevent such things happening but I didn’t have a clue how one fixed such things. Until a wonderful star of a work colleague stepped in to the rescue.

And now it’s fixed. And safe. And all is happy again at house of Ooobop!

But I’m not holding breath and will never be so complacent again. It happens. To everyone. What is wrong with people who seek to sabotage and destroy? A life unfulfilled I can only imagine.

So remember to back up your work people. And if possible install a plugin to scan for hacked files and to monitor the access of visitors to your site. Changing your login passwords occasionally is a good measure too. I’m not going to pretend to know everything one can do to protect a blog but it does pay to know someone who does. Or pay someone. Especially if like me your blog is a big part of your life.

Transpires there are so many published posts on how to protect your blog from hackers. But I found the following to be in the kind of language I understand! I’m way too easily bamboozled by tecchie lingo.

A guest post on Be A Better Blogger by Cassie Philips of Secure Thoughts,  http://beabetterblogger.com/protect-your-blog/

And ProBlogger has a whole heap of articles and advice from guest bloggers on it site here: http://www.problogger.net/?s=how+to+stop+hackers. Incidentally Darren Rose makes for great listening on the ProBlogger podcast too.

So if you haven’t done already, please take a mo to protect your work. And best not to close the stable door after the horse has bolted, like I did!

And if you have any similar experiences or tips to share, please leave a comment so we can all be safer going forward.

I can’t wait to share some special makes with you soon. Including my 50th party dress, a teaser of which features in the mad photo above and which has had some coverage on Instagram but needs to be properly documented on here, insides and out!

In the meantime, wishing you all peace, love and hope throughout this festive period and always.

Love Janene x