Blogging A to Z

Sorry

Clockwork Nessie will return tomorrow.

I’m sorry my blog has been offline. I did all I could to keep it online, but it didn’t matter.

My blog has been subjected to brute force hacker attacks for the past two weeks at least. For the second time in a week, my server host has pulled my website offline, not because my blogs were hacked but because all the attempts on more than just my blog were using up too many of their resources. We’re talking around 100,000 WordPress (dot org not dot com) sites targeted with as many different IP addresses.

So if you’re here, it’s because I’ve gone in and redirected my domain back to my old free version of WordPress (which is looking better and better). Prior visitors, your comments are my self-hosted version. I didn’t delete them, but I hadn’t backed them up to restore here.

If you’re interested in learning more about brute force attacks and what you can do to protect yourself if you have a self-hosted WordPress blog, here is an article about it. Hopefully I’m back at my old home soon. Older blog posts are from a backup I made after I wrote all my A to Z Challenge posts. Another tip: backup your blog FREQUENTLY!

Major brute force attack against WordPress underway (siliconrepublic.com)
Massive brute force attack against WordPress underway (siliconrepublic.com)
Massive Brute Force attack Targets thousands of WordPress sites worldwide (riseandwise.wordpress.com)
Patching the Internet in Realtime: Fixing the Current WordPress Brute Force Attack (cloudflare.com)
WordPress Sites Under Wide-Scale Brute Force Attack (it.slashdot.org)

Clockwork Nessie, Part 15

“I see you’ve discovered Nessie the Second.” He stood by my side, the pair of us facing the automaton, and handed me a glass of amber-colored liquid. Our fingers brushed and our eyes met and held.

Determined not to betray my addled state, I cocked my head and asked, “How many Nessies are there?”

“At least two now. This model took Ewan and me years to design and fabricate.”

“Why? What’s her purpose?”

“Ah, your father never told you?” I scowled and shrugged. “I guess not. I thought when you came to the cave today, you seemed to know your way around. When you climbed to the rock ledge, it was as if you’d been there before.” He downed the entirety of his drink in a single gulp.

I did the same and nearly choked. Robert thumped me on the back, chuckling.

“How did you know I was in the cave?” I asked.

He walked toward Nessie. I set my glass on the buffet and trotted to his side. We stopped at the capsule large enough to seat a single person in a semi-reclining position.

“I saw you because I was there too, inside Nessie.”