I suppose it was inevitable at some point but yesterday afternoon my dedicated server was compromised and all 12 of my websites were disabled.

I thought about it long and hard whether or not to blog about it as I’m sure it happens to many people on a regular basis. At the time I was distraught, I thought that over 2 years of work had been erased at the click of a button!

Luckily my server had been backed up by my hosting company so it was a matter of contacting them and getting the problem fixed within minutes. It made me think however that some bloggers and website owners out there might not be as lucky as me. I for one will be taking extra measures in the future to make sure I never feel like I did for that short period of time on Sunday again.

1.    Make weekly backups of your files from FTP
2.    Backup your databases on a regular basis
3.    Increase server security with an advanced software firewall or hardware firewall
4.    If you experience a hack, change all server passwords
5.    Choose a hosting solution that includes backup, it costs under $10 per month and is worth it for piece of mind.

Heart attack over, and look forward to a new week of seoing!