Frequently Asked Questions

being hacked, whatever the circumstances, is not something to be taken lightly. and, if you are one of those "I-have-nothing-to-hide" people we would suggest straight away that you look for another provider.

a hacked account creates a potential problem for other Users on the server, if they are sharing the same IP. if the account is used to send spam - which is usually the case - your shared IP address can get blacklisted - this will affect all Users on that IP address, their (and your) email will start bouncing.
if you get hacked, notify Netcells admin and take IMMEDIATE action.
the first thing to do - WITHOUT DELAY - is to change all your passwords - to ›strong ones (12 or more characters, upper and lower case + numbers, do NOT use dictionary words).
subsequently, you need to analyse what happened and devise a PLAN OF ACTION to save your data and avoid the security breach in the future. if you need NetCells help this will incur cost. one course of action is to dump the whole site and replace it from the back-up, however, you will lose email since your back up date.

if you run a CMS system other than Netcells, for example Wordpress:
# re-install the whole system, while keeping your database and the front end
or -- if you are not prepared to do that straight away:
# carefully inspect your installation for scripts and files that are dated differently from the main body of code
# look for strangely named files, for example starting with wp_ but then having a filename that's a jumble of characters
# check your htaccess file
in any event:
# make sure you are running the latest version of your CMS application
# close down all options you do not need, remove plugins you are not using
# make sure don't have any "test" user or mail accounts with silly passwords
# if you have a user login that should work on an encrypted HTTPS connection

in case of any doubt contact ›Netcells Help page

›how to avoid getting hacked