7 replies to this topic

[Beano]

Hi All,

The main club website has apparently been hacked and some dodgy files uploaded to the server.

I have taken the site down so I can try to understand what has happened and whether we can update the site without losing the data built up over the last four years.

Please bear with me over the next few days while I sort this out.

Thanks,

Gareth

[Beano]

Update, Friday 1.36am: I have spent the last three and a half hours working with our web hosts to try to resolve the issues with the site. There does still seem to be an issue with malware, so the site is still down and will remain so until such time as I can be satisfied that it is safe. Once all malicious links are removed, the site will be restored.

Additionally, it has proved impossible to migrate the content from the old site to a newer version of the content management system. Therefore, the site is going to have to be completely rebuilt! This will take a very, very long time...

I do not propose to bring over every page from the old site to the new. Rather, key data will go into the new site such as Fixtures and Results, the History pages, the current season club directories, basic club info, etc. The news items that populated the front page will, in the main, not be migrated.

Without wishing to put myself under undue pressure, I suppose the immediate aim is to have the new site up and running in time for the start of the season but I am not a happy bunny right now!

[Beano]

Update, Friday, 7.22am: The site has been checked three times and two "trojans" - particularly nasty viruses - have been removed. I have had the site reviewed by Google who have pronounced it to be clean, so I have brought the site back into service.

I'd like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the downtime, as well as to anyone whose machine has been compromised. Apparently, some 80% of viruses are passed on through legitimate websites in this way.

Work has already begun on the new site, which will be developed alongside the old one and then ultimately replace it. While I'm mystified as why we were targeted in this way, I am beginning to see the upcoming rebuild as an opportunity to try to make the site easier to use both from the viewpoint of the site users, but also from an admin perspective. Most importantly, the rebuild should address some of the vulnerabilities that made this possible.

[Swifty]

Particularly galling, gruelling and arduous for you, Beano. Top marks for perseverance.

[Green Pea]

Give me a shout Beano if you would like some input/second opinion/share the load as I played with the website software last year and also the joomleague package which has developed some really neat features in later versions. I'm also handy at Photoshop and happy to volunteer some time to opposition badges, kit icons etc.

I think everybody will agree that the content of the ATMFC website is second to none so its really exciting that the website design and feel is having a revamp, albeit the time and effort it will take from Beano!

[Beano]

I will definitely take you up on that GP, especially utilising your Photoshop skills! It turns out Joomleague doesn't seem to be compatiable with Joomla 2.5, which is a major pain...

I have identified a template I like that broadly matches the club's colours and have been messing about with the layout to get the template as I would like it. From there, the key part of the process is porting over the key copy prior to testing. A couple of people have had sight of the first stage of the process and the feedback has been positive. We WILL come out of this with a better website!

[Beano]

After a week of sleepless nights, the new website is now live and I am enhancing it gradually.

One of the bonuses of upgrading the site technology is we can try new things... The old interviews, going back to December 2008, were on our server but were rendered inaccessible by the loss of the old news items. However, thanks to the upgrade, we have been able to add a jukebox that features all of them.

Click here for the interviews:
http://www.ashfordto...odcast-episodes

[Beano]

Also, our site now doesn't just feature news fom our own club - you can also access news from around the Central Division, the Middlesex FA and the Surrey FA using additional tabs in the news menu.

I've had to disable the image slideshow as there was a problem with image sizing, although I'm aware quite a few people liked it. This may come back if and when I can resolve the issue.

If there are additional features people would like to see included, please let me know.