For the last few months, I have been battling with the aftereffects of having my site hacked. (It was probably the Russians.)
Some of you have clicked on my links and have been sent to a bogus page offering everything from “Fabulous Cash Prizes” to porn.
I am so sorry if this has happened to you.
Not only that, Facebook and Google have noticed and have significantly throttled the reach of my posts, and actually warned some of you that my site is “unclean.” Yes, I am a digital leper.
One of the worst parts is we have been unable to get it resolved without it coming back in some form. So, I enlisted some help from an expert who dug in and found the problem. Turns out there was a virus left behind that triggered what is called a “malicious redirect.” (Which means it sent you to the wrong site.)
It appears we have that solved now, and you shouldn’t get redirected anymore. However, like most uncleanliness, it might have impacted you, too – and still might redirect you. As we don’t live in a vacuum, my problems can impact you as well.
If you still get redirected, you might need to do something – it’s called “clearing out your cookies” and it isn’t as fun as actual cookies, but it is really simple.
Here are instructions on what you need to do to get this crud out of you browser and/or phone/iPad, etc.:
iPhone, iPad: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265
Chrome on Android: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en
Safari on a Mac: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/manage-cookies-and-website-data-sfri11471/mac
Chrome on anything: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en
If you do this, the redirect won’t come back.
Again, I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. I hope I haven’t chased you away because of it. I know it has limited my audience reach, and that is a bummer.
I also know there is some terrific metaphor for repentance in here somewhere…but I’ll leave it to you to figure that one out.
Have a great Sabbath! I’ll announce the winner of the Giveaway tonight at SNCI.
Hum… seems like a gospel message in all this. Maybe how others are affected adversely by our own actions even if unintended.
Nice
So you’ve now become clean – have you reported to the digital high priest so you can re-enter society? 😉
Yes. It was a tech guy from India.
So THAT’S what was up. It only happens on my phone (Android) so thanks so much for the link to clear it! I’ll do that right away. It hadn’t occurred to me what might have caused it, but thanks again for the solution. None of us are impervious in this digital age, are we?