Welcome to server room hell. Photo via: Sharenator.com

The rise of cloud computing, also known as “software as a service” and “hosted applications,” has greatly expanded the range of solutions that IT departments have for their companies’ needs. This is especially true for email. In the past, companies had no choice but to host their own Exchange environment. Now there are Exchange hosting options that allow more flexibility and even cost savings depending on a company’s particular needs. So the question is, should you host your own Exchange environment internally or go with a hosted option for your email needs?

Costs

There are a lot of costs associated with hosting an internal Exchange environment. These include:

*Hardware: Depending on server layout and roles, an Exchange 2010 environment could feature one server or anywhere from three to five. If a business has multiple offices, that number increases exponentially. There is no hardware cost associated with hosting.

*Maintenance and backup: Each server requires maintenance, repairs and upgrades over time. Skilled staff or consultants will need to be hired to handle these responsibilities. There are also costs involved in normal backup procedures. Again, hosting eliminates these costs.

*Licensing: Operating systems and programs require license fees for use. Applications like Exchange that require one license per user can become especially expensive. Hosting has no license fees, just service fees which usually cost less than Microsoft licensing.

*Environment: Servers have to live someplace, and that place has to be cool and has to have adequate power. The cost of air conditioning and power increase with each server that’s added, a cost not present with hosting.

Scalability

Another consideration when evaluating hosted options for Exchange versus an internal Exchange environment is scalability. Paying for something unnecessary in the interest of “future-proofing” has long been a nuisance IT administrators have had to deal with, purchasing overpowered servers and more licenses to couch against future growth. While buying more server than you need is a good practice from a capacity planning standpoint, it leads to inefficiency as companies essentially pay for something they really don’t need until capacity is reached.

In an Exchange hosting model, pricing is usually done a la carte, with companies paying a flat fee for service and then a certain regular per-user charge. This is a very efficient model, leading to businesses pay for exactly what they need right now and that’s it. Another user joins tomorrow? Sign them up and start paying for them tomorrow. This is a major benefit of hosted environments, especially in tough economic times.

Considerations for Staying Internal

Seeing just the cost and scalability benefits, many might wonder why companies would ever choose to host their own Microsoft Exchange environment instead of going with a hosted solution. One reason might simply be comfort, as these businesses may not like their data being hosted and actually “owned” by someone else. There may be legal issues as well, where a company might be legally bound to host, control and save all communications. Tax considerations could also be considered, since servers can be capitalized and depreciated while a service cannot. Finally, simple corporate inertia is a factor, as many companies take a certain course of action “because we’ve always done it that way.”

Switching a company’s Microsoft Exchange environment from internal to cloud hosting offers a variety of benefits. It’s cheaper and more scalable, but it’s not the perfect option for companies who want to retain ownership and control of data. These factors must be considered carefully when deciding whether to host your own Exchange environment or choose a hosted Exchange solution.

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You can give files any name that makes sense to you when naming them for yourself. However, when your files are on a shared network such as Exchange 2010 Hosting, file names need to clearly identify the content inside. By descriptively naming your files, separating words with underscores (the underscore is a universal separator as some operating systems don’t allow spaces) and storing the files in descriptive directories, it helps you get organized, increases efficiency for those looking for the files and avoids confusion for yourself and others in the long run.

Below are the steps for correctly naming files:

Step 1: Come up with a logical filing and naming system and then ask everyone who saves files to the shared network to use it.

Step 2: Organize files into descriptively named directories. A shared network may contain files from people who have different roles in the organization. The first step to organization is to store files in directories in a logical manner. The simplest way to achieve this is to store files by department for a medium to larger organization, by job title for a smaller organization and by author for a personal shared network. For example, store company annual financial reports in the directory, “Accounting” (department) and subdirectory, “Reports” (types of files in the directory).

Step 3: Create a uniform system for naming files. Consider what details will be most important to the person searching for your file. For example, call the company annual financial reports the company annual financial reports. A good name format for a financial report includes what type of report and the timespan covered in the report. Name the file “2011_Annual_Financial_Report.xls”. This file name tells everyone the file contains the annual financial report for 2011.

Step 4: To ensure that you are using a file-naming system that is effective for your organization, ask yourself, “Can a person locate the file by the filename alone?” If the answer is no, consider including more details in the file name. For example, suppose your 2011 Annual Financial Report only contains one type of report, like a balance sheet. Include this in the name. The filename including the balance sheet designation is 2011_Annual_Financial_Report_Balance_Sheet.xls. The designation, “Balance_Sheet” is at the end of the filename so a person looking for this file can begin with the widest designation, “2011_Annual,” the more narrow designation, “Financial_Report” and the specific file, “Balance_Sheet.”

Step 5: Ask everyone who uses the file-sharing system to use the file naming guidelines. If possible, ask individuals to rename and sort older files according to the file naming guidelines so there is a uniform method for naming and finding files across the entire file-sharing system. If it is not possible for individuals to rename all their files according to the system, at least have them rename files that are most likely to be accessed by other individuals on the Exchange 2010 systems.

Files not renamed according to the guidelines can be stored in a folder called “Old_Files.” This will prevent confusion for people searching for files.

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Exchange hosting offers businesses access to email applications, task management applications, calendaring applications, document repositories and address lists. Nearly, 10 million users take advantage of hosted exchange worldwide and now, taking Exchange with you on-the-go is easy with hosted mobility. 

iPhone 4G and iOS5 with Exchange 2010

With Sherweb’s real-time wireless synchronization, iPhone 4G clients can manage their Microsoft Exchange mailbox with ActiveSync. The three email clients Gmail, Yahoo and MSN can be managed at once with this app! All incoming email may be viewed from an account in one inbox. The synching process occurs automatically.

Clients may also host long email conversations and follow easily with Exchange 2010. The messages are organized in the order of receipt. The most recent message will be viewed at the top. Exchange 2010 manages email similar to or better than Microsoft Outlook. Email conversations may be managed directly from the phone.

The system is easy to set up and also easy to employ. Some expertise is required to deploy the system, but SherWeb offers access to technical support staff and are available round the clock to help companies resolve problems without having a full time network administrator on staff.

The Benefits of Hosted Mobility for Hosted Exchange

Wireless Synchronization of Applications. Applications may be synched easily on mobile phones such as iPhone, Blackberry and Android. Users may synchronize mobile email applications, folders, tasks, calendars and contacts with desktop and laptop applications. Real time ActiveSync synchronization makes synching data between devices easy.

Encrypted Technology. Encryption technology protects user data from being detected by other prying eyes during transmission. Applications may be synched without being concerned about a breach in the data.

Lower Costs. Hosted Exchange is typically less expensive to deploy and operate than other email and organizing solutions. The costs are lowered with increasing number of subscriptions. For example, companies may secure 100 subscriberships for $40 each, while 1000 subscriberships may cost $24 each. Licensing costs are typically included in the costs of this service.

The costs are more predictable with hosted Exchange than with internally hosted deployments. With hosted exchange, companies may better address problems such as natural disasters, power outages and other untimely events. Organizations may also expand as needed rather than predict the number of subscriptions that will be required.

Saves Time. Hosted mobility for hosted Exchange allows IT members to save time. They do not have to constantly monitor servers to ensure continuous uptime. This allows them to focus their energies on projects that are essential and more productive for the business.

Conclusion

Hosted mobility for hosted Exchange makes businesses operate more efficiently while working away from the office. These applications may be hosted easily on a mobile device to ensure productivity regardless of location. Consider integrating a hosted Exchange solution for your office.

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When the first details of what would later become the Internet were being worked out in the 1980s, the creators had to come up with a way to communicate with specific devices across different networks. The solution that was adapted was known as Internet Protocol, Version 4 (IPv4).

With IPv4, each device connected to the Internet was assigned an identification number known as an IP address. IPv4 addresses were equal to a 32 bit number. This allows for a possible total of 4.3 billion unique addresses (2 raised to the 32nd power). With the huge and perhaps unanticipated growth of Internet enabled electronics such as mobile devices, the number of available IP addresses has become exhausted.

A solution had to be developed in order to increase the number of available IP address. Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) was created to do just this. With IPv6, the number of unique addresses increases from 4.3 billion, to 340 undecillion (34 followed by 39 zeros) addresses. This is because IPv6 addresses use 128 bit numbers to represent IP addresses instead of the 32 bit numbers of IPv4. Other features of IPv6 include a more simplified and efficient routing format and the ability to transmit and receive larger packet sizes.

Most new hardware and software platforms have been written with IPv6 in mind and not many upgrades will have to be done. With Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, IPv6 is supported. For many hardware devices, a simple firmware upgrade will allow the device to be IPv6 compatible. From a software standpoint, even Windows 2000 was written with built-in IPv6 support, as do modern operating systems such as Windows 7.

Even with the built-in support, there are issues that IT administrators should examine to see if they are ready for IPv6.

These include:

- Compatibility issues
- Invalid IP addresses
- Spam
Let’s take a closer look at each…

Compatibility: IPv6 is not compatible with IPv4. If a company intends to keep some servers and applications running using IPv4 while others are using IPv6, they will essentially have to manage two separate networks simultaneously.

Invalid IP addresses: A concern for websites using IP addressing within a web page is that these IP addresses will be completely invalid once the new addressing of IPv6 kicks in and the address links will be broken.

Spam: Another issue has to do with IPv6 are website filters and blacklists. These lists will have to be completely updated to take the new IPv6 addressing into account. IT administrators should also be aware that with the larger number of IP addresses available, it will be easier for spam writers to obtain large blocks of IP address for malicious use. This increased number of addresses used for spam would become more difficult to filter out compared with IPv4.

These concerns are relatively minor compared to the speed and the flexibility IPv6 will offer. The “v6” does after all stand for “version 6” and just is the next in the line of many versions of IP addressing. By running different systems and applications on a “test” IPv6 network before switching over, IT administrators can be sure that the transition will go smoothly.

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There are a lot of factors to consider when your company wants to use mobile devices such as a Blackberry. While a Blackberry can store things like contact lists, appoint information, and calendars locally it is critical that these devices be connected to some kind of central server in the event the device is lost, stolen, or damaged.

In a nutshell, Blackberries can be supported either by severs hosted and maintained within your company, and hosted exchange services. Hosting your exchange servers locally has the advantage of giving your company complete control over the process, however that can be said about a multitude of things.

Fixing your own car gives you complete control over the process as well, but trying to replace a timing belt without the proper tools and know-how can lead to complete disaster. This pattern also holds true when it comes to exchange servers.

The kinds of things you have to worry about if you host your exchange servers locally are almost too numerous to list. There are concerns about data integrity and security, backups, off-site storage, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Thankfully, hosted exchange servers have a huge advantage in that they are set up and run by experts in the field who know exactly how to ensure that your device is work properly.

A hosted exchange server can handle many aspects of your Blackberry, such as pushing out updates to important meetings if the times change, ensuring that your contact list from your desktop matches the contact list on your Blackberry, and ensuring that email you’ve already deleted at your desk does not end up getting delivered to your Blackberry as well.

Hosted exchange providers also have the advantage of quantity. While it may cost your company thousands of dollars to license the exchange server software, hosted exchange companies frequently have a multiple-installation or “site license” for the software, which is often sold to them at a heavy discount. In addition those providers will be purchasing and setting up hardware in large batches, which also makes it easier for them to provide hosted exchange services at a reasonable price.

When it comes right down to it, if you are considering setting up an exchange server for your business, unless you are going to have a serious enough load or have the technical expertise already available, it is hard to justify not going with hosted exchange services instead of attempting to do it locally.

Find the product that works for you and go for it.

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Managing multiple websites can go from a minor portion of your day-to-day tasks to a nightmarish chore that eats up all of your time. Thankfully there are a multitude of ways that you can cut down on the amount of time dedicated to managing your many sites.

1. Eliminate Redundancy

One of the first things to consider when trying to manage multiple sites is to eliminate redundancy. If you have three different sites doing the same thing it’s not a bad idea to consider consolidating them into one site that covers all of the same information. While this step isn’t always possible, it’s a good place to start looking.

2. Dump Your Obsolete Sites

Another thing to consider is obsolete sites. The time comes in the life of every site when it has fulfilled its purpose or simply isn’t getting much traffic any more, and you’re dedicating large amounts of time to managing a site that no longer is giving you the king of return on investment it used to. Your time is valuable, so don’t spend it maintaining a website that is no longer in use.

3. Bring in a Third Party

One of the best ways to save time and effort while managing multiple sites is to consider third party hosting. Most third party hosting companies that specialize in specific systems will provide basic day-to-day support and maintenance at no cost, or a very low cost to you. By offsetting the time you are putting into your websites through hosting you can massively reduce the amount of time you spend doing things like backups and server maintenance.

This advantage becomes most apparent when you consider hosted exchange servers. Exchange is the mail server produced by Microsoft that is commonly used with Microsoft Outlook, and handles things such as mail, calendars, contacts, and scheduling. Unfortunately, managing an exchange server requires quite a bit of not only skill, but time invested in ensuring that backups are run frequently, mailboxes aren’t over limit, and things of that nature.

Use Multiple-Site Update Tools

There are also other tools to make running multiple websites easier. One thing to consider is tools that are designed to allow you to post or update content to multiple sites at the same time. There are times when you will want to post the same thing, for example an announcement of a new site, to all of your sites at the same time. By leveraging a multiple-site update program that interfaces with your content management system, you can post that update in a matter of seconds instead of spending 3-5 minutes on every site you run.

Time is Precious

Just remember, don’t spend so much time trying to save time that you end up wasting time. By investing your time wisely, either attempting to streamline your process of managing multiple websites, or actually managing those websites, you can ensure that you are getting the best return on your time investment that you possibly can. While some people are running a website for the sheer enjoyment, it is important to remember to cover your expenses too.

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When it comes to hosted email services, Google’s Gmail service and Microsoft Exchange are at heads. Both boast an array of great features—email management, convenient collaboration tools for both desktop and mobile…But in organizational setting Exchange still seems to offer a reliability and security that Gmail has not yet lived up to.

Here we will look at why Exchange continues to thrive in the domain of email hosting for business.

Image Source: Life Hacker

1) Ease of migration

Google, still relatively young to the world of email hosting has not yet perfected its migration process. Whereas an established and sophisticated Exchange provider offers a simple and automated migration process that will seamlessly import all your existing email setup to the new environment, Google’s Gmail service requires a more manual and labor intensive setup.

I have heard that Gmail imposes a daily bandwidth limit (which could be about 2GB). If you hit this limit, the migration process will just stop. To work around this you have to use IMAP retrieval to import the email and the migration wizard to optionally import your contacts and calendars. You then have to wait for everything to be imported then you can remove the IMAP retrieval account.

All to say, long and pretty inconvenient process.

2) Reliability

A sophisticated hosted Exchange provider can guarantee 99.999 percent uptime, which is something Gmail has had some trouble with in the past.

Recently, Google removed its Service Level Agreement clause that allowed for scheduled downtime. This made them one of the first major cloud providers to eliminate maintenance windows from their service agreement. How Gmail’s uptime will compare to Exchange still remains to be seen.

3) User Features

Finally, there are a number of great user features that are offered in Outlook that you can’t find in Gmail.

1) Exchange 2010 has productivity features which help you organize and prioritize all the communications in your inbox in a highly efficient manner. For instance, Outlook gives you the option to have to-do flags and reminders which highly surpass Gmail’s way of organizing you and your emails. While Gmail has recently added the “Important” function to mark messages, it is not yet up to par for business.

2) Gmail does not support syncing of groups and multiple contact lists. Outlook 2010 on the other hand does.You can sync your Microsoft Outlook Contacts between your desktop, laptop, mobile and even other computers.

3) You have a lot of power and control with Outlook Messages and can even send (.msg files) to other e-mails, folders, etc. Gmail items on the other hand are not files, so you don’t get the same type of item-level control for archiving.

4) Outlook 2010 help avoid email mistakes with automated guidance. This will notify you when the recipient is out of office (before the message is sent), or give you a heads up when you may be sending your email to a large distribution list.

It is quite clear that when it comes to the best email hosting solutions for business, Exchange 2010 is the way to go.

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Everyone wants web traffic. Web traffic means you’re popular and opens opportunities for revenue. Of course there are certain factors that come into play in order to get the web traffic you want in the world of websites.

But increasing traffic is risky if not done properly. You run the chance of crashing your server, increasing your hosting costs and being hacked – all things you don’t want! So, here are some things to keep in mind to increase your traffic safely and improve your website’s performance:

The Right Hosting Package

Knowing what hosting package best suits your website needs is essential. If you’re looking to have a revenue generating site (which means lots of traffic) you’d want to go with a Dedicated Server to help carry the load of all your visitors. If it’s a personal website, you might want to go with a Shared Hosting package.

The hosting package you choose is also a determining factor for site speed. For example, a large website that houses copious amounts of content, images and etc, needs a more secure and manageable operating system to ensure everything loads properly and one time.

A hosting solution like hosted exchange 2010 from SherWebprotects and houses your website while allowing you to collaborate and share documents, calendars, contacts, tasks etc.

So, keep in mind what you need, because it will give you what you want.

Everyone Likes Fast

The load time of your site is crucial for getting traffic. There is no such thing as a virtual waiting room when it comes to websites. No one has the patience or time to sit in front of their screen and wait for something to work – it’s got to work now.

It’s not just your visitors who care either. Search engines also track the load time of your site and give it a ranking. The longer your site takes to load the more likely it will be removed. Yes, it sounds harsh, but in website world, it’s all about what the visitors want.

In order to prevent this from happening to you, take these tips into consideration:

• Make sure your computer doesn’t contain any viruses or malware. Do a monthly scan with anti-spyware.
• Free up space by only keeping the temporary internet files you need.
• Use multimedia and graphics only when needed!
• When sending files, zip and compress them to lower sending time.
• Close any useless web browser tabs – they take up memory (and time)!
• Select only important internet access site add-ons (think about pop-ups).

Those six steps will help increase the internet connection and load time for any site! And seeing as your site runs via your internet connect it is very important that it’s clean and smooth for you and your visitors.

Information Direction Providers

Once you’ve got the right hosting package and a clear computer, and still want more traffic maybe it’s time you considered connecting with an information direction provider, such as Akamai. What companies like Akamai do is help direct information from a provider’s server to a user’s desktop. The benefit of this is: content appears faster and better. These services also usually have firewall web applications that prevent virus attacks before they can even get a chance to nest inside a user’s hardware! It’s a great way to keep your visitors safe, which means they’ll return more often.

Caching Helps Catching

Okay, the next step is caching. Caching helps save you a visit to a main web server every time you need something. What caching does is help restore your files from a local system browser cache or proxy cache. It’s a great shortcut for making sure your site gets crawled by search engines properly. A great way to do this is set caching polices. This way you have a target and deadline for site developments, and work towards them in order to improve site performance. If you’re already swamped with site maintenance work ask (if you have one) the web developer to make these policies.

Optimize Your Graphics

Images are key component to any site, but they also take up a lot of space, which means they reduce load time. A great way to optimize all your images is by resizing them in Photoshop. Make sure when you do this you don’t alter the settings of the image because this could make it appear blurry and unclear. If you’re site is WordPress based you already have the option to optimize your graphics directly without having to download any extra applications. Again, make sure to choose the right package to house all your graphics!

Following these suggestions will help speed up the number of components that affect the amount of traffic to your site. Remember that the right hosting package does wonders for your project(s) and will ultimately be the guiding force to how your website operates! Reaching out to information directors like Akamai, helps take a large amount of work off your plate, making traffic that much easier to get. Also, the design of your site will greatly impact load time and visitors. Most sites today are taking the minimalist approach and going easy on the graphics. Traffic is an easy thing to get if you know how to keep your site fast, clean and simple!

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Welcome back! In the last part of Hackbusting we talked about what a hack was, what to look for and the first step to take once you’re sure you’ve been hacked. Today, the second part of Hackbusting, we’re going to address recovery steps, how to get your site back online, and what you can do to prevent it from being hacked, again.

You’ve been Hacked

Once you have figured out where the hacker came from, and you have successfully removed any malware/badware it’s time to move forward and get into recovery site mode.

Here are the four recommended recovery steps:

Step 1: Have all your users and yourself change their passwords. Send out an email, give them a call – do whatever you have to do, just change those passwords! We also suggest if you have a general admin account you delete it. It’s always safer to have individual accounts that you can keep track of for situations like this.

Step 2: Do a complete reinstall of your operating system (OS) from a source you trust, such as another household computer or your computer (make sure you’ve done a virus scan ahead of time, and removed any potential problems). Doing a reinstall is the only 100% way to make sure you’ve completely rid your site(s) of the hack.

Step 3: Use your clean back-up. There’s a reason we back up things, and this is a perfect example why! Once you’ve searched through your back and are completely sure it’s hack-free, replace all existing files with the backup files and restore your site.

Step 4: Update all or any of your software. Go through your weblogs, platforms, content management systems, and/or any software from a third party, and make the necessary updates. This will help increase the security of the site and smooth out the online re-installation process.

Get Back Online

Alright! The hack has been removed, you’re ready to be back in action, and you’ve learned a valuable lesson that you can now share with your family, friends and co-workers. First off, give yourself a pat on the back for addressing the problem right away, and figuring out how to better manage your site! Now, let’s get you back online.

Here are the three re-installation steps:

Step 1: Get your site back online. Remember in the beginning when you took it offline, use the same steps to restore its online presence. If you used the 503 return code, remove it. If you used the URL removal tool, request to have the URL re-included in your content again and cancel the removal request.

Step 2: Request a site review. In order to be 100% certain that your site has removed the hack from all pages, ask Google to run a site review and get the site completely re-crawled. This will also help Google stay on top of on-going hacks on the internet.

Step3: Keep your eyes open. Now that you have an idea of what to look for and expect, keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious activity. If you have other users helping you manage your site, talk with them about what happened and make sure they are always on lookout too.

You’re Back! Now Let’s Prevent…

Glad to see you’re back in action and have successfully made it through one little bump in the road of website popularity! It’s now time to evaluate what went wrong and prevent any opportunity for a future hack.

Here’s what we suggest:

- Review records and stay updated! Review your records from the damage assessment. Use your hack record as a hack report to help you if it happens again. This shows you where to look first!

- Make sure all your OS software is completely updated, all the time. It’s crucial to be extremely diligent when it comes to software and plug-in updates – they help improve security.

- Think about your hosting package, like Microsoft’s Hosted Exchange. If you were unlucky enough to have many sites infected under one server it might be time to upgrade to a better package that offers a high level of security. For example, if you’re using a shared hosting package and are managing a larger website, it is probably a good idea to move towards to a VP hosting package.

Not sure what you need? Do some research, compare and contrast and assess your site’s needs and wants (as well as goals).

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Hacking happens. It’s almost flattering to be hacked because it means you’re doing something right. Unfortunately, it’s also a headache that can cause a lot of stress for the Webmaster, and all those involved in the management and maintenance of the site. So, to help you avoid the stress and anger of getting hacked, we’re doing a two part series about how to become a Hackbuster.

Today, in part one, we’re going to talk about what a hack is, why you might get hacked, and what to do once you’re sure you’ve been hacked.

What is a Hack?

A hack usually consists of a site being infected with “badware”, specifically malware. Badware/malware are contaminated URL requests from the hacker that can leak in from the backend of your site and slip into your PHP files. Most hacks include random coding that gets inserted into the headers and footers of a page or many pages on your site. The first sign that your site has been hacked is a virus warning from Google on your homepage. The warning states, “the site can’t be trusted due to duplicate content or malware”. If you or your visitors start reporting any suspicious warning like this, right away go to the site and address it immediately – you’ve probably been hacked.

Why You Might Get Hacked

Sites get hacked for traffic and information. That’s basically it. As a site grows in popularity and the traffic increases greatly, it will become more valuable, and a target to help hackers pursue their goals of monetary gain or a collective interruption of another site. Most hackers will insert a code into your PHP files, which will redirect traffic to another source, such as their own site (monetary) or a larger site. If the hacker’s goal is to interrupt a larger site, what they usually do is hack numerous little sites, pull them together into one big hack army force and attack a larger site.

I’ve been hacked!

Alright, you’re popular. your site has become more valuable…and it’s been hacked. First step is to calm down, because thankfully a hack can be fixed. It’s not permanent. After you’ve calmed down, it’s time to find and assess the problem. Here are three recommended steps:

Step 1: Contact your web hosting/exchange hosting provider ASAP. Most hosting providers will be able to manage the confusing technical problems for you. This is especially important if you are using a shared hosting package.

Step 2: Take your site offline temporarily. A hack is like the flu for computers – it spreads easily and is extremely harmful. Plus, the last thing you want to do is give any of your visitors a virus.

If you can’t take your site offline Google suggests you create a 503 return status code. This will help prevent the site from being crawled, meaning; the hack won’t be able to spread because it will not be touched.

Another option is to use the URL removal tool in your Webmaster Tools, to remove any hack from pages or URLS that might have been added to the search results. This will remove the visibility of any infected pages from all visitors.

Step 3: Assess the damage and record the results. Try to think what exactly the hack was after (information or traffic?). Knowing this will make it easier to narrow down where the hack may have entered.

Once you’ve come to some sort of a conclusion, look through your server for any files that may look like they’ve been modified or recently uploaded.

Next, check your server logs. Look for any wary activity, failed login attempts, unknown user accounts, and command history…any crack you may think the hack could have slipped in from.

Assessing the damage will help you figure out the scoop of the problem. If you’re using a shared hosting package it might very well be another one of your sites on the server that have been infected, and this is how one of your other sites became sick.

Now that you know what a hack is, what to look for if you’ve been hacked, and the first steps in identifying the problem, stay tuned for Hackbusting Part Deux, where we’ll talk about how to track and ensure your site is feeling better.

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