big problems with previous host, looking to switch

Hi,

I've had problems with a previous host and am wondering what the hostgator response would have been if I had been hosting with you at the time!

Here's what happened: I found out that when my site was searched on google, it popped up with the message "This site may harm your computer." This is a small site for a yoga studio...I had not made any changes to it when this happened. After staying on hold for over an hour with my hosting customer support, they only suggested that I call google. I asked if it was possible my site had been hacked since I had been getting a lot of spam to my blog, they said maybe and that I would need to check all my code. They were not helpful and did not offer any support or help. I could only guess it was the blog so I took it down completely which fixed the problem, but now I have no blog and no way of figuring out how to fix the security breach with the host if I were to put it up again.

This same host also completely removed another site I had hosted, without any notification and when I called to complain they said they had no backups and I would have to take care of it. Even cancelling after that nightmare required numerous emails and several days of headache.

So, any security worries I should have with HG? If my site is hacked in the future if I were hosting here, what would the response be?

Thanks,
Jordan

[kmaw]

If your site gets hacked, your site gets suspended and you get an email. It does not get deleted. The first response from the abuse folks is usually 'look into it yourself and update any scripts you have' they usually point you in the right direction to the proper folder by showing you some server logs.

If you update all scripts, that will usually suffice for them and you get unsuspended. If there's more, they are usually fairly helpful in getting your site back in working order.

[Goddess Dix]

Originally Posted by jgma

Here's what happened: I found out that when my site was searched on google, it popped up with the message "This site may harm your computer."

what do you mean, it said "this site may harm your computer" from google? was that a popup somebody saw when they went to your site or what? was your actual site changed?

this has no relation to spammers on your blog. if somebody searched for a site on google and got a popup with a message about the site, it sounds like their own computer had a virus on it, perhaps. some viruses will load popups and "security warnings" in the backgroud, ironically trying to convince you that you need to buy their spyware removal stuff to protect you from themsevles.

regardless, tho, support should have told you that instead of trying to pass the buck.

This same host also completely removed another site I had hosted, without any notification and when I called to complain they said they had no backups and I would have to take care of it. Even cancelling after that nightmare required numerous emails and several days of headache.

this is a very bad sign. while you are ALWAYS responsible for having your own backups because the hosts can fail or be missing, they should routinely be making them.

So, any security worries I should have with HG? If my site is hacked in the future if I were hosting here, what would the response be?

my experience with hg has been that support has been helpful and responsive in solving my problems, even when they weren't hg's fault. i won't say i've never been peeved with a support response, because i'd be a liar if i did, but with perserverence, i've never had an issue that couldn't be resolved.

regarding security, hg does pretty well from what i can tell, too. i'm guessing you'll be happier here.

[GatorDavid]

Hi,

As far as security goes, we have a lot of safeguards to protect your site, even if your scripts are a little out of date, such as mod_security, phpSuEXEC, etc. Generally these do a whole lot to keep out attackers, but there's only so much we can do to keep people out of your site if your php installs are out of date.

Now, if your site gets hacked, we don't suspend it unless there's a large amount spam coming from it, or multiple phishing sites strewn throughout the account. Usually what happens is we'll scan the site, remove any exploits/php shells and iframes and then allow you to update any scripts that are out of date.

We do provide weekly backups, and if your site is attacked we will restore you from before the first attack one for free- to give you a chance to update your scripts.

Thanks for the replies...already more help than I got from my other host! I will most likely switch over after the holidays.