Webster’s dictionary defines hacked (in one instance) as an intransitive verb meaning:
- To chop or cut something by hacking.
- Informal
- To write or refine computer programs skillfully.
- To use one’s skill in computer programming to gain illegal or unauthorized access to a file or network: hacked into the company’s intranet.
- To cough roughly or harshly.
Let me just say that today, Monday, May 12, the website that I administer for work was informally hacked. Now, I say informally because, apparently, Websters thinks it is an informal verb. However, as the person who built this from the ground up, it was very formally hacked in the truest and most malicious sense of the word.
Who might hack a website that contains no personal information? I can only guess, but their IP address pointed to a server in China. Luckily, our host had off-site backups. However, I will admit that if I had kept up my own backups, the problem would have been eliminated immediately.
Lesson #1: Back up every Friday night, even if the host backs up also.
Lesson #2: Never talk about work on the weekend. Apparently, I jinxed myself yesterday saying how smooth my job is day-to-day.
Lesson #3: Trust no one online…especially if their IP address is China.
