Our website service is usually completely bespoke, and completely controlled by ourselves.

We design the website, work out the site structure and the look and feel of it, sometimes we even create corporate identities. We then build the website, coding the theme by hand, and using tried and tested software packages for the CMS. We also set up Google Apps for email, and host the websites ourselves. Every part of the website process is controlled by us, and so everything is done properly and efficiently.

But I said “usually”.

Sometimes we have a client who just needs a redesign of their website, but they have hosting and emails. We try to encourage them to switch it all over to us, but sometimes they are happy with their current setup.

Then things like this happen.

Last night a virus — Troj/JSRedir-AK — infected all the websites under a company’s server (who we are in no way affiliated with, but happen to have worked on several of the sites before). The hosting was done by someone else (in someone’s bedroom, I fear). Needless to say, when the sh*t hit the fan we were the ones getting asked to fix it.

But the fault (out of date software, crappy Windows server, I don’t even think they have backups[!!]) is not down to us. We are going to help in every way we can, but we have even been locked out of FTP access because those passwords were changed.

I guess what I am trying to say is - be careful where you host your website. Our host has a stunning report, constant backups, 99.9% uptime. As far as we are concerned, viruses are things that happen to other people.

xkdc - Retro Virus