I had no idea how bereft I’d feel without Candy’s Monsters. An essential part of my routine was missing and I kept itching to share a monstrous observation, ‘fantastic’ photo or simply muse on a strange riff.
Getting hacked is a horrible experience. It’s an—‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ mystery and knowing that someone else was treading on my tiny corner of the Internet made me feel terribly vulnerable in all my web-based interactions. Yes, I’m changing passwords (and I will do it frequently from now on) and yes, my tech wizards are installing all sorts of security protocols and programs, but that just puts us a step or two ahead of the next INVASION.
The oddest thing about being hacked is that the hacker and the ‘hackee’ have completely different perspectives on the process. For one, it is purely numerical, impersonal and all business and for the other it is entirely personal. I’m dancing around the word victim because there are so many other, more terrible, things that can and do happen. I can’t say I am a victim, but I was—in a relatively small and safe way—victimized, by some nefarious strangers and I am left angry and scared.
We’re still working on the site glitches, trying to strike a balance between Fort Knox security and accessibility. Please let me know if you received a notification of this post, as I don’t know if they are going out and I have test the system.
Still, I wrote a bit while I was blogless in Berlin and I’ve selected a winner for the Working Werewolf Contest. It is Hendrikus, because his idea of a Wall Street woman werewolf started to write itself as soon as I reviewed the entries. Congrats to Hendrikus!
Glad your back. I have you an in RSS feed, so I can’t speak for whether or not e-mail notifications are going through. The woman werewolf of Wall Street sounds like a lot of fun.
Isn’t it a great idea? I’m so happy to have a winner that is a WINNER!
If you received an email, Candy’s Monsters is back in business and it’s a relief. Thanks for letting me know.
I’m happy to see you back. It must be horrible to be hacked like that, a crime which I see as pointless. Here’s to be hoped your team have enough safeguards on to make sure it can’t happen again.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
Yes it is a crime that doesn’t make sense—after all Candy’s Monsters is not an e-commerce site. BUT, as one of my wise advisers pointed out, there are “catfishers” out there, motivated simply by the idea that they can torture other people via the internet AND there are new “ransom” schemes, where they take over your virtual identity and charge you to return it.
Crazy, Scary World!
Email notifications are working! -hugs- You’re back.:)
I haven’t actually been burgled, but I know people who have so I imagine being hacked must feel similar, a violation of privacy if nothing else.
Do you techie wizards know what the hackers were after? Or was it ‘just’ a case of doing it because they could?
Anyway, don’t let this put you off your stride. Onwards and upwards!
No apparent reason other than the reality that it wasn’t a big challenge.
Nothing like feeling ordinary on top of vulnerable and not special at all. lol…
Still, so good to back!