PC WEENIES

Category: Site Updates

  • April Showers Bring Malware Flowers (and How I Fixed My Site with AI)

    April Showers Bring Malware Flowers (and How I Fixed My Site with AI)

    April must be the month of website problems for me. First, it was my portfolio site. 

    Yesterday, it was this site (again). To their credit, Bluehost reached out via text and email to inform me that pcweenies.com was dispensing malware. 

    This wasn’t a complete surprise, given what had already occurred a few weeks back. I had been observing unusual traffic to my website originating from Japan, courtesy of my site stat counter. The visitors were attempting to access directories and files that I did not have in my root folder. Repeatedly.

    Odd. 

    After returning the phone call, Bluehost informed me that my domain was generating malware, and that removing or deleting files wasn’t going to fix the issue. According to the tech I spoke with, it was a timed attack that would keep resurfacing. But Bluehost could make all my malware problems go away… for a mere $399US. 

    After being taken aback, I politely declined the offer. In a last ditch effort, Bluehost countered with a price reduction ($309), but it was still far too expensive. But now, I was left to solve the problem on my own.

    Let’s be clear: I’m no WordPress expert. I only know enough to be dangerous.

    The thought of wending through lines of PHP and working within SQL databases fills me with existential dread.

    I have a few friends who are experts at this stuff, but it was 9PM at night, and I wasn’t about to thrust my pressing website problems onto anyone else at that hour.

    So into Mordor I went… armed only with ChatGPT.

    We can debate the merits or demerits of AI, but I was desperate. I needed to solve this problem. NOW.

    I fed ChatGPT the specifics of the malware issue, including the logfile I received from Bluehost.  Patiently, it provided me with clear, step by step instructions on how to methodically troubleshoot the problem. I followed each step, one by one, asking clarifying questions to ChatGPT along the way. In the process, I discovered that my site had an oddly formatted wp-config.bak file and (even more alarming) 6 different FTP accounts of unknown origin. My site had been compromised.

    Following ChatGPT’s instructions, I first made a local backup of my site and corresponding SQL database. Next, I changed every single password related to my website (database, WP login, etc). Then, I removed all offending FTP accounts. I deleted key WP files / folders from the server. Finally, I reinstalled clean WordPress components using a fresh WordPress install.

    After two hours, my site was back up and running. Exhausted by that point, I called it a night. 

    I don’t have a moral to this story. But I will state this: Without the assist from AI, I wouldn’t have been able to solve the problem on my own. 

    -Krishna

  • And So Castles Made of Sand…

    And So Castles Made of Sand…

     

     

    Every independent website, no matter how popular, will eventually dissolve into the abyss. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.

    I started PC WEENIES, a tech-themed webcomic, in October 1998. The strip ran more-or-less continuously for 20 years. First starting as a single panel comic and then moving into a strip style format, I published three times a week, “or the next one’s free”, for most of its run.

    I started with static HTML and GoLive CyberStudio, before moving to adding custom PHP (Thank you Tom Davis), before fully switching over to WordPress in 2008. It was during that time, I also incorporated my love of writing to pen an accompanying tech blog.

    While PC WEENIES didn’t set the Internet world ablaze, it did have many fans. What started as a lark in late 1998 turned into a training regimen. I knew very little about digital drawing, let alone Photoshop, when I posted that first single panel comic. But, with time, practice and persistence, I eventually found my footing.

    So what has become of this once beloved site?

    First, things started to break. My WordPress site was showing its age. It featured a lot of custom code (Thanks Frumph!), integrated with ComicEasel. The whole shebang worked, at least for a while.

    Software upgrades (namely a PHP update) broke the site first. But the site still limped along.  Then came hackers.

    I only realized there was an issue when my host sent me a note complaining about excessive CPU utilization. When I visited my site, in place of my blog was a landing page for a Golf company (!).

    I was able to take care of the CPU utilization but the site was now permanently broken. I had no back-up (save for one from 2016).

    As painful as the decision was, I decided to nuke the whole site and start afresh. That meant 16 years of content were now up in smoke. And nary a PC WEENIES comic on the web. Truth be told, when it happened, I felt a little sick to my stomach.

    After acceptance kicked in, I started to think about what a new PC WEENIES site would look like.

    I have some plans to use this place to post about things that interest me in the area of tech, illustration and comics. There will also be, on occasion, a brand new PC WEENIES comic or two. Instead of the strip style, I’m toying with the idea of making full page comics on occasion. I can’t promise a regular publication schedule, but I do miss Bob, Pam, Milton and the rest of the wacky gang at Footle.

    For those who miss the old comics, fear not.  I have a catalog of PC WEENIES comics on my computer. If and when I can figure out an elegant way to share them here, I’ll do so.

    As always, stay tooned.

    -Krishna