Can Being Hacked sometimes be a good thing?

[Ashley]

OK, ever since our site got hacked last Thursday, causing us to lose 95% of our posts and all of our sections and categories, practically forcing us to start over, this has been on my mind since that day and I'm wondering what your guys' views are on this.

As we all know, hacking, like what happened to my forum, is usually illegal and in some cases legal action should be taken. I know I should've gone that route, but I think what will end up happening is I'll probably just report the hacker to StopForumSpam and be done with it. But do you think that being hacked, especially in the form of having categories/forums deleted can actually be a good thing sometimes?

I feel it could in a sense, because this can actually give you a way to reinvent yourself and probably come up with new ideas. Like, maybe before the hack, you were toying around with implementing a new forum section or something, but now that you've been hacked, you start looking towards actually putting that idea into action. That's what happened with me basically.

 

[Smiley]

Look on the bright side: Something bad happened to you. Instead of letting it get you down, you see it as an opportunity for a fresh start, making the best out of the worst.

Oh btw...

Spoiler

There we go. This thread has officially been Doctored.

 

[Jazzy]

Being hacked, IMHO, is never a good thing. It is, however, a HUGE wake up call to back up your forum daily.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Getting hacked can be a learning experience. It'll force you to analyze what types of security related precautions you have in place currently (if any) and how effective they really are. Perhaps you'll do some research and figure out how you can make your forum stronger and more secure.

A lot of times, after a forum has been hacked and has been restored, it'll get a (usually temporary) boost in traffic. Members will want to reset their passwords and see if everything is okay.

 

[Ashley]

I agree with both Nebulous's and Smiley's points. Being hacked can be a rude awakening, and it's happened to me on more than one occasion, although this is the first time it's ever happened on the host I'm currently using, but like I said, though, while you wouldn't want your site to be hacked all the time, in my case, I was able to use the experience to not only bring the current categories back, but it helped me throw in a couple new ideas that I wanted to implement the first time around, but wasn't sure how they would turn out. You'll have to see the site for yourselves to see the new ideas.

 

[Mortiferr]

I can agree that being hacked sucks. It really does. But yes, it could help you reinvent yourself and your website / forum making it a good thing.

@Ashley Something I might say that the particular forum software / version that you're using is particularity vulnerable to hacks...so I would either take some security measures or change forum softwares / versions/

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Something I might say that the particular forum software / version that you're using is particularity vulnerable to hacks...so I would either take some security measures or change forum softwares / versions/

Like switching to XenForo?

 

[MrDawn]

I don't think being hacked is a good thing. It sucks that it happens though.

 

[Mortiferr]

Like switching to XenForo?

I prefer IPB but xF is nice too.

 

[Ashley]

I have no plans to switch software anytime soon. Some of the older members of this given forum will remember my former reputation where I couldn't even keep a site open for a month. I refuse to start that crap again.