--- title: You have been hacked description: "Last week while I was in Stockholm for a speaking gig, my friend Steve Johnson sent me an email with the subject line: \"Have you been hacked?\"" image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601254969-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e2015391c11d27970b-320wi.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2011/09/you-have-been-hacked.html#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # You have been hacked September 23rd, 2011 2 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601254969-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e2015391c11d27970b-320wi.jpg?width=320&height=153&name=6a00d83451f23a69e2015391c11d27970b-320wi.jpg) Last week while I was in Stockholm for a speaking gig, my friend [Steve Johnson](http://productmarketing.com/) sent me an email with the subject line: "Have you been hacked?" **Oh crap!** [![Warning](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601254969-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e2015391c11d27970b-320wi.jpg "Warning")](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e2015391c11d27970b-pi) In his email to me, Steve kindly shared a screen grab of a nasty message that popped up when he tried to visit my site. He also pointed me to a [Google diagnostics tool](http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=sokoloperkovuskeci.com) that contained all sorts of very bad news. **Yikes! ** It looked bad indeed. But how the heck should I know if I've been hacked? I am clueless when it comes to what's going on under the hood of my site. I hardly know the difference between HTML and LOL. And I'm sitting in a hotel room in Stockholm. But I do know how important it is to fix an issue like this. Can you imagine the hit on my credibility as a marketing guy if a nasty error message popped up when someone was looking at my site because they might want to hire me to speak? Not to mention what the search engines were doing to me because of the suspicious activity. [![Google shot](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601254984-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201543594745d970c-500wi.jpg "Google shot")](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e201543594745d970c-pi) So I shot a Twitter DM to Jim Stewart, a [Melbourne SEO expert](http://stewartmedia.biz/) who works with me to make sure that my site is optimized for search engines. Jim was about to go to sleep after a soak in his hot tub and a glass (or two) of [McLaren Vale Shiraz ](http://www.mclarenvaleshiraz.com/)but being the responsive guy that he is, Jim jumped to action in real time. Working with his team early the next morning, Jim quickly isolated the issue as being a hack affecting other sites hosted with GoDaddy like mine. Within hours they had solved the problem and I was back up and running safely. Not only are Jim and his team genius, they are real-time genius. If you want to learn about the specifics of the hack, how it was fixed, and the SEO implications of an issue like this, check out Jim's blog post [Godaddy Malware – sokoloperkovuskeci.com ](http://stewartmedia.biz/search-engine-optimisation-blog/godaddy-malware/) **Do your suppliers jump out of bed for you? Do you wake up early for your customers? ** I found it interesting that more than 24 hours after my problems were solved, I got an email from GoDaddy support with the subject line "Important Information About Your Hosting Account". The email said that the GoDaddy “Information Security Team detected suspicious activity within my hosting account.” The email outlined what they discovered, how they helped, and actions I needed to take. *Too late, GoDaddy, Jim already solved the problem. * It's important to choose a web host that has domain security including such things as 2-Factor authentication, password strength requirements, identity verification, etc. Here is a [list of hosts](https://berkaweb.com/hosting/best-cheap-web-hosts) that do from Mark Berka. **How quickly are you fixing customer issues? After all, we are living in a [real-time world](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470645954/freshspotpubl-20).** [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. 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