valerie forrestal
code4libNYC
2013.10.08
the anatomy of a crash

aw, hell. that„s not supposed to do that.

step 1: check your main index file
turkish escorts, anyone?

why would someone hack a library
website?
(it„s not personal)

step 2: send out an email
i„m serious.
this is a step.
because you will get about a
thousand emails and phone calls
telling you the site is down.

step 3: put up a temp homepage

i used a free css template, but you can
use a framework if you‟re feeling fancy
• html5boilerplate:
http://html5boilerplate.com/
• bootstrap:
http://getbootstrap.com/
• foundation:
http://foundation.zurb.com/

step 4: check server logs
• replace any files that were recently
changed (not by you) with backups
• the internet tells me this will find files
edited in the past 2 days:
find . -mtime -2 -type f

step 5: do a clean install
• if none of the above fixes work, you‟re
probably going to need to reinstall your
cms software
• this is a problem if you‟ve made a mess of
your file structure and have undocumented
customizations, so, in the future…

be prepared!
• set up your site so that you are able to
restore it from scratch with the newest
version of the software. don‟t get tied to a
particular version!
• some best practices…

best practices?
• always keep your software up-to-date
• keep your customizations modular
• keep your site root organized and your
subdirectories clean
• have clear documentation on how to
restore the site from scratch
• back up your backups
• minimize your use of plugins
• have a simple backup site ready to go

versioning

more tips
• google “secure … site” and “common …
hacks”
• http://www.marcofolio.net/joomla/7_tips_to
_optimize_joomla_security.html
• http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/02/se
curing-your-website-a-tough-job-but-
someones-got-to-do-it/
• Open Web Application Security Project
(OWASP): https://www.owasp.org/

contact
valerie forrestal
web services librarian
college of staten island/CUNY
• vforrestal@gmail.com
• vforrestal.com
• @vforrestal
• slides available at:
slideshare.net/vforrestal