The SNO Report: Check your users list for hitchhikers and get ready for SNO DS

Last spring, Gravity Forms (the developer of our very excellent Form Builder add-on) came out with an important update to patch a security flaw in the plugin. We sent out a note at that time to encourage our customers to update their plugins immediately — in general, the more diligent you are about running your updates, the more protected you’ll be from hacking attempts. We’ve been alerted to a few sites, however, that didn’t run this update in time and were consequently infected with malware.

Luckily, SNO’s virus-busting support tech team is standing by, and fixing this problem takes us less than an hour. You can help by checking your site right now for one telltale sign that your site may be hacked: a user in your users list by the name of WPUpdateStream or WPWhiteSecurity.

Please take a moment to review your list of authorized users on your site. You can do this by navigating to Users–>All Users in your admin menu. Make sure that you recognize every user, and that each user is set to an appropriate role. If you notice a user named WPUpdateStream or WPWhiteSecurity in your users list, notify us immediately. We’ll do a full cleanup of your site to remove all malware files, change your passwords, and ensure that your site’s secure and safe to use.

Get your site ready for the SNO Distinguished Sites program

This week, as you’re making lists and checking them twice, we have a couple things for you to add. When you’re ready to take a break from your holiday break, why not start prepping your site for the SNO Distinguished Sites program? Check out the criteria here. If you nab all six available badges, you’ll become one of this year’sDistinguished Sites.

You don’t have to have your site in tip-top shape by the new year, though. The Distinguished Sites program will be open through the end of May, and sites that don’t quite make it on the first attempt can adjust and resubmit during that period. Best of all, it’s not a competition, so take off those boxing gloves–we have plenty of badges to go around!