A mere 48 hours ago, all the words on this site appeared as Asian characters and all the images were of car tires. The good old blog had been hijacked by the Japanese Keyword Hack.

Now I don’t fully understand what the Japanese Keyword Hack is, but I know it’s real and real ugly.

Tuesday I received an email from Google Search Console that tipped me off something was awry. The great and powerful Google messaged me to announce a new owner had been added to my website.

New owner? 

Being the sole owner and creator here, I clicked over to discover the carnage.

I couldn’t read my blog, nor could I log on to it. The Google wouldn’t allow me to kick out the new owner it had so unceremoniously allowed in. Panic ensued.

An initial call to the company I pay to host my site yielded only frustration.

“We provide the hosting, not the security,” said the chipper rep. “It’s like renting a house. You pay us rent, but that doesn’t keep someone from breaking in.”

Okay.

“You need our protection plan,” he said. “It’s only $99 a month.”

Right.

“Is this a business site? Is it monetized? What’s it used for?”

Gulp.

This conversation continued its downward spiral with me trying to explain to him that this site is just a personal blog and it’s been dormant for years and I’ve toyed with scrapping it altogether and can’t they simply restore it with a backup and why am I paying them again anyway.

He wouldn’t budge off his sales pitch. So I politely told him I’d have to think about it. I hung up, convinced my blog was unrecoverable.

At first, this was a relief. I’ve debated with myself about what to do with this blog for the longest while. Years, actually. To write or not to write? To write here or elsewhere or nowhere?

Now it appeared the decision had been made for me.

My blog was dead.

I would bury this child. Say goodbye. Make a keepsake book from the backup posts on my hard drive. But walk away from the WordPress. Move on. Dot. Org.

That was Tuesday. By Wednesday, the loss started to set in.

This is a small, relatively insignificant blog. There are no bells and whistles. Only words and pictures without filters. And links. Interesting links to relevant Bible verses and songs I’d play if I was the DJ. Because this is how we roll.

There is no flash and dash. No celebrity kapow! to break the internet.

It needs to be updated. It needs a new permalink structure. It needs a focus.

It’s in a sad state. But it’s mine.

These are my words. My work. My little corner of the world wide web. So on Thursday, I called my hosting company again.

You know how they say it’s all in who you know? It’s also all in who you get on the phone.

Thursday I was patched through to my hosting company’s contracted cybersecurity group. And it was a different story.

Yes, they’d seen the Japanese Keyword Hack before. Yes, they could fix it within a few hours. Yes, I needed more security, but no, it wouldn’t cost me anywhere near $99 per month.

I negotiated the 12-month contract down to six months of protection, and the cleanup began. By the end of the day, the blog was back.

Essentially, I’ve bought myself six months to figure out what to do with this tiny plot of online real estate. There are no guarantees, that’s for sure. I might not be here in six months. You might not be here.

And so very, very much has changed from when I last posted.

Is the internet safe? Is social media harmful? Is it wise for a regular person to keep a public web log? Does anyone do this anymore?

The Japanese Keyword Hack is afoot, and I’m sure it has friends. Its diabolical plan has been foiled here for now. Maybe it’s even done me a favor.

Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone? But sometimes you get a break. Best take it where it leads.

* * *

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

This old world is rough, it’s just getting rougher. Cover Me by The Boss.

When were you given a break? What did you do with it?