'AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR!' (UPDATED)...

Since I removed the anonymous comments option on my blog a few months ago, I haven't been receiving any abusive remarks, but initially my hits went down.  Recently however, my hits have gone right up, but I've noticed that some of the Referring URLs and Referring Sites are, going by their names, seriously dodgy sex sites (trannie porn and that sort of thing) and supposedly-tracking free search engines that hide people's identities.

Now, obviously I'm not about to click on the more dodgy ones, but I Googled one which turned out not to be a porn site, but an aforementioned search engine.  I looked again at my Stats and clicked on the name - only to be taken to my own blog-page.  This was odd, because I sign in to my blog via Google, not 'anonymous' search engines, but things got even stranger.  If I left it for a while and clicked on it later, the results were different each time; either I'd get taken to someone else's blog (ones which are in my blog list, which is how I visit them), my own blog, or a search page for a search box I don't subscribe to.

Not too long ago, I received alerts from Yahoo and Google, advising me to change my passwords because of suspicious activity around my email addresses (someone trying to sign in to my Yahoo account from America, for example), which I did, but not before I'd received emails in one of my other accounts from people bearing the names of folk I knew, but (when I checked) turned out not to be from them.  Today, when I clicked on one Referring URL, it took me to someone's blog I seldom visit, which in turn brought me a visit from him, which is not something that would happen under normal circumstances.

The result is I'm going to have my computer checked to make sure I haven't been hacked again, as is what appears to have happened a couple of months ago.  I don't know how long it will take to get the 'all-clear' (an expert will be arriving soon to check it out), but it could take hours or days, so if there isn't any activity on this blog for a while, you'll know why.

Normal service will hopefully be restored as soon as possible.  In the meantime, be careful what you click on.

******

UPDATE: Right, I've now had my computer thoroughly checked out, and though I can't say with any certainty whether on this occasion I was hacked or not, some suspicious trojans were removed and my security upgraded.  Be careful if you get an invitation to change your default search engine - even if you click the 'decline' option, sometimes you're still accepting it.  Also, some legitimate sites have imposters which look like the real deal, but are malicious viruses which can take over your computer.

A few months ago, a friend received an email from my Google account, containing what seemed to be an extract from Harry Potter.  It had indeed been sent from my email address, but - I hadn't sent it.  It seems to have been a try-out by an intruder to see if his invasion had worked.  Neither of us was certain if we'd both been hacked or only one of us, so we both changed our passwords and the problem seemed to be solved.

So, the lesson is clear - remain vigilant.