OSC using too much system resources

[yazawa]

I've been notified by my web host company that my OSC store has used too much of their system resources. Through an online chat with them, they told me they think my site has been hacked and code put into it that is causing the problem. They just didn't give me any information as to where the problem code is. I'm using OSC with a copyright of 2003 (don't know where to find the version number) with a customized template and a few additional custom codes dealing with shipping costs and e-mail notifications of orders. The tech I chatted with suggested I update my OSC to a newer version, but I don't know how to do that without shutting down the entire site to do it. Since the tech was of little help in directing me where to look for the hacked code, could somebody here help direct me where to look and what to look for? FYI, my PHP coding skills is very limited. I initially paid a programmer to alter my site when I first started, but that programmer seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.

 

My site: Acajou Crafts

 

Thanks.

[♥altoid]

@@yazawa

 

Hi Tom, if you have limited skills in coding or how to deal with a hacked site, I'd recommend you go a professional. There are many skilled and qualified pros that participate in this forum.

 

See the commercial support enquiries category topic when you scroll down the forum window. That's where to start. Good luck on that.

[Jack_mcs]

@@yazawa That seems to be a standard reply from hosts that just don't understand the package. It's an easy thing to do because now they've turned the problem over to you. And it most likely is your problem though I doubt that it is due to hacking. If you run your site through the security tester on my site you will see it is not secure. So that should be fixed, no matter what. But your problem is most likely just that you are being visited by data skimmers. They can cause a site to have the problems you are having and it doesn't have anything to do with being hacked. Though that should be checked since your site is not secure.

[Guest]

@@yazawa

 

I suggest changing hosting providers to one that has UNlimited hosting. There are no caps and no resource limitations (unless malicious).

 

Chris

[♥joli1811]

Start with turning of the tell a friend box (had one last week was being used by spammers)

 

and checking your who online for ip address that appear maybe 100s of times then ban plenty on the forums about how.

 

Jacks http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/8781 could be helpful .

 

Regards

Joli

 

PS: From my view could not see any obvious hack but should be checked

[yazawa]

Start with turning of the tell a friend box (had one last week was being used by spammers)

 

and checking your who online for ip address that appear maybe 100s of times then ban plenty on the forums about how.

 

Jacks http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/8781 could be helpful .

 

Regards

Joli

 

PS: From my view could not see any obvious hack but should be checked

 

Have turned off the Tell A Friend feature. Hope that was it. Also going to check for the IP addresses with excessive connections to the site. I'm also looking into having my site updated to the newest OSC and putting a Captcha on the Contact Us page by a professional. Thanks to everyone for the input. Will be back if this doesn't work.

[MrPhil]

I suggest changing hosting providers to one that has UNlimited hosting. There are no caps and no resource limitations (unless malicious).

 

Be aware that there's really no such thing as UNlimited hosting. Even if the host doesn't put arbitrary limits on file storage, bandwidth, etc., that doesn't mean that they won't limit you somewhere. Usually it's on CPU load. If they didn't do this, you could implement another Google on a $4.95 per month shared server hosting plan!

[MrPhil]

The tech I chatted with suggested I update my OSC to a newer version, but I don't know how to do that without shutting down the entire site to do it.

 

That's easy. You simply install osC 2.3.3.4 into a /dev or /test directory, so that it doesn't interfere with your production store (assuming it's still running). Use a fresh database (don't touch the existing one). When you have your new osC tuned to your liking, you can delete the sample products and transfer a copy of your old database to the new one and upgrade it (the database) to match the structure that current osC is expecting. There's an add-on to instruct your programmer in doing this. At some point, you shut down the old store and move the new store's files over to your production site, and you're in business with an up-to-date store. Just make sure you shut down the old store and do a final database upgrade to catch any recent shoppers before bringing up the new store.