If there is anything you do not understand, please feel free to contact us, or check out our FAQ for an answer. Unfortunately, abuse of our service by many has required us to provide a detailed, strict terms of service and we can not make ANY exceptions.
Client must provide all necessary details at the time of request in order for us to do our job within 24 hours. At a minimum we will require FTP, Hosting Control Panel and CMS Admin account information. Any missing information will delay our ability to do our job completely and in a timely manner. If you don’t want to give us access, that’s fine but it may take longer than normal to clean and/or secure your site.
To put it in simple terms – it would be like taking your car to the mechanics because it stopped working, but not give him the keys to start the car to troubleshoot it. Make sense?
If client fails to purchase the right number of sites (EX: Client has 15 sites on hosting account but only pays for cleanout of 1 site) we reserve the right to either:
a) refund the fee
b) Invoice you for the difference in charges or
c) ONLY clean-out up to the number of sites you purchased, and our 24 hour Guarantee does not apply and the monitoring service is null and void. If the site that we cleaned up gets re-infected, it is your responsibility to maintain it and all monitoring will be set to the email address we have on file for you. We may, at our own descretion monitor the site for a short period of time.
Typically we will make a determination based on what we see on the server. If we worked on your site and find out later that another site on the account is causing the issue, you will not receive any refund and your site will no longer be monitored unless you purchase services for the additional site that is infected OR you provide proof that the site has been cleared of all infections. We will try our best to notify you of the situation if we can.
Site Moves after clean-up
If client moves their site to a new host of the same level (Example: client has 1 site on a hosting account and transfers to another hosting account with only that site), coverage will follow. However, if client moves a site from a single hosting account, to a hosting account with multiple sites and we find that the site gets re-infected because another site on the hosting account it was moved to was infected or breached, we will notify you to fix the issue with the other sites and typically will provide limited monitoring until the issue is resolved. We reserve the right to terminate your service should you fail to comply.
What if all my sites are on different servers/accounts?
For all of our multi-site packages, all sites must reside on the same server/single hosting/FTP account. If you have multiple sites on different hosting accounts on the same server, accounts on the same hosting account but requires a different FTP login for each, or sites on multiple hosting accounts – you must purchase individual ‘personal’ packages for each one. The multi-site packages only apply if all of your sites are centrally located, it’s much easier and quicker for us to clean them up – hence the significant discount you get for multi-sites. Unfortunately if you have multiple sites residing on several different hosting/FTP accounts, it will take more time, resources and effort to complete – so no discount.
Why can’t you just clean the site that I wanted?
We can, but don’t expect us to monitor it for you. In 98.9% of all malware cases, ALL of the sites on a hosting account are infected or contain multiple backdoors. If the entire account is compromised, it won’t do much good to clean just the 1 site – it will get re-infected/hacked again until all the sites are cleaned. We can put temporary measures in place to help slow the attacks down but we can’t effectively protect from INTERNAL threats. DO NOT rely on automated scanners to tell you that your site is clean. They are a starting point and only detect the issues that they know about in their database. If you use an automated tool that tells you your site is not infected, that DOES NOT mean that the site is 100% clean. Automated scanners do not detect the presence of a backdoor or a compromised FTP account, which are the main sources for malware infection.
How do you determine if it is a “site”?
1) by url: http://www.yoursite.com
2) http://site1.yoursite.com
3) by file structure: http://www.yourmainsite.com/subsite, or http://www.yourmainsite/site2
Some sites do have sub directories which contain files that are a part of the main site – this is included. HOWEVER if it is a directory that contains another site (also known as a “web application” – such as a subdirectory that has another installation of wordpress, drupal, a shopping cart system, forum, etc), it counts as a site/web application. Not Sure? Contact us first. Your better off asking if you are unsure.
We also can not nor do we guarantee against internal sources of infection. By this, we mean you purchased service for 1 site, but have 5 other sites on your server that are infected. We will clean the 1 site and secure it to the best of our ability but we can not guarantee nor monitor such a site because it WILL get reinfected. We will let you know which additional sites are infected and provide you with pricing for removal, should you chose not to have the additional sites cleaned, it is your responsibility to deal with any future malware issues.
Other Important Information
Our 24 hour guarantee only applies to the pre-paid 1 to 2 site purchase options. These are small enough for us to handle in a 24 hour period. Any more than 2 sites requires extensive work, and are typically more complex. We guarantee the malware on all packages will be removed, however in cases where there are multiple sites, it may take a few extra hours to secure them and provide a report for you. More than 5 sites typically take a day to report and secure in addition to the clean-out service. We also do not send reports on repeated clean-outs, we simply go in and take care of the issue.
Status Updates
You will receive a full report, usually within 24 hours of your clean-up detailing what was done one your site. Please do not contact us prior to this and ask us for a status update. You will more than likely not receive any response if it has been less than 24 hours. We monitor the sites we clean very closely for the first 24 hours looking for any additional security issues that may arise after the initial issue is resolved. Any issues after the inital cleanout will not get a full report.
Hosting account compromise
If your entire hosting account has been compromised, we can not, nor do we guarantee against this. This is beyond our control. If you have a virus, kelogger, trojan,etc. on your local system that allows for full access to your hosting account, we can not monitor this, nor do we guarantee our services against this. Our services is ONLY on your website/web applications installed on your hosting account. We can only secure sites against external threats NOT INTERNAL.
*NOTE: It usually takes google anywhere from 24-48 hours to remove any malware warnings that they may be displaying, however your site is typically clean many hours before that. We do not deal with Bing or Yahoo, those are your responsibility to notify.
Backups
If you do not have backup’s of your site, we will do our best to return them to a fully functional state. We can not nor will not be held responsible or liable for any missing content or customizations. Sometimes entire critical system files have been replaced with malware and unless you have a backup, we can not restore it. Any customizations that you may have made to your site may be lost if you do not have backups.
Site Restorations
Should you feel it necessary to restore your site from a backup after we have cleaned and secured your site, or overwrite all of our work while we are working on your site, or AFTER we have secured it and are monitoring it – you will be on your own from that point forward. Chances are very high that you reintroduced malware or a backdoor which may have been on your computer or in your backup files (yes, this has actually happened).
Passwords
If we tell you to that you need to change your password, or we have had to change any of your passwords, DO NOT revert to the old password EVER. Should you do this during your sevice period you have re-opened your site to attackers and your monitoring and clean-up is null and void. We can’t secure against stupidity – sorry (yes this has happened too).
File Permissions
If we set permissions on files, we expect them to stay that way. Nobody’s server needs their directories higher than 775/755 and their other files higher than 664/644. If we set permissions on your files correctly and you modify them at anytime – you are no longer eligible for monitoring because YOU have introduced a security hole.
Access
We will be required to have full access to your site via FTP and its Admin panel (where applicable) forthe entire time we are to be monitoring it. If you are running wordpress we will install several security plugins and all settings will be set by us and are expected to stay that way – it’s so we can be notified when their may be a potential issue on your site. If you choose to remove our access to your server, CMS or information from monitoring, you accept all liabilty and will be responsible for your own site monitoring and clean-up from that point forward. We reserve the right to remove any and all monitoring tools we were using from your server at that time. Any clean-up, monitoring, etc. from that point forward from us would require you to repurchase our services.
If you are running wordpress, joomla, etc., with all due respect – stay out while we are cleaning your site. Just because it may be back-up and running, it DOESN’T mean we are 100% complete with the job, and that you can start posting to your site like a jackrabbit in heat. You can’t drive off in your car with the mechanic still under the hood. If we have to – we WILL revoke your access to your site until we are done..
Hosting Requirements
We can not nor do we guarantee against hosting companies failure to secure their server, maintain latest versions or other accounts on their server. This is beyond our control – this is why we include 1 year of monitoring with our malware removal service. HOWEVER, if you are in control of your server/hosting account, and we make security recommendations that you to fail to follow through with (such as upgrading systems or software) that leave your server and or hosting account vulnerable – we can not be held liable for future infections, nor will we continue to monitor your sites for you. Unfortunately, we don’t over charge our customers so that the select few can make us keep chasing our tail on an issue that could be easily resolved by following instructions.
In cases where your hosting company is slow and outdated (EX: latest PHP version is 5.3 and they are running version 4), and won’t allow us to update to the latest versions of CMS’s or other necessary tools to secure your site, we will notify you so you may contact them. If they so decide to update their system, you can notify us when it is complete and we will update your site. We will do our best to monitor your site until then but we can not guarantee fast turn around when the site is compromised.
Site Requirements
If your site is currently outdated by more than 2 minor releases (or you are running Joomla, Drupal, etc.) we may not be able to upgrade your core system. If this is the case and it is possible security issue, we will notify you that this needs corrected. If you fail to correct it in 30 days, we reserve the right to stop monitoring your site. Why won’t we update those? Because these systems typically have customizations and sometimes issues arise when upgrading more than a few version numbers – we don’t want to break your site, and I’m sure you don’t want us to either. We recommend you have your developers do this (upgrade – not break it). Currently the only CMS system that is safe to upgrade multiple minor/major versions is single install wordpress (not wordpress multi-site/(WPMU) installs) greater than version 3.2. We also can not upgrade commercial systems, unless you provide licensing information (such as vBulletin, wordpress themes/plugins that are commercial, etc). If you are running an older system and we recommend that you need to upgrade to prevent future attacks, we reserve the right to no longer monitor your site and/or fix it after 30 days.
Maintenance Requirements
We do not do regular site maintenance. That is you or your webmasters responsibility. If we do upgrade your site and plugins, themes, extensions, etc. we expect you to maintain your site. We recommend you login periodically and see if anything needs upgraded/updated. If your site is continually breached and we find that you have not been maintaining your site properly, we reserve the right to discontinue the monitoring service. We do our part to secure your site, you need to do your part to keep it secure. Unfortunately most CMS systems are NOT install and forget about it – they have continuous development to improve them and to patch potential security threats.
Payments/Chargebacks
Sould we receive notification from our payment processor that a) a chargeback was initiated, b) buyer or your buyer’s bank requested a payment reversal, we will remove all monitoring immediately and reserve the right to return your site to it’s previous state (prior to our cleanout). To reactivate your account, there will be a 25.00 fee imposed.
Other Exclusions/Exceptions to our service
If you are running wordpress, and have more than 25 plugins or more than 5 themes installed – you will not be eligible for the 1 full year of monitoring. Why? Because you are high risk and basically – everytime you install a new plugin, you are increasing that risk. We will provide you with recommendations, and set-up the monitoring for you, but you will be required to maintain the security of your site. This also includes sites that are running phpmyadmin and execute PHP plugins. These sites will always be at high risk for attacks.
If we find your site is not currently infected (but may have been previously) we will still secure it, make any necessary adjustments to submit to google (such as remove cached files, sessions, etc), and monitor it for 1 full year. There are no refunds if malware is not currently on your site or if you decide you no longer wish to have us monitor your site.
All of our services are non-refundable, unless otherwise noted above.
By purchasing our services – you have automatically agreed to these terms of service.