As some of you are aware, my account was hacked.
It is so good to be back!
This post from @guiltyparties explains better than I can what happened. Here is the link.
Do go right now and follow @guiltyparties and keep up with all advice that is offered. Thank you so much @guiltyparties for all your help! He immediately went in and flagged my posts that would be having the biggest payouts so that the Hacker would not benefit from that SBD, too.I haven't added up the losses yet, but it was minimal, and the important thing to me was no loss to my reputation, and stopping the power down!
I was using Steemit when it happened, and suddenly I was getting a message when I tried to vote saying 'missing required posting athority' error.
I cleaned my cache, powered down, and I still couldn't get in, but just assumed it was a Steemit glitch and went to bed hoping it would have resolved itself by morning. By morning the Hacker had started power down and it became obvious what had happened.
I still have no real explanation as to how he got it. Seems hackers have bots that search the web for keys and then use an algorithm to find where the keys fit. Even if you post by mistake onto an unsecured site and immediately delete it, it will still be out there for the bot to find
I was told not to use an extension, as they are not secure. I had foolishly saved my keys into an app I use called Evernote, and have since found out it is not secure, so maybe that is where he got it from. I wish I could say exactly how he got it. But I can't.
Read all you can about account security. And do your best to be cautious. We all know not to click on links in our wallets, or links in our comments promising us pots of gold and thousands of followers or viewers.
I have so many people to thank for helping me get my account back. The folks @eSteem were incredibly helpful in getting Steemit recovery to respond, and then were there beside me when the email arrived and talked me through it. I have loved using @eSteem on my phone since I first started here and can't say enough good things about the people there.
All the mods at Qurator were there and held my hand and provided links and very helpful advice through all this! Thanks to @ewkaw, @brumest and @ackhoo for all your knowledge and support!
And my good friends @uwelang, @erikah, @pixresteemer, @steveconnor, @jumowa for sharing their wisdom, and to all of you who reached out with kind words and kept me from feeling so alone. It was a long 4 days!
And in the meantime the price of Steem has gone up, and my Steem is safe again. Back to Steeming!!
I am very glad it all ended up well, @melinda010100. It's great to have you back!
Don't know what I would do without you! It just wouldn't be the same. Thank you for being such a good friend!
Good to see your account back in your hands! :-)
Upvoted and has been added to the latest MAP Resteems post.
Oh no!!! I'm glad it's resolved. You are the second person this happened to that I know. I'd love to know how it happened so we can all make sure it doesn't again.
That must have been a downer 4 days, sorry you had to go through it. I also am very happy people were here to give a helping hand.
I missed being here so much! I have strong suspicions it was obtained through my Evernote account. I had posted my password in among the quotes and links that I store in there a long time ago, naively thinking that if anyone ever saw it they would have no idea what it went to. It was buried in with hundreds of notes. Last week I went into Evernote and there was my password right on top, as if it was the most recent post I had opened. I had no idea about bots and algorithms! I do now!
oh geez.....so glad it's over. Keep that stuff off line. I never use those key apps.
I suppose this is the new way to burgle.
YAY! So glad you got things sorted!
Still working to put all the pieces back in place, but so happy not to have any major damage,
Just read about it at the #Dailyspotlight by pixresteemer ... Glad you are back, Melinda !
I'm glad to be back, too! Thanks, my friend!
You are welcome,Melinda!
Welcome back, Melinda! It's great to have you here!
:P welcome back i got drunk in your honor ! burps and smiles
Ha! You always make me laugh, my friend! Why didn't you tell me to join you when I was sitting here alone waiting to get back in?
because im not allowed to text while drunk whistles n laughs
Fuck them hackers
Ha! For sure!!
Great to have you back! Glad it was resolved too.
Thank you, my friend. It is so wonderful to be here! It was quite painful to be able to see what was happening and not be able to engage!