Sitelock

The backstory:

I use HostGator hosting. I had an additional service connected, the SiteLock addon, which monitors the security of the website.

Yesterday morning I received a message from SiteLock that malware was detected on my site.

The day before, I had inserted the advertising network code, which is often scolded by antivirus because of its specifics. This code is not actually malware, but to experiment, I decided to remove the code from the site and restart SiteLock scanning. I also enabled the "SiteLock CDN/Firewall" feature in my personal account at HostGator.

The same evening, I discovered that my site had become unavailable. Chrome was showing an error:

"This site can’t be reached.

The webpage at https://******/ might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.

ERR_SSL_UNRECOGNIZED_NAME_ALERT"

It also turned out that the site is successfully opened via VPN and mobile network.

I googled the problem, found some ideas, tried to apply them (in particular, to clear the DNS cache, reboot the router, etc.).

Nothing helped.

I decided to write to HostGator support. It is noteworthy, that I like their technical support: always friendly consultants, available 24/7, solve problems quickly.

I wrote to "Malware/Security" section. I explained the situation (that SiteLock was scolding at the advertising script, that it wasn't malware, but I removed the script anyway; I specified that the site is not available only on my network and that I recently enabled SiteLock’s CDN/Firewall).

A SiteLock representative Brandon Becke joined the chat room, requested my website name, and then started asking me absolutely unconstructive questions:

- Do I feel that the malware has been removed?

- Do I know how malware works?

- Do I understand what he says?

Then he started talking that the viruses will come back unless I protect my site "for just 40 bucks a month". At this point, I probably should have become really scared and gave Brandon money immediately (LOL ).

I had a strong feeling that Brandon thought he might intimidate me and hit me up for money.

But the trick is that I am aware of what kind of scripts I placed on my site. I also think I can tell the difference between malicious code and other problems with access to the site. If the malware had crashed my site, the site would have been unavailable from any network, not only from my home network.

So I silently closed the chat with Brandon. And after 30 seconds I received a catch-up email from him :

“Here are the details of the services to remove and prevent malware:

Website Scanning

TrueSpeed CDN

TrueShield WAF

I look forward to your feedback on this service for $25 per month.”

After that, I decided I no longer want to use SiteLock services and disabled their add-on (which costs $3 a month) on my hosting .

The problem with the site has not disappeared and I decided to write again to HostGator technical support, but in another section - Tech Support/SSL.

This time I was answered directly by a consultant from HostGator.

He asked permission to access my cPanel, and found a problem with the A record there. The record was changed from my domain name to ***.sitelockcdn.net . Because of this, SSL did not work properly. We changed the record to the original one and the site soon started working.

Conclusion: As I understand it, the A record changed because I clicked the “SiteLock CDN/Firewall enable” button.

While the update came into effect, my site was unavailable.

Maybe the next day everything would have been fine, but my experience with Brandon Becke convinced me to say goodbye to SiteLock forever, because nothing annoys me more than trying to hit me up for money and make me look like an idiot without even bothering to figure out the situation . Ironically, the problem was caused precisely because of SiteLock's actions, which did not warn me that my site might be unavailable for a few hours after the firewall enabling.

I cancelled my Sitelock services on Feb. 28, via email, phone, support ticket, and chat.

It took them 5 days to acknowledge my cancellation request. Then they billed me for another month of service on March 3. I called billing to complain and to request a refund, and the person who I spoke with was extremely rude, would not allow me to speak but talked over me when I tried, and refused to provide a refund.

On Feb. 28, in addition to an email request to cancel, I tried to cancel via a chat with billing, and even though someone was 'online' in chat, as soon as I asked to cancel they disappeared and I got no response.

So then I called and spoke with someone in 'customer service' who said he would "take care of it", but he also talked over me and would not allow me to speak. Even though he said he would 'take care of it', since I did not receive a response till March 2, I don't know that he actually did anything.

I have been using Sitelock services for about 7 years and have paid them thousands of dollars during that time, since for the first several years I was paying $110.

per month for 'protection'. Now when I ask to cancel they try to screw me with additional charges and treat me like a bug they can squash beneath their big feet.

Based on how nasty and disrespectful they were toward me in my cancellation of their services, if I ever need 'protection' again, they will be the last place I will go to get it.

Watch out - for Sitelock is the CUSTOMER's JOB - not Sitelock - to be sure your website is up &;;;;;;;;;;;;; running, and they don't even check to see if it IS running, no matter how high fee you paid to them.

Also, you better put your CANCELLATION of their "services" IN WRITING AND HAVE MULTIPLE COPIES READY FOR YOUR ATTORNEY, you have to cancel 30 days BEFORE THE auto-renew and they don't care if you had a death in the family or any other human problem, you will be stuck with them for the FULL TERM and they WILL KEEP EVERY DIME OF YOUR MONEY.

Last, they will finally tell you they are "happy to cancel" but what they mean is that as soon as their PAID term runs out. Don't expect a rebate, pro-rate or any other reasonable expectation out of this company. In other words, once they got your money, they will happily keep it even if you tell them "hands off, don't touch our website" etc.

Outrageously callous, guess they don't care that every person who runs into their unconscionable billing & cancellation practices will keep telling the world about them, until the company either dies a well deserved demise, or injects humanity into their operation.

Definition of Unconscionable:

adjective

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un·con·scio·na·ble | \ ˌən-ˈkän(t)-sh(ə-)nə-bəl \

Definition of unconscionable

1a: shockingly unfair or unjust

unconscionable sales practices

b: EXCESSIVE, UNREASONABLE

found an unconscionable number of defects in the car

2: not guided or controlled by conscience : UNSCRUPULOUS

an unconscionable villain

Bluehost will deactivate your website/blog due to malware you probably don't have. When you call Bluehost, you'll be automatically redirected to Sitelock (without your knowledge) and told only SITELOCK can fix the problem, if you pay them fill in the blank per month.

Then you'll get phone calls and emails from Sitelock telling you how important it is that you use their service and warning you about the possibility of future hacks. Then, like they warned, your site may get redirected to another webpage, or you'll get a bogus popup, or your site will suddenly have more malware, corrupt files, or corrupt plugins. In my case, I was told that I had malware and if I wanted it fixed, I would have to pay $50 per month to Sitelock to fix it.

When I called Bluehost and complained, they told me I had two corrupt files (they wouldn't show my IT guy). They deleted the corrupt files (if they existed) and reactivated my account.

Next, I got emails from Sitelock telling me that I needed their service to take care of malware they recently detected (after this issue was resolved). Two weeks later, my site was inexplicitly automatically redirected to a bogus Adobe Flashplayer Pop Up.

I called Bluehost and this time they told me "it was the same issue as last time: a corrupt plugin.” They didn't tell me it was a plugin last time. The same day, my IT guy called Bluehost and he was told the redirect was due to a virus in the database and only Sitelock could fix it for $50 per month.

I work in internet security, the scams these guys are to pull are ridiculous. They will show false positives to get you to pay and then not refund your money when you show them proof from their own system that they were wrong.