Gootloader infection cleaned up

February 27, 2022 Comments off

Dear blog owner and visitors,

This blog had been infected to serve up Gootloader malware to Google search victims, via a common tactic known as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) poisioning. Your blog was serving up 294 malicious pages. Your blogged served up malware to 0 visitors.

I tried my best to clean up the infection, but I would do the following:

Upgrade WordPress to the latest version (one way the attackers might have gained access to your server)
Upgrade all WordPress themes to the latest versions (another way the attackers might have gained access to your server)
Upgrade all WordPress plugins (another way the attackers might have gained access to your server), and remove any unnecessary plugins.
Verify all users are valid (in case the attackers left a backup account, to get back in)
Change all passwords (for WordPress accounts, FTP, SSH, database, etc.) and keys. This is probably how the attackers got in, as they are known to brute force weak passwords
Run antivirus scans on your server
Block these IPs (5.8.18.7 and 89.238.176.151), either in your firewall, .htaccess file, or in your /etc/hosts file, as these are the attackers command and control servers, which send malicious commands for your blog to execute
Check cronjobs (both server and WordPress), aka scheduled tasks. This is a common method that an attacker will use to get back in. If you are not sure, what this is, Google it
Consider wiping the server completly, as you do not know how deep the infection is. If you decide not to, I recommend installing some security plugins for WordPress, to try and scan for any remaining malicious files. Integrity Checker, WordPress Core Integrity Checker, Sucuri Security,
and Wordfence Security, all do some level of detection, but not 100% guaranteed
Go through the process for Google to recrawl your site, to remove the malcious links (to see what malicious pages there were, Go to Google and search site:your_site.com agreement)
Check subdomains, to see if they were infected as well
Check file permissions

Gootloader (previously Gootkit) malware has been around since 2014, and is used to initally infect a system, and then sell that access off to other attackers, who then usually deploy additional malware, to include ransomware and banking trojans. By cleaning up your blog, it will make a dent in how they infect victims. PLEASE try to keep it up-to-date and secure, so this does not happen again.

Sincerly,

The Internet Janitor

Below are some links to research/further explaination on Gootloader:

https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2021/03/01/gootloader-expands-its-payload-delivery-options/

https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2021/08/12/gootloaders-mothership-controls-malicious-content/

https://www.richinfante.com/2020/04/12/reverse-engineering-dolly-wordpress-malware

https://blog.sucuri.net/2018/12/clever-seo-spam-injection.html

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D I R E C T I N G

July 30, 2013 Comments off

Kris Stewart has worked widely, both as a freelance theatre director and as an artistic director.

As a director, Kris has directed 30+ productions for companies such as Opera Australia, the Sydney Festival, the State Opera of South Australia, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, The Broward Stage (Miami), International Management Group, Next Wave Festival, The Jacobsen Group, The Gateway Playhouse (New Jersey), The Production Company, Playbox and Handspan Visual Theatre.

Largely focussing on new music theatre, Kris’ work has been recognized with the $100,000 Jujamcyn Theaters Prize, the Sir Keith Murdoch Prize for Leadership and Innovation and a Churchill Fellowship. Kris is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Theatre’s Director’s Lab and completed his post-graduate study at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

To find out more, click through to the Directing page, where you can find our more about a number of shows that Kris has directed, including the Trocadero Dance Palace, Into the Woods, Virgins, My One and Only, Life’s A Circus and many others.

P R O D U C I N G

July 29, 2013 Comments off

In addition to his work as the executive director of NYMF, Kris Stewart is an experienced producer, both in the commercial and non-profit realms. In 2008, his commercial production company, Red Sand Media Partners, produced the feature film Red Hook and the TONY nominated musical [title of show], and has two commercial musicals and a television drama in active development.

In 2010 and 2011, Kris consulted with Century Venues on a series of nonprofit projects that they were taking on, such as the Sydney Fringe (created in partnership with the City of Sydney and the City of Marrickville), New Musicals Australia (created with the Australia Council), and the Concourse, a new arts centre in the City of Willoughby where Kris consulted on programming and major events.

You can find more on Kris’ producing experience by visiting the Festivals and Major Events page of the site, where you can read more on Kris’ experience on events such as the Festival of Voices, the Sydney Fringe, the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and others.

For more information on Kris’ work as a producer, click:

N E W W O R K

July 28, 2013 Comments off

From early in his career, Kris has made a clear commitment to the development of new musical theatre.

This can be seen in his early work in Australia developing Prodigal and Virgins, before he travelled overseas and founded the New York Musical Theatre Festival and produced [title of show] on Broadway. He also worked as executive director of the National Music Theatre Network and consulting director for the Theatre for American Musicals. Upon his return, he established New Musicals Australia in Sydney, the first company of its type in Australia and funded by the Australia Council to develop new Australian musicals.

For his work, Kris received the $100,000 Jujamcyn Theaters Prize, as well as the Sir Keith Murdoch Prize for Leadership and Innovation and a Churchill Fellowship. He spoke on new musicals as a guest speaker or panellist for Opera America, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, The 2008 UK Musical Theatre Conference, The Entertainment Industry Expo NYC, NY Theatre Resources, The American Theatre Wing, the League of American Theatres and Producers and the NYC Emerging Artist and Producers panel, and he has been part of the nominating and judging committees for the Macarthur Fellowship, The Victorian Premier’s Literary Prize (musical theatre) and Dance Break NYC.

M E D I A

July 26, 2013 Comments off

Kris has been featured in a number of different publications, both here and in NYC.

Click HERE to look at videos and articles on the work Kris has done has a director and producer.

F E S T I V A L S

January 1, 2013 Comments off

Experienced in the particular demands of major event and festival production, Kris is currently the director of the Festival of Voices, Hobart’s largest winter cultural event.

This follows on from his work on such events as the Sydney Fringe, the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the Australian Ballet’s Ballet in the Park, Madison Square Garden/Radio City Entertainment’s A Christmas Carol, the Lygon Street Festa (over 300,000 attendees), the Myer Music Bowl Millennium Concert, the Waterfront Festival, the Williamstown Festival, The LIVE Youth Festival, the VIVA Cultural Diversity Festival and numerous outdoor concerts and events.

To find out more, click any of the links above or visit the FESTIVALS AND MAJOR EVENTS page.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

December 24, 2011 Comments off

The Arts Centre Gold Coast, 21 – 29 June 2014

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic rock opera screams into 2014, re-imagined for a world driven by social media and obsessed with celebrity.

With a contemporary Los Angeles setting, JC Superstar was given a Kurt Cobain spin and a tremendous modern staging, with the production featuring LED panels standing 7m high.

VIDEO AND IMAGES BELOW

BRISBANE POWERHOUSE

December 24, 2011 Comments off

BPH Restaurant Brisbane Powerhouse is Queensland’s champion for contemporary culture, a multi-discipline arts venue with multiple spaces programmed year-round, including a 600 seater main space, two 200 seat venues and three 100 seat venues, as well as a gallery space and two restaurants, Bar Alto and Watt.

Kris began as Artistic Director of Brisbane Powerhouse in July 2013, with a mandate to increase the audience engagement in the building and expand on its positioning as Queensland premier centre for contemporary culture.

In his first year at BPH, Kris oversaw a 14% increase in revenue and an equal 14% surge in ticket sales, with the venue hosting 1106 ticketed performances, 145 free events and a further 382 functions, totalling 1633 shows and events over a 12 month period.

Over 700,000 people visited the venue to experience a range of programming across music, comedy, dance, theatre, film, visual arts and ideas – and 737 Brisbane-based artists saw their work featured.

BPH Exterior Amongst the prominent run of events in this time, a highlight was hosting the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) – the premier biennial industry event in the Asia Pacific region – while simultaneously presented the biennial World Theatre Festival.

Kris also launched the inaugural Queensland Cabaret Festival (QCF), delivering it in partnership with Queensland Performing Arts Centre, The Arts Centre Gold Coast, Ipswich Civic Centre and Queensland Conservatorium, and launched the artist development series SWEET!, which selected and funded three independent Queensland companies to develop and present new works.

2014 closed with another new event WONDERLAND, Brisbane’s festival of circus, sideshow and spectacle, which featured 29 shows over 10 days, 81 performances, and over 120 individual artists. Wonderland hosted an excess of 10,000 ticketed patrons, with thousands more every night soaking up the carnival atmosphere of the bars, foyers and outdoor areas on offer by the World Food Markets.

BPH Interior 2015 opens with MELT, Brisbane’s inaugural festival celebrating queer culture, before BPH hosts the Brisbane Comedy Festival and in May IRL, a new event celebrating the convergence between live arts and digital and gaming culture.

AUSTRALIAN BALLET: BALLET IN THE PARK

September 25, 2011 Comments off

In 1999, Kris produced and directed a number of outdoor events – it was during the renovation of the Myer Music Bowl, and a series of major Melbourne events needed to be re-housed. It was quite an interesting challenge to find a way to produce these enormous events for one-night-only in a stylish but practical way.

The Ballet in the Park was a free annual event sponsored by Telstra, and included two dozen member of the Australian Ballet’s ballet corp, plus (as you can see above), inflatable light sculptures created for the night, a string ensemble that played live and a fireworks event. More than 15,000 audience members attended this event.

FESTIVAL OF VOICES

September 25, 2011 Comments off

The Festival of Voices is Tasmania’s leading winter cultural event and Australia’s premier festival celebrating the vocalist and the power of song.

Kris began at the festival in 2011, and oversaw an event which had 54% increase in ticket sales with 90% of performances playing to capacity, as well as a vast increase in attendance (both free and ticketed), marketing impressions and sponsorship, with new partners including Southern Cross TV, the Mercury, the State Cinema, ArtsHub, Limelight magazine, Star Observer and Sauce magazine.

Across dozens of events and for more than 10,000 singers and audience members, The Festival of Voices showcases a range of artistic disciplines, including choir and ensemble singing, spoken word, cabaret, debate, poetry, storytelling and hiphop.

The workshop program offers learning and performance opportunities for singers of all ages, abilities and experience and since it began the Festival has attracted some of the world’s most loved and respected vocal teachers. The performance program covers events both intimate (such as solo vocal events) and grand (such as the the Finale Concert at the Federation Concert Hall. We also celebrate community with the Bonfire & Big Sing, with 4,000+ attendees on our heritage waterfront at Salamanca.

festival of voices articles and media:

The Festival of Voices feature from SBS television and sTVudio

Festival of Voices 2011 TVC from Festival of Voices on Vimeo.

KRIS STEWART