Everybody who uses a computer - and expects to use their computer for any amount of time - has one or more protective products on their computer.
Anybody who publishes a blog, with an audience that has any need for security, is going to receive occasional reports from would be readers.
I can't read your blog! My computer displays an "Unsafe website!" warning!
All computer security products, unfortunately, will occasionally generate false positives. Analysing false positive malware reports is as much a part of every security product, as identifying the actual malware.
If you publish a blog, you need to know how to handle reader malware alert reports.
Know online tools, for researching reported problems.
Google provides 2 websites, for analysis of blog / website malware alerts. Both Google SafeBrowsing, and VirusTotal, are Google products that can help to identify actual problems with blogs and websites.
Besides the two Google products above, I use 3 security analysis websites, which can identify specific security problems in blog / website code. Quttera Online Website Malware Scanner, and Sucuri SiteCheck, and Trend Micro SIte Safety Center, have been useful at various times, when a security problem is reported.
You may, from time to time, use all of these - and possibly others - in identifying and verifying a security problem with your blog, or with blogs and websites that you link. For best results, always specify the canonical blog URL, when requesting security analysis - and when sharing the blog, or individual posts.
Specify the canonical URL.
Not a country local domain.
Know what you need to do, to keep your blog healthy.
As a blog publisher, you will occasionally have 2 jobs to do, when receiving a malware alert report which references your blog.
- Verify / identify / remove any actual malicious content.
- Report false positives, to the protective service displaying a false positive.
Everybody who publishes a blog, with any reader audience, has seen this advice, or something similar, when surfing their blog.
Know how to keep your blog clean - and your reputation clean.
You have to use online malware analysis services, to identify any problem which you may have created, by installing the latest "gotta have this!" accessory on your blog. And, you have to report any false positive alert, to the owners of any security product, that falsely identifies your blog as a problem.
You do both, to support your readers. You do not want your readers computers hacked, through your inappropriately accessorising your blog - but at the same time,you want your readers to be able to read your blog.
- Keep your blog content clean.
- Keep your blog reputation clean.
Do both - or you may not have readers, to read your blog.
Any #Blogger blog owner needs to support the blog readers, by publishing a blog clean of any malware, and with a good reputation with the various security products that prevent malicious action by dangerous blogs and websites. Your readers need the ability to use their computers to read your blog - and they need their security to not falsely identify your blog as a problem.
Spam review requests, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, are not unusual topics.
Occasionally, we get a spam review request, with a twist.My blog has been deleted - but I don't have a "Restore", or a "Review" link on my dashboard!
There are various reasons for blogs disappearing from the dashboard, not all of which a blog owner may be immediately aware.
Consider The Issues
I find it's best to try to identify any content / ownership issues, before starting the spam review dialogue - or starting over, with a new blog.- It is almost always in the best interest of the owner, to request review using the dashboard link, before requesting a manual review in the forum.
- If we bypass ownership resolution, and go straight to spam review, the blog may be restored to service. In some cases of "I have no 'Restore' or 'Review' link on the dashboard", the blog, when restored, will be under the control of the account which the owner should be using. This may not be the current account, which has no "Restore" or "Review" link on the dashboard.
- This is the best time to diagnose and resolve your problems. If you give up and set up another blog - and if you make the same mistakes with the new blog - your Blogger account will be at risk, because you may look like a non repentant spammer.
- If the blog was deleted because of multiple DMCA violations, nothing can be done from the dashboard. DMCA violations have a formal appeal process.
- If the blog was deleted / locked because of detected hacking, absolutely nothing can be done. The account, and all blogs owned, have to undergo integrity checking, before any blog can be restored.
- If the blog was deleted because of detected malware, it can only be restored, and review requested, using the "Restore", then "Review" links. If a blog, deleted / locked for malware, is submitted for spam review, the blog will sit in the spam review queue, then be returned with the verdict "Malware" - and nothing will be accomplished.
Too many Blogger blog owners, accidentally or intentionally, setup multiple Blogger accounts.
Accidental Multiple Accounts
Some blog owners accidentally setup new Blogger accounts. Too many blog owners, because of the Blogger / Google (One Account" login display, end up using the "Create an account" link - when they should login to an existing account, which owns their blog(s). When this happens, they are able to login to Blogger, but find an empty dashboard.
Seeing an empty dashboard, the next step is to recover control of the blog. When this is done, they now are able to login to Blogger, using the right Blogger account - but with the new, accidentally created account still out there.
Some blog owners will continue, periodically logging into Blogger, using the wrong account - then recovering control of the blog, using the email address. This procedure, cumbersome that it may be, will work fine - until the blog is classified as a spam blog, or until the original Blogger account is deleted or locked. In either case, the blog owner will login to Blogger, using the wrong account - but find no dashboard link.
Intentional Multiple Accounts
Other blog owners intentionally setup new Blogger accounts, to publish a blog, anonymously. As long as they religiously remember the proper account name and password, to access each different blog, this is not a problem.
The problem here comes when they forget about using the correct Blogger account, or become temporarily confused by the Blogger / Google (One Account" login display. With the blog in question deleted or locked, as above, they login using the wrong account - and find the Blogger dashboard, again lacking the expected "Restore" or "Review" link.
With either the accidental or intentional account creation, the blog owner will be unable to login to the correct Blogger account, and request review using the dashboard link. This requires the manual review, which takes more time to complete, if the blog was deleted as a spam host. If the blog was not deleted as a spam host, the manual review will be a waste of time.
If and when the blog is reviewed and restored, the owner will still be unable to access the blog from his account. The blog will be online - but with no active owner.
Consider The Possibilities
If the blog owner is aware of possible access, ownership, and TOS issues, before the review process is started, he may be able to resolve his mistake while the review is underway. This will allow him to take control of the newly restored blog, immediately - rather than spending time, after the blog is restored, going through the blog ownership recovery process.
Start Diagnosis Properly
Whatever the origin of the account confusion issue, diagnosis of deletion starts with identification of the owner account. The dashboard of the owner account - and email sent to the owning account - may provide key clues, that indicate why a blog was deleted. Knowing why a blog was deleted may help us avoid an unnecessary spam review.
