Whitelist de-listing: HostDoc

poisson

It is unfortunate but HostDoc has been de-listed from The Whitelist: https://lowendboxes.review/whitelist-de-listing-hostdoc/

There are multiple reports of random customer data leaks stretching back to October 2019. Evidence is detailed in the announcement above.

HostDoc has been a great provider but this random leaking of customers' private detail is a red line. There are many other great alternative providers on The Whitelist if you are concerned, and I also have posted some extended reviews on LowEndBoxes Review if you need fine-grained data on alternative providers (more to come).

If there is credible future evidence that customer data isn't being randomly leaked any more, HostDoc may be reinstated.

cybertech

thats a little unfortunate considering a fresh annual plan i just got.

dahartigan

I would really like to see the dox fix this once and for all, it's been reported many times and keeps persisting. I was told it was whmcs caching pages, and that clearing the cache "resolved" the issue but it seems like it's something deeper than that perhaps.

I'm not sure how this will end to be honest..

Paging @HostDoc

This is probably a good time to announce that I'm not associated with HostDoc for a while now, and this has actually made me decide to cancel my services. My reason is the apparent lack of seriousness taken to resolve it, even I get a spiel about it being cleared and not coming back.

Shitty times indeed.

(Cross posted from the other place)

poisson

@cybertech said:
thats a little unfortunate considering a fresh annual plan i just got.

I know. It's a difficult decision but when customer's private data is on the line, I am afraid that has to take precedence over everything else in my recommendations. It's not a new problem; what is of concern is that it's been going on for a few months and it is unresolved. HostDoc needs third party auditing because his own fixes doesn't seem to be working.

dedotatedwam

Looks like I won't be renewing in February. Anyone have any provider suggestions?

poisson

@dedotatedwam said:
Looks like I won't be renewing in February. Anyone have any provider suggestions?

Lots of options remaining in my whitelist: https://lowendboxes.review/the-whitelist/

I posted a few in-depth reviews previously if that helps:

https://lowendboxes.review/lebre-x-nexus-bytes-ryzen-nvme-vps/

https://lowendboxes.review/lebre-x-bandit-host-amd-epyc-vps/

HostDoc

I have patiently been waiting for the delisting and the excuse you would use since November when you refused to show patience and understanding during the RS LA issues.
Despite the additional workload which I was experiencing due to the RS issue, trying to keep the i9 somewhat usable while every single VPS was taking backups at the same time and ealing with hundreds of chat requests and tickets, you decided to come along for general chat and questions at the worst time possible even though you were aware of the RS issue.
I responded to you and took time away from a priority to address your questions which were many and never ending. I thought you would hang around and understood the situation.

Low and behold, after wasting my time during a critical period, you decided to take advantage of the full refund that was offered at that time for clients who wanted to leave when I thought LA would go.
What made it worse was you stated you were going to return. Well, if you intend on returning, you can just refund to your account and utilise that upon your return I mentioned. We are losing money with every refund issued which was a lot.

You showed no understanding and still requested the refund despite the time I had invested in you during a period that I did not have that type of time to dedicate to such requests that you were making.

I agreed to your refund but also requested that you never returned. There was no need to get emotional about it. But you did as is now clearly evident.

Dahartigan too is in a mood because I declared his resource usage was over the top and that he would need to lose the VPS' he had created.
Rather than owning the issue, we can see the flip he has recently been on and now you are both latching on to this latest issue to try and make the outfit look as bad as possible? Nice.

For an academic, you do not always display the best logic.

This is a sensitive issue and as such, I have refrained from letting it spill past cestpit on this forum while continually monitoring our site for any further potential leaks of which none have been noted.

A full statement would be issued once I am sure the issue is rectified.
Until then, there is little choice but to keep applying fixes and monitor to see if they persist.
Our most recent addressing of this isue has been the most efficient to date and no further leak has been noted.

It is important to point out now we are here that since the issue was first noticed, WHMCS staff have been involved.
It is also important to point out that what we have monitored being leaked is mainly just a name and a list of services.
In rare cases, the email address is also exposed in a cached state.
No interaction with the cached data was possible.

I will not speak further on this issue until a time a statement is released. But, I am not suprised at the approach you have taken and the fact that dahartigan is all over it with you.

You are adults, not children.

Clearing the cache has never been used as a fix for this. It may have been mentioned that it was a caching issue. I may also have mentioned the tawk.to module.
I do not recall actually having a conversation with you @dahartigan about this issue so I am curious, when exactly did I tell you these things?

poisson

Dear @HostDoc, I never contacted you at all to inquire about anything, nor did I buy anything from you. Bring out the chat logs with the IP addresses. I authorise you to reveal my full contact information publicly if you indeed have any to verify my real identity. Be careful, though. If you reveal a person that isn't me, you got to answer for it. If you do not have the confidence to do so, please kindly refrain from personal smears and focus on fixing your service. Thank you.

dahartigan

This isn't personal @HostDoc - it's business. It's also the law to treat customer details with respect. I don't understand why you aren't taking that seriously and instead find ways to blame others or distract from the root cause.

Now here you are publicly divulging conversations you had with customers like poisson in private, another example of poor handling and taking things personally.

HostDoc

@poisson said:
Dear @HostDoc, I never contacted you at all to inquire about anything, nor did I buy anything from you. Bring out the chat logs with the IP addresses. I authorise you to reveal my full contact information publicly if you have any to verify my real identity. Be careful, though. If you reveal a person that isn't me, you got to answer for it. If you do not have the confidence to do so, please kindly refrain from personal smears and focus on fixing your service. Thank you.

Dear @poisson

I will not join you in your childish games. We are both aware of the situation and what took place.

@dahartigan you are the perfect example why providers do not take on free assistance and the exact reason I limited your access to support.
It is ironic, you constantly requested elevated permission which was always denied yet your stance here is that disclosing conversations is poor handling? Make up your mind.

poisson

@HostDoc This is not a childish game. I explicitly authorize you to release my full identity for corroboration. I am perfectly cool for you to provide my supposed billing information that you have to a neutral party such as @AnthonySmith and I will provide him with my National ID information to see if my real name and addresses match. I am only interested in data and evidence.

dahartigan

@HostDoc said:

@poisson said:
Dear @HostDoc, I never contacted you at all to inquire about anything, nor did I buy anything from you. Bring out the chat logs with the IP addresses. I authorise you to reveal my full contact information publicly if you have any to verify my real identity. Be careful, though. If you reveal a person that isn't me, you got to answer for it. If you do not have the confidence to do so, please kindly refrain from personal smears and focus on fixing your service. Thank you.

Dear @poisson

I will not join you in your childish games. We are both aware of the situation and what took place.

@dahartigan you are the perfect example why providers do not take on free assistance and the exact reason I limited your access to support.
It is ironic, you constantly requested elevated permission which was always denied yet your stance here is that disclosing conversations is poor handling? Make up your mind.

The issue is the leaking personal data, fix that. Migrate to a different platform, take whmcs offline until it's fixed, hire @MikePT, whatever it takes.

That's the issue.

The personal attacks are really disappointing since they are exaggerated or incorrect. Are you going to attack everyone who posts in here? Jesus man.

HostDoc

@dahartigan said:

@HostDoc said:

@poisson said:
Dear @HostDoc, I never contacted you at all to inquire about anything, nor did I buy anything from you. Bring out the chat logs with the IP addresses. I authorise you to reveal my full contact information publicly if you have any to verify my real identity. Be careful, though. If you reveal a person that isn't me, you got to answer for it. If you do not have the confidence to do so, please kindly refrain from personal smears and focus on fixing your service. Thank you.

Dear @poisson

I will not join you in your childish games. We are both aware of the situation and what took place.

@dahartigan you are the perfect example why providers do not take on free assistance and the exact reason I limited your access to support.
It is ironic, you constantly requested elevated permission which was always denied yet your stance here is that disclosing conversations is poor handling? Make up your mind.

The issue is the leaking personal data, fix that. Migrate to a different platform, take whmcs offline until it's fixed, hire @MikePT, whatever it takes.

That's the issue.

The personal attacks are really disappointing since they are exaggerated or incorrect. Are you going to attack everyone who posts in here? Jesus man.

Nope. I am done.
I just wanted to highlight both of your motivations in this scenario.

The issue has been addressed as stated and if further encounters are noted they too will be addressed accordingly.

dahartigan

Okay let's say that poisson and I conspired together, like you suggested. What's the end game? How does that even change the fact that your service is broken and you clearly don't know what's wrong yet continue to put your customers data at risk so you continue to make money?

InceptionHosting

It is what it is, I am sure hostdoc are in a very uncomfortable position right now and I am sure that given the choice this would never have happened, emotions are likely to run high at a time like this, please just keep that in mind.

Obviously the plugin mentioned would be got rid of and never used again as a first step, I suspect the mistake here was trying to fix it, easy to say in hind sight.

There may have been mistaken identity there may not be, honestly right now this is just a distraction so I think it’s best if you all just accept that as a possibility.

An idea of the root cause is now known, there is an option to remove it if it cannot be confidently fixed, I am sure hostdoc will release a statement with some technical info when it is available.

Beyond that, I am not a customer or an affiliate, I think it is perfectly justified for people to know this has happened but let’s try and keep it civil and avoid mental chess games, hostdoc aside from this fairly serious blemish from an outsider perspective have always been held in high regard, no doubt sleep has been lost over this.

poisson

@HostDoc My offer is still on the table. I authorize the release of my information to a neutral third party for verification. I am giving you the chance to publicly expose my real identity for my supposed deeds. Why are you shying away?

InceptionHosting

@poisson said:
@HostDoc My offer is still on the table. I authorize the release of my information to a neutral third party for verification. I am giving you the chance to publicly expose my real identity for my supposed deeds. Why are you shying away?

Honestly this is not helpful at this stage.

poisson

@AnthonySmith said:
It is what it is, I am sure hostdoc are in a very uncomfortable position right now and I am sure that given the choice this would never have happened, emotions are likely to run high at a time like this, please just keep that in mind.

Obviously the plugin mentioned would be got rid of and never used again as a first step, I suspect the mistake here was trying to fix it, easy to say in hind sight.

There may have been mistaken identity there may not be, honestly right now this is just a distraction so I think it’s best if you all just accept that as a possibility.

An idea of the root cause is now known, there is an option to remove it if it cannot be confidently fixed, I am sure hostdoc will release a statement with some technical info when it is available.

Beyond that, I am not a customer or an affiliate, I think it is perfectly justified for people to know this has happened but let’s try and keep it civil and avoid mental chess games, hostdoc aside from this fairly serious blemish from an outsider perspective have always been held in high regard, no doubt sleep has been lost over this.

I am not interested in any games. I operate only on evidence and data. @HostDoc threw a bunch of seriously defamatory stuff at me without a single shred of evidence. I only ask that he provide the evidence. Otherwise, a simple apology will suffice because I am not interested in games; I just want proof.

poisson

@AnthonySmith said:

@poisson said:
@HostDoc My offer is still on the table. I authorize the release of my information to a neutral third party for verification. I am giving you the chance to publicly expose my real identity for my supposed deeds. Why are you shying away?

Honestly this is not helpful at this stage.

If asking for tangible proof and evidence is not how civilised society with rule of law works, then how should I go about it? Every single point I wrote was backed up with multiple references as evidence. If any of them are fabricated, I will take them down, write a clarification and apologize. Will @HostDoc be willing to match my standard (which by the way isn't a high bar; it is an expected norm in a place where there is proper rule of law).

InceptionHosting

It’s not really serious, he said you used up a lot of time at a point he was trying to get a lot of stuff done, you said it was not you but you are now pushing him to use more time on a forum disagreement when trying to deal with this clearly serious issue which is an odd position.

I think that needs to be kept in perspective.

I appreciate you may feel personal attacked, but really it’s not a big deal, you have blacklisted him, cancelled services, informed the public, there is no need to also go after blood.

poisson

@AnthonySmith said:
It’s not really serious, he said you used up a lot of time at a point he was trying to get a lot of stuff done, you said it was not you but you are now pushing him to use more time on a forum disagreement when trying to deal with this clearly serious issue.

I think that needs to be kept in perspective.

I appreciate you may feel personal attacked, but really it’s not a big deal, you have blacklisted him, cancelled services, informed the public, there is no need to also go after blood.

I will not continue if he does not persist. Perhaps you might want to advise him in private.

havoc

As a side note I recall seeing this effect on another seller's site too like a year back, so at least partial blame goes to whoever made the crappy plugin

Anyway...drama seems overplayed, but also hoping a fix gets implemented

InceptionHosting

I don’t think my advice will help, this is a recurring issue with what seems to now be a known root cause, I can only hope he is aware that if it happens again in a few months the community as a whole are not likely to be as understanding.

poisson

@AnthonySmith said:
I don’t think my advice will help, this is a recurring issue with what seems to now be a known root cause, I can only hope he is aware that if it happens again in a few months the community as a whole are not likely to be as understanding.

Out of respect for @AnthonySmith, I will not pursue the matter further. I have left the door open to reinstatement in my original de-listing post, and I will stand by what I have said. If there is evidence that the root cause has been addressed, HosDoc will receive the same full consideration as any other provider.

InceptionHosting

Just for clarity, I am just giving my personal opinion here/above, not as a mod/admin, if people want to go for the jugular in these circumstances I can’t blame them, perhaps I should have made that clear sorry.

If this had have been a Host like CVPS you can be sure I would have been at the front of the mob with a burning pitch fork, I just think (again personally) it’s a bit different when it’s a host with a very positive track record that all indications suggest genuinely cares and has probably been victim of trusting a third party that the issue was fixed.

Very few of us actually write the software that automates our businesses and when that fails us it is often without warning.

cybertech

hope all can take a chill pill first, let doc decide how best to work on this issue before the final conclusion. personally im uncomfortable too now but still hope for the better instead of having to cancel / remove account.

fact is damage is done with the announcement, that isnt good for business, which may explain the reaction.

but i hope doc can see who are the ones really trying to help, and trust that some really hope he succeeds.

summary here is nobody is happy at all at the moment. some need weed, some need sleep, some both.

i just need the highest clocked VPS.

poisson

@cybertech said:
fact is damage is done with the announcement, that isnt good for business, which may explain the reaction.

I agree. It was a tough call to make but since I have to choose between not upsetting HostDoc and letting the community know that their data may have been (or has already been) compromised, I choose the second option with a full guts of steel to deal with an angry Doc because that's the only right thing to do.

By the way, I am not just an academic. I am a Regimental Sergeant-Major in the reserves. I know full well the burden of decision-making; my guys' lives are in my hands for my decisions. I do not make decisions lightly.

cybertech

@poisson said:

@cybertech said:
fact is damage is done with the announcement, that isnt good for business, which may explain the reaction.

I agree. It was a tough call to make but since I have to choose between not upsetting HostDoc and letting the community know that their data may have been (or has already been) compromised, I choose the second option with a full guts of steel to deal with an angry Doc because that's the only right thing to do.

By the way, I am not just an academic. I am a Regimental Sergeant-Major in the reserves. I know full well the burden of decision-making; my guy's lives are in my hands for my decisions. I do not make decisions lightly.

Roger that , encik!

DP

@cybertech said:

@poisson said:

@cybertech said:
fact is damage is done with the announcement, that isnt good for business, which may explain the reaction.

I agree. It was a tough call to make but since I have to choose between not upsetting HostDoc and letting the community know that their data may have been (or has already been) compromised, I choose the second option with a full guts of steel to deal with an angry Doc because that's the only right thing to do.

By the way, I am not just an academic. I am a Regimental Sergeant-Major in the reserves. I know full well the burden of decision-making; my guy's lives are in my hands for my decisions. I do not make decisions lightly.

Roger that , encik!

Siap tuan!

MikePT

Guys, it's not worth, seriously. No fights, come on. Let's wait for a resolution, shit happens, we just need to get around it.

AlwaysSkint

When it comes to personal data leakage: once is bad, twice is awful, recurrent is downright neglect of duty.
Is this why I'm seeing more spam than ever? (rhetorical)

Clouvider

@MikePT said:
Guys, it's not worth, seriously. No fights, come on. Let's wait for a resolution, shit happens, we just need to get around it.

GDPR

Also, I guess being cocky during a major fuck up is not going him any favours

dahartigan

@AlwaysSkint said:
When it comes to personal data leakage: once is bad, twice is awful, recurrent is downright neglect of duty.
Is this why I'm seeing more spam than ever? (rhetorical)

Agreed, which is why there are data protections laws such as..

@Clouvider said: GDPR

HostDoc

@Clouvider said:

@MikePT said:
Guys, it's not worth, seriously. No fights, come on. Let's wait for a resolution, shit happens, we just need to get around it.

GDPR

Also, I guess being cocky during a major fuck up is not going him any favours

Cocky? Or pointing out the motivations behind the post.

@AlwaysSkint said:
When it comes to personal data leakage: once is bad, twice is awful, recurrent is downright neglect of duty.
Is this why I'm seeing more spam than ever? (rhetorical)

Very true and I agree 100%.
The problem without it trying to sound like an excuse was the fact we were actively dealing with the issue. We just happened to miss the actual cause numerous and I will hold my hands up and say more could have been done. We have not been efficient in our role.

@poisson said:

@AnthonySmith said:
I don’t think my advice will help, this is a recurring issue with what seems to now be a known root cause, I can only hope he is aware that if it happens again in a few months the community as a whole are not likely to be as understanding.

Out of respect for @AnthonySmith, I will not pursue the matter further. I have left the door open to reinstatement in my original de-listing post, and I will stand by what I have said. If there is evidence that the root cause has been addressed, HosDoc will receive the same full consideration as any other provider.

1. Thank you but you do not need to re-add us to your list.
2. I am not here for a debate or to ascertain the truth regarding your use of the service. On that note, please accept my apology for any comment you feel may be untrue.

poisson

@HostDoc said:
2. I am not here for a debate or to ascertain the truth regarding your use of the service. On that note, please accept my apology for any comment you feel may be untrue.

Apologies not necessary mate. Bring the evidence.

AlwaysSkint

@HostDoc said: The problem without it trying to sound like an excuse was the fact we were actively dealing with the issue. We just happened to miss the actual cause numerous and I will hold my hands up and say more could have been done. We have not been efficient in our role.

Thank you. That is the best response from you so far, IMO.
I am also pleased that you have tried to respond via email, albeit with a few sweeping statements.

MikePT

@Clouvider said:

@MikePT said:
Guys, it's not worth, seriously. No fights, come on. Let's wait for a resolution, shit happens, we just need to get around it.

GDPR

Also, I guess being cocky during a major fuck up is not going him any favours

Definitely, GDPR is serious business for sure.

poisson

@MikePT said:

@Clouvider said:

@MikePT said:
Guys, it's not worth, seriously. No fights, come on. Let's wait for a resolution, shit happens, we just need to get around it.

GDPR

Also, I guess being cocky during a major fuck up is not going him any favours

Definitely, GDPR is serious business for sure.

Not familiar with GDPR but what happens if there is a complaint?

deank

Supposedly, there will be an investigation and you (your business in EU) can get a hefty fine (like 10,000 euro).

Which begs a question: With Great Britain leaving EU, will GDPR apply to Britain after the end of 2020? If GDPR will become ineffective in Britain, it could encourage some EU businesses to relocate to Kingdom United.

MikePT

@poisson said:

@MikePT said:

@Clouvider said:

@MikePT said:
Guys, it's not worth, seriously. No fights, come on. Let's wait for a resolution, shit happens, we just need to get around it.

GDPR

Also, I guess being cocky during a major fuck up is not going him any favours

Definitely, GDPR is serious business for sure.

Not familiar with GDPR but what happens if there is a complaint?

It's a shit show. It'll be investigated, like, everything basically.
All companies are also required to have a DPO (responsible for the data protection), companies dealing with private data, etc.

@deank said:
Supposedly, there will be an investigation and you (your business in EU) can get a hefty fine (like 10,000 euro).

Which begs a question: With Great Britain leaving EU, will GDPR apply to Britain after the end of 2020? If GDPR will become ineffective in Britain, it could encourage some EU businesses to relocate to Kingdom United.

We've seen 50k EUR fines in Portugal, it depends on the company size, revenue, etc.

deank

Could be worth relocating to UK just to escape GDPR then.

debaser

@deank said:
Could be worth relocating to UK just to escape GDPR then.

Still if you’re explicitly dealing with EU customers, you’ll have to conform to GDPR rules.

deank

On paper, aye. Though one could argue that they can't do anything to anyone located outside of EU.

A good example is US/Canada hosting companies where they leak data like 90 year-old grandma leaking pee, yet EU can't do anything about'em.

MichaelCee

I wish the Doc the best in resolving this issue. I can empathise with the emotional responses but for a case like this it is not worth it. Even if his points were truthful it's not the subject at hand which should be the main focus.

deank

Smallweb's backup fiasco and now LadyDoc's leak fiasco.

The end is usually nigh. Remember that, folks.

Edit: Whoever claimed that 2020 will be great. Fack U. It's been a hell of January already. First, ExitBre and then Iran shooting down their own people because of reasons, and now Coronavirus or whatever it's called.

poisson

@deank said:
Smallweb's backup fiasco and now LadyDoc's leak fiasco.

The end is usually nigh. Remember that, folks.

To be fair, Michael handled things well, unlike doc who started accusations of "motivations".

However, if something similar happens again to Smallweb, that's going to be a big negative.

MichaelCee

@poisson said:

@deank said:
Smallweb's backup fiasco and now LadyDoc's leak fiasco.

The end is usually nigh. Remember that, folks.

To be fair, Michael handled things well, unlike doc who started accusations of "motivations".

However, if something similar happens again to Smallweb, that's going to be a big negative.

A lot of companies in this industry do not get a first chance let alone a second. Having a second chance means there's definitely no room for a third and every bit of energy needs to be correctly focused.

WSS

I've never used HostDoc, so you may take this with a grain of salt -

I deal with WHMCS and SolusVM issues every day, and I see how this could occur, sadly- by trying to make things more convenient for the client.

I really don't know - I know how I'd feel if I was a cause of this, but I also know how I'd feel if I caused this.

If they were aware of this for months and didn't manage to handle it, that's completely on them- but shitting on them in public due to being unhappy with their service or otherwise just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I do not find an excuse for them not handling this as there were obviously several notifications, but I question if this is the platform to hoist them upon.

Sorry for realposting, but this could easily kill the brand, and I like the cheeky little bastard. We all fuck up, just don't do it again.

Dream

I was undecided to post to this topic anything.
But now here we are...

This is MY OWN PRIVATE vision

@HostDoc I hope you can fix this issue ASAP and there has not been massive damage to the clients them self.
If you need any help please feel free to ask. I will be there to help as much as my knowledge could help.

As @WSS has written, we all know that such things could appear and of course it's for both sides the worst outcome in such a relation.

For the GDPR which has been spoken about, If you're accepting customers from the EU, than you need to be GDPR conform this is also for the US or China Service provider. If the EU is doing about these providersanything, is somewhat unknown. There has been companies from the US which encounter with such bills but let's be somewhat real, they're just started to actively enforce the law. This also counts for me as a Swiss provider which is not in the EU. Also, after the Brexit the law is still current for them for EU customers.

Just at this moment I got an email from WHMCS about a potential security vulnerability.

Also, another point to mention is the pricing of the Products. Of course I like also to almost pay nothing. This is of course NO EXCUSE but the sad truth is, that the most providers don't take this aspect of our industries as serious as it should be. And Yes this aspect could cost more than you may earn from the customers.

@poisson Please take this with an edgy smile
You also could have handled this a bit more professional from my aspect. I have read the Thread before any comments were posted. And to be truth I was thinking its just for some SEO bullshit because the first sentence was a link to your website. --> just my side of view.

Please don't beat me, or do it so hard i won't stand up anymore.

Cheers Dream

HostDoc

As sad as it is, there is no doubt malice was a driving force in some form by somebody who was disgruntled.

In a normal(wishful?) scenario, the site owner would contact the party involved and ask for their side of the story. There would be some form of notification that the publication was going out. It would not change the fact the publication is going out, but allows the publication to have two views.
Timelines do not lie. For those not paying attention, they would never have noticed the OPs change of attitude towards HostDoc for the whole of December till now, but okay, I get it, I am lying, right? I will not give into your childish games to disclose information from the client area when the whole reason this thread was opened was due to data breach. Yet, he wants me to breach further data??

The most vocal individual giving all this advise was supposedly part of my team. He could have given me such advise behind the scenes at an earlier time were he not holding a grudge.
I could have had a sane voice advising that this has been addressed twice now, perhaps a rebuild should be considered.
In my haste to address the situation each time, it never occured to me once to take down the entire installation. My main trail of thought was always the clients and getting the service back up as quickly as possible. I really should have assessed it in a calmer manner.
But, why is it now this supposed team member chooses to voice his advise?
He unlike many here has my personal phone number, personal email etc. There was no shortage of communication channels.

I am tired of sugar coating this. Yes, I fucked up. Badly! There is absolutely no doubt about that.
I should have as a few have mentioned tore down the installation. I should have as many have pointed out taken a sterner stance about the situation and not let it turn into this.

There have been a number chances to totally abolish this and my reaction was simply not swift or efficient enough. BAU to me.
I had been informed it had been addressed and without double checking, I took the word as gospel and got on with leaving the client area available.
It is on me.
As bad as what the motivation for opening this thread may have been, there is no doubt when a light shines on you hard enough, you have no choice but to own it. I have been complacent in my role and some self reflection is needed at this time.

The client area has been taken down and I will start with a fresh installation at some point.

Actions speak louder than words, so for those still placing their faith in HostDoc, thank you.
No further apologies will be issued. Rather, I will act appropriately as should have be done from the very beginning and address this accordingly.
The client area will remain down in the meantime.

ehab

@HostDoc., because you are what you are and we love you ... its easier to let this pass by, hopefully no more personal info leaks.

i suggest you fix and take some break from sales for the moment.... if you don't you'll get burned out and possibly unwell. Don't look at Anthony he has some Asian girls giving him massages in his barn hahahah ...