My website’s been hacked and I need to remove a folder named COM1

No not my website, but probably yours if you had anonymous FTP open.  So here’s the scenario, you have a website that somehow someone in some far away country has loaded all these french pirated movies, arabian rap songs and warez. They were crafty and placed all these files in a folder named com1, or a folder named with all spaces or perhaps a folder named ..    And now you want to delete these files but how?

Deleting folders named COM1

This is first because it’s usually the hardest. what you’ll do is type:

  1. rmdir \\.\c:\your_root_folder\com1 /s /q

That’s it! /s says remove all directories and folders under this folder /q says do this in quiet mode (don’t bother me with warnings)

Now if you get a warning that you don’t have permission to delete com1 then open windows explorer, select the top folder, right click on it and go to properties -> security -> advanced -> owner and change the owner on the folder and all subfolders to administrator. then try the command again

 

Deleting folders named  ”   ” or “..” or “.”

This is straight forward.  The command is dir /x look for the short name for these folders, it will be something like “CBCC3~1”  then from dos type

  1. rmdir CBCC3~1 /s /q

That’s it they’re deleted.  Now how did they get in? My money is on anonymous FTP or bad frontpage permissions but that’s for you to find and close.

author avatar
Jess
With a background in web development and web server administration dating back to 1994, Jess Coburn founded Applied Innovations in 1999. As CEO, he led the company to become a recognized leader in Windows Hosting, specializing in ASP.NET, E-Commerce, and advanced web application hosting. Under Jess's leadership, Applied Innovations became known for making cutting-edge technology accessible and affordable for businesses. Building on this success, Jess expanded his vision by founding QIT Solutions, a managed cloud, IT, and cybersecurity company, where he continues to leverage his extensive industry experience to deliver innovative and secure IT solutions to businesses.

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