The provider that got hacked was Linode. That was a real bummer: we secured the server to the teeth and then we got hacked through a channel that we had no cont

The provider that got hacked was Linode. That was a real bummer: we secured the server to the teeth and then we got hacked through a channel that we had no control over. :( But there are many providers out there where through the admin panel you can gain access to a system. Many providers provide access to the server's terminal. Even if you can't login, you can reboot the server, and at the boot loader stage you can boot the OS in rescue mode, during which you can mount the hard disk.