8:30pm update: I just tried to access the same blogs that were affected by the Hosting Matters Hack Attack and they are all inaccessable – again.
So far, I can’t access these sites:
Power Line
Instapundit
Captain’s Quarters
Hugh Hewitt
Anyone know anything?
Update: It looks like this is more cyberjihad.
***
LGF says Hosting Matters is under a hack attack:
I’ve received quite a few emails this morning from people having trouble getting to blogs like Power Line and Captain’s Quarters.
The reason for the problem: Hosting Matters is experiencing a Denial of Service attack. They’re working to block it now.
More info on DoS attacks: Wikipedia: Denial-of-service attack.
UPDATE at 4/28/06 8:43:47 am:
Although LGF is also at Hosting Matters, we were moved to a different network after experiencing a similar attack. (That’s why we’re still up.)
UPDATE at 4/28/06 8:48:17 am:
I may have spoken too soon; some parts of the LGF system are beginning to act a bit flaky.
UPDATE at 4/28/06 9:27:25 am:
The attack reportedly originates in Saudi Arabia.
I can’t access Hugh Hewitt‘s site either.
Michelle has the list of blogs downed by the attack.
Update: Hugh Hewitt‘s site is a casualty of this attack. One good thing, though: Mary Katharine is able to join us for a while.
Yep. They’re the religion of peace and free speech.
Thanks for the update.
Hey, Kim. When you can’t come to Hugh Hewitt, we bring the Hugh Hewitt to you. Look above you!
I see on Michelle’s site that Hosting Matters knows where the attack is originating (Saudi Arabia), and points out that the Saudi government is unlikely to do anything about it, least of all extradite (no kidding?)
They might take a little more notice if that entire IP block was blacklisted on the core routers.
Just a thought.
Stephen Green’s Vodkapundit has been completely hijacked. Or did I miss the memo?
One more reason why we can’t let the “culture of corruption” at the UN get control if the Internet.
“of the internet”
sorry
The molesters at the UN and their fraudulent scheming and sabotaging of the U.S.in an attempt to create a one world sham government, can go straight to hell..!
There’s a lesson here: Divorce yourself from Hosting Matters as soon as you possibly can. Research the history of Hosting Matters and you’ll see that “the company” — which is basically Stacey Tabb, Annette and a handful of level-one tech people handling the overnight shift — seems to suffer these DDOS attacks suspciously often.
If you’re a HM customer (and yes, I’m speaking from experience because I used to be one), ask yourself this: is it just bad luck or a coincidence that only Hosting Matters seems to hit by an annual DDOS attack that takes down hundreds of its sites for extended periods of time? Or is the more obvious answer the correct one: that Stacey simply doesn’t take the precautions and/or have the technical acumen to stop them. DDOS attacks aren’t rare — they’re launched all the time. How often do they take down an entire hosting company? Only when that company is Hosting Matters.
If you’ve ever dealt with Stacey, you already know that her respect for you as a customer is near zero. If you entered into your relationship with HM expecting the basic courtesy and respect that most companies (in any industry) afford customers who have problems, then Stacey certainly dashed those expectations by her second contact with you. You’ll find some now-legendary cut-and-paste retellings of her contempt for her own customers if you blog-search “Stacey Tabb.”
Some people don’t really care about that, as long as their site is up and running most of the time. After today, maybe she’ll finally lose the truckloads of customers she’s deserved to lose for years. One thing is for sure, though — her reaction would likely be something akin to “don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”
Also Jihadwatch/Dhimmiwatch was also down for a few hours also. This does not suprise me because this could be warning of things to come from the jihadis in the cyberworld.
“is it just bad luck or a coincidence that only Hosting Matters seems to hit by an annual DDOS attack that takes down hundreds of its sites for extended periods of time?”
Actually, it’s not only Hosting Matters, it’s just that some very high-volume blogs are on HM, and the hosting services that get hit are usually much, much smaller and less noticeable. People who claim that they can prevent DDoS attacks are mostly selling something, and so far, nobody has a real defense against them.
“DDOS attacks aren’t rare — they’re launched all the time. How often do they take down an entire hosting company?”
Quite often. But, if you were informed about this at all, you’d notice that the current attack only took the service for most of the company for a short time, and the second attack was limited to the one set of IP addresses that were directly attacked by the bad guys – as of right now, it’s just one host computer out of the dozens HM runs.
Meanwhile, most everyone is talking about how well they’re handling this, and only one person I’ve seen has made the sort of comment you made above.
That would be you.
“You’ll find some now-legendary cut-and-paste retellings of her contempt for her own customers if you blog-search ‘Stacey Tabb.'”
Well, I found a few, but they’re mostly cut-and-paste bitches by one or two people, or possibly one or two sock puppets (the language seems eerily similar in most of the complaints).
On the other hand, there’s a lot of nice comments on how great her work is.
Why is Hosting Matters always a target? Is it just because they host LGF? I took a look at the HM website and it doesn’t look like a conservative web hoster or anything like that.
Does anyone know what’s up with Vodkapundit?
“Actually, it’s not only Hosting Matters, it’s just that some very high-volume blogs are on HM, and the hosting services that get hit are usually much, much smaller and less noticeable.”
I’m sorry, Cirby. I wrongly assumed you could connect the dots better than you did. Of course it’s not only HM that gets attacked, and of course smaller hosting companies will suffer worse. The point, surely clear to everyone other than you who read the post, is that *of the hosting companies with HM’s traffic volume*, HM is the only one who seems to crumble under the DDOS attacks.
“Quite often. But, if you were informed about this at all, you’d notice that the current attack only took the service for most of the company for a short time…”
“A short time” is obviously different for different people, Cirby. Some HM sites were out for several hours (I keep my backups there, but thankfully no production sites). If your online assets constitute a business that generates thousands of dollars a day that sustains that business and its employees, then several hours is not, by any means, “a short time.”
If, however, your site is merely a blog to keep your fingers busy before bedtime that few people visit and generates monthly revenue that may, during a good month, pay for a trip through the BK drive-thru, then a few hours is “a short time” indeed.
That would be you. So by all means, if a site going down for hours is a small matter to you, enjoy Stacey Tabb’s goodness for years to come. But if there’s money at stake, I wouldn’t.
Jayson:
“Some HM sites were out for several hours”
Yes, they were. The handful of sites on one server, which was the one directly attacked by the DDoS. The rest of the system was back up in less than two hours (one server down out of more than 100).
The secondary attack came some hours later, but was chopped off very quickly.
In other words, HM did a great job in dealing with this, much better than the other paces I’ve seen hit with similar attacks.
“The point, surely clear to everyone other than you who read the post, is that *of the hosting companies with HM’s traffic volume*, HM is the only one who seems to crumble under the DDOS attacks.”
Mostly because HM is the one that gets hit by the biggest coordinated DDoS attacks, due to the blogs and sites they host.
“If your online assets constitute a business that generates thousands of dollars a day that sustains that business and its employees, then several hours is not, by any means, ‘a short time.'”
…and until you can find some magic wand to make DDoS attacks go away in minutes rather than hours, it’s going to be like that with any general hosting service you can name. If your business is that involved, you should probably be hosting your own servers, anyway.
By the way: Pretty weak insult on my sites, since one is under construction (yet still getting a good number of hits), and the other is my work email site, which is at least as critical to me as the sites you claim to manage are to you.
“enjoy Stacey Tabb’s goodness for years to come.”
…and the more I read your posts, the more I realize that you’re probably that _one_ guy who’s been posting the comments about HM all over the place.
For the record, my blog was restored Saturday afternoon. I found out about it Saturday evening.
“Yes, they were. The handful of sites on one server, which was the one directly attacked by the DDoS.”
That’s hilarious. Do you really think that any of HM’s servers is home to merely a “handful” of sites? The correct answer is thousands.
“Mostly because HM is the one that gets hit by the biggest coordinated DDoS attacks”
This is the crown jewel of your post. Really. What you actually mean, Cirby, is that they’re the biggest coordinated *successful* DDoS attacks. The worldwide dearth of magic wands notwithstanding, not every DDoS attack is successful. Because of this fact, the biggest successful attacks are going to represent the biggest failures of the hosting company/ies involved.
“due to the blogs and sites they host.”
Absolutely. The most brilliant and dangerous cyberterrorists the world have one goal: the elimination of Little Green Footballs and other HM blogs.
Thankfully, there is absolutely no politically provocative content on any of the 100 million blogs at Google/Blogger, Yahoo 360, MSN Spaces, Six Apart/TypePad, Xanga or MySpace. And how lucky that is, since, lacking magic wands, each of these sites would be decimated if anyone launched a DDoS attack against them.
“…and the more I read your posts, the more I realize that you’re probably that _one_ guy who’s been posting the comments about HM all over the place.”
Wrong again, Cirby, but don’t worry: your impeccably-reasoned and spirited defense of HM can topple the arguments of even 1,000 critics. Shine on.
“The worldwide dearth of magic wands notwithstanding, not every DDoS attack is successful.”
Mostly because most DDoS fall into the “small” category, not the massive ones that hit places like HM. Or Cisco. Or whoever you want to name.
Pretending that HM is somehow negligent because some assholes managed to throw a lot of data at one IP is just stupid.
You need to read up on the history of DDoS attacks, and how *nobody* has successfully defended against a really big one.
“Thankfully, there is absolutely no politically provocative content on any of the 100 million blogs at Google/Blogger, Yahoo 360, MSN Spaces, Six Apart/TypePad, Xanga or MySpace.”
There is, but since HM is known as the hosting service for the most famous right-wing blogs, it’s more of a lightning rod than most. Since this attacks seems to have come from Saudi Arabia, draw some conclusions on your own, or get someone to explain it to you.
It’s also really funny that you mention Google first in your list, since they got taken down by a DDoS a couple of years ago, when the MyDoom virus went off. All of the other services have been DDoSed off the net at one time or another, too.
“your impeccably-reasoned and spirited defense of HM can topple the arguments of even 1,000 critics. Shine on.”
Well, from the reactions of the rest of the folks who deal with HM, all of your arguments are pretty much baseless, so right back atcha.
…and until you can find some hosting company in the same price range that recovered from a DDoS *faster* then HM, you’re pretty much just blowing hot air.
“Mostly because most DDoS fall into the “small” category, not the massive ones that hit places like HM. Or Cisco. Or whoever you want to name.”
Again, you’re not connecting the dots. Especially for you, I’ll rephrase: “Not every DDoS attack *of the scope HM received Friday* is successful.”
“Pretending that HM is somehow negligent because some assholes managed to throw a lot of data at one IP is just stupid.”
Negligent? That’s a legal term, not for me to decide. Deficient? Inferior? Absolutely. Throwing a lot of data at one IP is the action of the attacker — no one’s saying you can magically pre-empt such an action. But the host is on the hook for its reaction. Get it? *Reaction* to the attack. Not *pre-emption* of the attack. You know this, but you’re desperate to defend HM and trying to deflect that point.
“It’s also really funny that you mention Google first in your list, since they got taken down by a DDoS a couple of years ago, when the MyDoom virus went off. All of the other services have been DDoSed off the net at one time or another, too.”
Got evidence for the statement that Blogger, Yahoo 360, MSN Spaces, TypePad and Xanga have all been DDoS-ed off the Net for the same amount of time as the HM blogs? Probably it’s just easier to resort to “at one time or another” and hope nobody checks your facts, right Cirby? Wouldn’t want you to be blowing any hot air, Cirby.
If you do decide to break new ground and check what you say, be sure to note Aaron’s comment between ours earlier today — that his blog came back Saturday afternoon, about 30 hours after the initial attacks. Do consider that when you’re paying homage to HM’s blazing speed of recovery.
“…and until you can find some hosting company in the same price range”
The same price range? I indicated already that anything I said regarding HM should matter only to people whose websites generated revenue. If all you can muster for hosting is $14.95, then clearly you’re not in the discussion in the first place. Even your probably-incredible under-construction website need not move, despite all its “hits” (which, btw Cirby, ceased to be a useful metric about 8 years ago).