Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall

Susan Nunziata, Director of Editorial | 2/15/2013 | 68 comments

Susan Nunziata
Our network fell victim to a highly sophisticated distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack late Wednesday night.

This attack overwhelmed not only the AT&T datacenter at which our sites are hosted, but also nine others across the East Coast.

The attack took down all of UBM Tech's communities, including EnterpriseEfficiency.com, and our IT team worked round the clock to get the situation resolved. Our sites returned to full functionality at about 6:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.

That did not stop our tight-knit community, and for that we are eternally grateful. As we struggled through a trying day, you rallied around us, offering support (and humor) on our Enterprise Efficiency LinkedIn Group, on our Enterprise Efficiency Facebook page, and on Twitter @EnterpriseEff. You all demonstrated the true meaning of community, and we are grateful to each and every one of you for your support.

According to UBM Tech managing director Stephen Saunders, this was the first time in 13 years that we have had such an occurrence on our network. Saunders goes on to state:

Unfortunately, DDoS attacks are becoming increasingly common (two thirds of financial institutions were impacted by denial of service incidents in 2012; other victims include The New York Times, the FBI, Microsoft, Amazon, and eBay). While it is not possible for us to guarantee that we will not be affected again, we are currently undertaking an analysis of our Web infrastructure to limit the chance of a recurrence to the maximum extent that is possible.

As our investigation continues, we hope to share with you details about our experience. In the meantime, we'd love to hear your DDoS stories. Have you ever experienced one firsthand? What actions or best-practices do you recommend? Share your insights and experiences in our comments section below.
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Susan Nunziata   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 1:46:13 PM
Re: Sign of the times
@H_H: You're correct, an attack of this nature is certainly a wake-up call. As our managing director says, we'll be looking at ways to harden our setup so that this doesn't happen again. As we often warn others to take security seriously, now we can speak firsthand to what happens when you experience a DDoS attack. Let's hope it ends here!
Susan Nunziata   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 1:44:14 PM
Re: Sign of the times
@tjgkg: That's great news about the Pentagon recognizing cyberwar soldiers, I'm sure they are the unsung heroes whose only gets attention when they fail. For sure the incidents of nation-state involvement are accelerating. It's hard to imagine why Iran or China would want to target little old Enterprise Efficiency. Then again, we are a small part of a large, multinational media company, UBM Tech, so perhaps we became a target by dint of that association. Intriguing, indeed.
Susan Nunziata   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 1:39:05 PM
Re: Sign of the times
@H-H: That's a great suggestion, and we welcome other ideas as well.
Susan Nunziata   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 1:37:45 PM
Re: Sign of the times
@CMTucker: Great question. We're awaiting more info from our VP of IT. My initial thought was that it hactivist horseplay. Obviously it's a much more serious issue if it's a probing attack. Also questions arise about the circumstances around the attack. I can't reveal the details, unfortunately, but the way it was perpetrated leads some in the company to surmise that it had to be done by someone with intimate knowledge of our network. Needless to say, conspiracy theories abound. Being a big fan of conspiracy theories (and detective work) I'm eagerly awaiting more information.
Hospice_Houngbo   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 10:54:39 AM
Re: Sign of the times
"I am glad to see our community back up and running so quickly."

The IT team has done quite an impressive job to restore most the site functionalities back in such a short time. Their work has gone through fire and has not burned. But they should be aware that the threat remains real and they shall not rest on their laurels.
tjgkg   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 10:18:08 AM
Re: Sign of the times
First off I am glad to see our community back up and running so quickly. These attacks are indeed becoming more commonplace but the worst thing about it is that now nation-states are getting involved. The DDoS attacks recently on the banking industry has been linked to Iran. The Chinese hacked up the NY Times and other publications. To show have far cyberwarfare has come, even the Pentagon has issued a new decoration called the Distinguished Warfare Medal which will be awarded to cyberwar soldiers and drone pilots. It is also fairly prestigious ranking above the Bronze Star. That shows you how our government looks at this issue.
Hospice_Houngbo   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 10:13:35 AM
Re: Sign of the times
It is good to hear that all necessary actions will be taken to "limit" the chance of an occurence. Do you think if "site duplication" may be one possible solution?
CMTucker   Into Each Life a DDoS Must Fall   2/15/2013 9:46:09 AM
Sign of the times
Well it wouldn't be Tech in the Two-Thousands without a hacking attack, now would it? I am glad to hear that E2 is back and continues to provide all of us a place to chat it up.

I wonder if what we are seeing aren't probing attacks...or just mayhem by folks like Anon.

 
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