VATSIM Hacked?

Brendan Samson · « **on:** March 15, 2009, 05:34:44 PM »

I read this on the NYARTCC forums, does anybody know if its true?

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE [/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Gents,

Those of you who were at the CTP briefing heard about the VATSIM issues. Last night, the VATSIM servers were attacked by someone rendering them unstable at best. This person also did some funny business with the VATSIM Forum as well that is helping to spread it.

Until you hear differently, DO NOT ACCESS THE VATSIM FORUMS!!!

As for the network, you can log on, but it is spotty so be patient. This was all after some fixing, etc. that took place by Richard Jenkins until 3:00 AM. So they ARE working on it, BE PATIENT and please...

AVOID THE VATSIM FORUMS. YOU WILL ONLY BE ATTACKED YOURSELF AND ASSIST THOSE THAT DID IT[/quote]

Alex Bailey · « **Reply #1 on:** March 15, 2009, 05:43:30 PM »

Yes, it's true...

Brendan Samson · « **Reply #2 on:** March 15, 2009, 06:20:16 PM »

Quote from: Alex Bailey

Yes, it's true...

Are we as VATSIM members at risk?
Is it okay to login to VATSIM right now?

Brian Sperduto · « **Reply #3 on:** March 15, 2009, 06:44:00 PM »

No you are not at risk, the post you quoted explains it well enough.

Gunnar Lindahl · « **Reply #4 on:** March 16, 2009, 05:37:51 PM »

I think this is getting slightly blown out of proportion.

While the situation is serious, VATSIM has not been "hacked" as such. This guy has been launching DDOS attacks against numerous VATSIM-connected servers, resulting in them becoming unstable and periodically going offline. This is the reason for the current unstability of the data and FSD servers. There is no threat at all to individual members and logging onto the network is perfectly safe.

The .net forums have been taken down as a precaution because of an attempted attack against individual members through said forum.

Brendan Samson · « **Reply #5 on:** March 16, 2009, 05:55:05 PM »

Quote from: Gunnar Lindahl

I think this is getting slightly blown out of proportion.

While the situation is serious, VATSIM has not been "hacked" as such. This guy has been launching DDOS attacks against numerous VATSIM-connected servers, resulting in them becoming unstable and periodically going offline. This is the reason for the current instability of the data and FSD servers. There is no threat at all to individual members and logging onto the network is perfectly safe.

The .net forums have been taken down as a precaution because of an attempted attack against individual members through said forum.

Reading this really perks up my ears:
[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE [/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Quote Removed -BS 856560[/quote]

That three letter word "FBI"!!!

Brad Littlejohn · « **Reply #6 on:** March 16, 2009, 06:03:22 PM »

Quote from: Brendan Samson

Reading this really perks up my ears:

That three letter word "FBI"!!!

Umm.. This is standard for something to happen across different cities and countries, particularly when DDOS attacks occur. Think about it. This wasn't just targeted at VATSIM, and while VATSIM is its own network per se, it isn't all located in a centralized location where a single law enforcement office has jurisdiction. It uses the same Internet that everything else uses. So you take out an ISP or data center, you also cause denial of service for every customer at that ISP or data center, regardless of if they are your primary target or not. This took out different servers, not only in different data centers in the US, but overseas as well. So yes, the FBI is going to be on this.

Gunnar has it right. While it is serious, there's no need to get riled up about it, nor the time to sensationalize it. It's going to be handled, and we have some of our best guys working on it.

BL.

David Accetta · « **Reply #7 on:** March 16, 2009, 06:31:21 PM »

Quote from: Brad Littlejohn

Gunnar has it right. While it is serious, there's no need to get riled up about it, nor the time to sensationalize it. It's going to be handled, and we have some of our best guys working on it.

BL.

Good. Thanks Brad.

Sean Fisher · « **Reply #8 on:** March 16, 2009, 09:33:26 PM »

Yes nothing of your data was access illegally. A DDos is generally sending a lot of data to the servers. And I mean A LOT. They also signed up for VATSIM repeatedly which did generate a large server load and also created a lot of excess accounts. But thank fully VATSIM is secure enough and our email addresses didn't get out.