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Care2 is being hit with a DDOS attack
Jun 16, 2009

Starting at around 9:30pm on Monday, June 15th, Care2's PetitionSite has been under a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack.  This is a malicious attack intended to overload our servers and shut down our site.  If you are unable to reach thePetitionSite.com, or find Care2.com slow, the cause is this cyber attack.

We are working with our ISP, and taking a variety of measures to counteract the attack, however, the attackers have adjusted their tactics in response.

The attack is large, and appears to be from tens of thousands of computers.  DDOS attacks are usually perpetrated via viruses that have infected computers around the globe.  The perpetrators take control of the computers to send massive numbers of requests to a server, thereby overwhelming it. It is hard to fight because it is coming from so many computers, and new computers are periodically brought online to continue the attack.

We do not know who is behind the attack. Clearly, someone is threatened with the impact the PetitionSite is having.  It's possible the attack is being coordinated by a single unhappy hacker, or it's possible it's related to some of the petitions we've recently had related to international events.  It's pure speculation at this point as we simply do not know, however its size and characteristics suggest it's a well coordinated attack.

If you are unable to access Care2, please check our twitter pages (see Care2 and my twitter account) for updates on the situation. 

Thank you for your patience. We will have things back to normal as fast as we possibly can.

[update: Mon Jun 22nd: The attack is back on in force, probably 4 times the original size.  You will likely be unable to connect to the petitionsite periodically as we take measures to thwart the attack.

Obviously, someone wants thePetitionSite.com shut down.  Given the cost of the attack (estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars), it's very hard to believe this is the work of an individual.  I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but the cost, combined with the timing of these attacks (on the heels of a petition to free Euna Lee and Laura Ling from North Korea and various petitions related to the disputed Iranian election) raise troubling questions.]
Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Tuesday June 16, 2009, 10:31 pm
Tags: attack DOS cyberattack DDOS dosattack [add/edit tags]

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wolfgang s. (13) 		Wednesday June 17, 2009, 1:19 am
Thanx for the information

Patricio D. (0) 		Wednesday June 17, 2009, 6:26 am
It´s hard to fight against that, I hope it doesn´t last long

Michael Owens (1633) 		Wednesday June 17, 2009, 8:38 am
I hope care2 can take care of the attack.

Jenny Dooley (454) 		Wednesday June 17, 2009, 10:51 am
Thanks for letting us know, Randy. The situation does sound bad. I hope the Care2 team can deal with it without too much trouble.

Deb A. (35) 		Wednesday June 17, 2009, 11:46 am
Thank you for this. I thought it was just our puter playing up as usual. Its amazing that the Power of People can scare for this to happen. We are doing a good job then, well done to everyone. Hope this problem can be fixed.

Cheryl Sunshine Benson (524) 		Thursday June 18, 2009, 2:00 am
thx 4 notice going around by members. want to share on FACEbook, I dont see a share button for blogs, humm, maybe an idea. namaste

Cheryl Sunshine Benson (524) 		Thursday June 18, 2009, 2:01 am
or RSS to import or am I missing it and half asleep

Carrie Burton (139) 		Thursday June 18, 2009, 6:04 am
Thanks so much for the info. I'm sure things will be back to normal soon!

Aisha Ameena Rafeeq (660) 		Thursday June 18, 2009, 7:14 am
Thank you for the update Randy, I hope it is fixed soon :(

Past Member (0) 		Friday June 19, 2009, 5:43 am
Thank you Randy and team.It has been happening a month.Hope you can stop this soon.Always take action!!!

Darice Wert (10) 		Sunday June 21, 2009, 10:06 am
Randy.
Hi been with Care2 for a long time and love it, but have not been able to even access my e-mail for two days. i can log in but can not get to e-mail. Says it is a errd2007 on page. I know you are working on it and thanks very much hope that others are not having this problem as well.

Nona B. (16) 		Monday June 22, 2009, 12:53 am
Randy, I cannot imagine who would be so evil to do this to your wonderful website! I am unable to open anything except your newsletter. I hope you will have everything back to normal quickly!

Road LessTraveled (3203) 		Tuesday June 23, 2009, 7:54 am
Based on the 'clues' and evidence, it is starting to look like either Iran or North Korea... hmmmmm.


CHIEF DUBIE (213) 		Tuesday June 23, 2009, 9:53 pm
The Internet and free speech it's self are under attack, I have lost all of my friends, yet again, what better way to silence someone, than disconnect them from their friends!!!

Patrice J. (50) 		Wednesday June 24, 2009, 11:36 am
I will be fighting the attack by signing as many petitions as humanly possible. I advise everyone who can still access the petitions page to do the same.

Anonymous A. (2) 		Thursday June 25, 2009, 2:41 pm
I find this very disturbing. This site is meant to help not hurt. I am happy to of found this where people like myself have the same beliefs in many areas and would like to believe that all who are part of this site is here for the same reason more positive than negative. This is my only connection to help out with an email address. I couldn'd do it without this site. I am saddened that there are care2 hackers, hijackers or terrorists on here, afraid that their dirty little secrets will get out if this is the case. Shame on them who ever they are. We are here for the good of all no matter where in the world it is. I am hoping that they will stop attacking this site and move along their business and think about what they are doing and their own issues. LEAVE US ALONE ON CARE2.

Patrice J. (50) 		Friday June 26, 2009, 12:09 pm
Randy, is there any chance that I will be able to get myemail account back, intact? Will I need to sign up for another email account?

Randy Paynter (470) 		Sunday June 28, 2009, 12:22 pm
Thank you all for your concern over this situation. It seems we've been able to out-maneuver the attackers, and they appear to have given up. All aspects of Care2 should be operating normally. Of course, last time I thought we were clear the attack came back the next day, so time will tell.

This has been frustrating and costly, but if anything, makes us all the more resolute in our efforts to support freedom of speech throughout the world. As the saying goes, “the pioneers were the ones with the arrows in their backs."

Brittany Connor (2) 		Saturday August 1, 2009, 8:25 am
If people are attacking the website, then it must be causing some sort of effect.

Victor G. (0) 		Thursday November 26, 2009, 7:37 am
Is your site 'under attack' again? For several days, whenever I attempt to access e-mails, all I see on a white screen are, in small letters at the upper left hand of the screen, "errD2007"?

Thank you.

Robert Y. (0) 		Thursday November 26, 2009, 2:09 pm
It's happening again. I cannot get into my email.

Eleonora S. (0) 		Saturday November 28, 2009, 7:45 am
I have not been able to access my e-mails for 5 days now..Very frustrating...I'm sure I'm not the only one?!? Hope the care2 team is coping alright, I have been with you for ten years now and love it! I appreciate all you are doing.X

Esther Jaciuk (1) 		Saturday November 28, 2009, 11:03 pm
I'm getting the same message again! Is this problem back? Anyone else having a problem reading email?

Linda Easley (0) 		Sunday November 29, 2009, 2:21 pm
what is bizarre, is my daughter & I share the same comuter and we BOTH use care2 for e-mail. she can still access her e-mail , on mine I get the "errD2007"business. maybe there's a place to e-mail EXACTLY what you were doing when the errD2007 came up. I was forwarding a snowball fight from my sister in law. lindalou

Reynaldo T. (0) 		Monday November 30, 2009, 7:29 am
Same situation.. I can't get the mail... and I tried from several pc.

Gerard L. (0) 		Monday November 30, 2009, 8:07 am
errD2007 can this be fixed? My wifes care2 is fine.

Help!

steve s. (0) 		Monday November 30, 2009, 3:26 pm
This "errD2007" error is affecting three email accounts my family has with care2; and we cannot access email for any of them.

Rob West (1) 		Monday November 30, 2009, 5:04 pm
Same problem here. I have sent a couple of messages to customer support but have not heard a word back. Seems like something would have been brought up by the administrators if the problem is really as widespread as it appears to be.

Mario Lemoose (0) 		Monday November 30, 2009, 5:05 pm
A week here without access to care2 email; same "errD2007" that others have reported.
:(

Mario Lemoose (0) 		Monday November 30, 2009, 7:24 pm
Tried sending an e-mail to my care2 address from another e-mail account; it bounced back as undeliverable (see below):

This is the mail system at host 1mailgw13.amadis.com.

I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster.

If you do so, please include this problem report. You can delete your own text from the attached returned message.

The mail system

[my care2 e-mail address appears here]: host m2w-in1.ctmail.com[74.202.142.24] said: 554
[my care2 e-mail address appears here] is a disabled mailbox (in reply to RCPT TO command)

Bindi Keatley (0) 		Tuesday December 1, 2009, 5:55 am
I have not had email for approx 5 weeks
Its now dec 2009 can we see a fix shortly....
Or at least have a way of withdrawing the addresses and saved emails
HELP

Billie Hughes (4) 		Tuesday December 1, 2009, 10:48 am
My email has been disabled for a week now. I have tried calling Care2 and have been unsuccessful in all respects.
Has anyone heard anything about errD2007 this time around?
Is it the same thing that took place in June?
Has anyone spoken/had responses/communication with the Care2 team?
I am wondering if I will be able to get my contacts from the account, as this is my primary account.

Mario Lemoose (0) 		Wednesday December 2, 2009, 10:06 am
I sent a late-night *fax* to Care2 on November 30, referencing this web page and the errD2007 error code (also included my Care2 e-mail address); within 24 hours, I was able to log in successfully. Unfortunately, there were no new messages in my inbox for the seven-day outage.

Adam H. (0) 		Wednesday December 2, 2009, 10:25 am
Stupid hackers...

heather f. (0) 		Sunday December 6, 2009, 9:52 am
Hi there - there is hope - I got mine back after a week - I got my brother to raise a help desk via contact us / report a fault - i had raised about 6 and replied to the various newsletters and finally it is working - do not give up

Bindi Keatley (0) 		Tuesday December 15, 2009, 2:28 pm
Still down....is there any hope... its nearly xmas I would like my email addresses

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