Is DU being Hacked? Our business is having weird disconnects and stuff..

[KoKo]

Anyone else out there having disconnects from their "wireless provider, glitches" and most of all DU keeps going in and out all day. Most importantly, our small little struggling company deals with international...and we are having disconnects...slow ups and weird glitches. Our "motley crew" uses Apple, Toshiba and Dell Laptops. It seems that two partners who are in Europe are having problems connecting with the rest to the "Home Pod" and things are "backing up" or not getting through on e-mails through the "Home Pod" server. AND...those with lap tops are having "glitches" so there's a disconnect in retrieving the European E-Mails.

On EDIT: None of us in our business has had these problems before when our partners have been "on the road in Europe or USA." So, that's why I'm asking. No one seems to be able to figure it out...and we are too small a business to have "full time IT help."

Something is wrong out there. Anyone else having problems? :shrug:

EDIT: DU'er posted yesterday about DU being down worried about some Hack...that's different from years past. There were many posts on the thread...but I don't think Skinner answered. Since DU has been "coming and going" today...I wondered if it's something serious..since Skinner hasn't answered and the ADMINS usually answer us when many of us start to have problems.

[exothermic]

1. No problems here.

In fact it's all working way better than usual!

[polly7]

2. Hacking galore

Two other sites ..... both busy message boards, have been hacked in the last few days and are now down. Not sure if I'm allowed to post names so I won't unless I hear I can.

[KoKo]

6. A site I visted today...suddenly came up re-directing me to some Korean site...

and when it started "translating" I "X'd" out of it quickly. I Googled again for the site...and it kept re-directing me to some site that wasn't the one I visit. I lost all my Firefox Bookmarks in a crash last weak from Earthlink where we had an electrical storm and our phone when out. Took hours with the Indian Earth Link Tech's and the Indian Linksys Tech to get our computers back online with our DSL. But, I lost my Firefox Bookmarks so I had to Google to find this site I visit regularly ...and it worked until today when I got re-directed to some Korean site that took it over. I'm not real tech savvy...but can find my way around. Whatever was going on there was something from GOOGLE SEARCH I've never seen before. It seemed like someone put in a key word or something to make this American site go over to Korean.

Anyone else have that problem? Google giving weird searches? :shrug:

[panader0]

3. FISA. It's your "international" calls that are setting up the red flags.

Who are you calling? What is your business? Is anyone named Hussein? Are you a member of Democratic Underground? You got a lot of 'splainin' to do.

[KoKo]

5. We've got two Right Wingers, two Fence Sitters and two Rabid Dem.s....who supports Obama...

Our clients are Europeans who seem to be very skeptical of Bush...but "talking politics" is really not what we can do...because it's not what we are selling. The Bush skepticism kind of "creeps around the edges" when we take them out to dinner when they visit us...after a couple glasses of wine." It's not our policy to get into that...when it's "Business." :shrug:

[SpiralHawk]

7. Are you visiting, you know, websites? Then the Homelander FISAkins are on your case...

Every step you take
Every move you make

[KoKo]

9. No one seems to be doing "Porn" or "Pedo Stuff" At least as far as we know and

we've been around for about eight years with the same folks...so if they were visiting illicit sites in the eyes of our Government...they would have been picked up before. One never knows about people and when they "pick up habits" but...as far as we know all this has occured in the last three weeks and is getting progressively worse with the "glitches and weird stuff." So, either our partners suddenly started to visit some "weird sites" that's interfering suddenly with our business..or there's something wrong out there. :shrug: that's all I know...I don't get into folks personal lives...but it would be pretty weird for our folks to suddenly start visiting "questionable sites" all at the same time that would cause problems in tandem.

[mmonk]

4. I was getting weird browser messages earlier.

But the only wireless part of my setup is the router.

[Blue Diadem]

8. Our service has been doing that. I thought it was something with our provider

since it's been everything we have packaged, digital TV, cable phone and our internet. It's been like this since yesterday afternoon. It'll be fine for a while then all of a sudden it's on/off/on/off/on/off for several hours. Thing is when I switch our TV to antenna to get the digital TV stations, they're all screwed up too and keep going on/no signal, on/no signal.

I spend a lot of time online and most of the last 24 hours have been off and on.

[KoKo]

11. Have you ever had anything like this before? Is it just DU...or other sites?

:shrug:

[Blue Diadem]

18. No, this is the first that it's been on/off/on/off that quickly.

It wasn't just DU, it was our entire service. In the past, if we lost any part of our service, it was a steady off for a length of time and it didn't involve all 3. This is weird, it'll do this on/off spree for quite a period of time, then it'll be fine for a few hours. Then it happens again.

It really baffled me when I saw that switching to antenna for our digital TV didn't make a difference. Normally if our cable goes out, we can watch digital tv through our antenna, but it was also behaving the same way as my computer connection and telephone connection.

I thought maybe there were solar flares or something, but I haven't been able to find anything on the net. I know it's not just me because my son lives across town and is having the same thing.

It has decreased now. We had an instance last night while my daughter was trying to do remote work from home and we had it happen this morning for a bit.

I haven't called our provider yet and I probably should. I just hate dealing with them.

[KoKo]

22. Yes...I'm just getting back to this post...but others in our Business Group are having

"rolling problems." Our company E-Mail is down and slow downs... It's now been two days of this...although DU seems to have fixed their own problem...I wonder about other "small business sites."

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. I couldn't connect (from work) yesterday until @ 4 pm central.

The weird thing is I couldn't connect directly via domain name or IP address but if I went through a 'hide my browsing' proxy service, I could get through.
I didn't want to ask our network people in case I was being singled out. ("Hell YEAH we turned off DU! We thought it might be nice if you did a little work today.")

[Crabby Appleton]

12. Lot of DNS server patching going on and a lot of

compromised DNS servers with cache-poisoning exploit causing problems. on edit - not just DU.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9108378&intsrc=hm_list

July 9, 2008 (Computerworld) Paul Mockapetris, inventor of the Internet's Domain Name System architecture, has some advice for those in any doubt about the seriousness of a weakness in the DNS protocol that was disclosed yesterday: Patch your DNS servers right now.

The vulnerability and the attack it enables are among the most dangerous to have been discovered in the DNS protocol so far, Mockapetris said in an interview with Computerworld Wednesday morning.

"It's absolutely critical for IT managers to upgrade their software. They want to make very sure that the caching servers on their perimeters are up to snuff," Mockapetris said. In addition, they need to also ensure that client devices such as DSL modems that might have DNS software embedded in them are properly patched. "The time to fix is now. The clock is ticking," before exploits against the flaw become widely available, he said.

The so-called DNS cache-poisoning flaw was discovered earlier this year by Dan Kaminsky, a researcher at security firm IOActive Inc. The vulnerability gives malicious attackers a way to very quickly redirect Web traffic and e-mails to systems under their control. Virtually every domain name server that resolves IP addresses on the Internet is vulnerable to the flaw, as are client devices with embedded DNS software.

[RoyGBiv]

13. This is the correct answer n/t

[KoKo]

14. Thanks for that article from "Computer World." I got an "Update" warning from Microsoft

yesterday that I needed to Download and update and "read the MS agreement," before I began the update. It was all kinds of usual MS gobbeldygook (since I'm not a Computer whiz most from them reads like that) but I hit "Agree" and downloaded the thing. What was odd to me, now that I think about it, was that my Microsoft Updates always load quietly in the background and I don't recall getting any pop up screen from them since I had Win 2000,telling me that an "update" needed immediate attention and I needed to read the "agreement" before I downloaded. Maybe that was the "patch" the article talked about. :shrug:

[Crabby Appleton]

15. A bad MS XP patch also

caused more problems with PCs running ZoneAlarm

http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=security&articleId=9108298&taxonomyId=17&intsrc=kc_top

July 9, 2008 (Computerworld) Users of the popular ZoneAlarm firewall have reported dead Internet connections after installing one of the security updates issued by Microsoft Corp. yesterday, according to online message forums.

Early today, ZoneAlarm told its users to uninstall the Microsoft patch -- which fixed a widespread problem with the Web's addressing system -- or make more technical changes to their PCs in order to regain a connection. The company will also release a patch later today.

Shortly after Microsoft posted its monthly security updates on Tuesday, ZoneAlarm users running Windows XP started posting complaints about broken connections. "After installing the patches, computer could not access the Internet," said a user identified as "RFSharpe" on a ZoneAlarm support forum yesterday. "I noticed that as soon as I disabled ZoneAlarm, I was able to access the Internet again."

Traffic on other message forums was also heavy. One thread on DSL.com detailing problems sported more than 120 messages and had been viewed more than 22,000 times in the past 24 hours.

[KoKo]

16. I deactivated my "Zone Alarm" because it interfered too much....so I didn't have

a problem with the patch. Thanks for the extra info, though.

[SoCalDem]

17. I don't have ZA on this computer (toshiba Laptop)

but this afternoon I had a lot of time-outs and intermittent internet access.. I did the "idiot repair"... turned it off, unplugged everything, and took a nap..

It's fine now :shrug:

aren't computers wonderful :)

[deaniac21]

19. In a word, your network sucks. It sounds as if there is little

expertise in your company.

[KoKo]

20. Please don't diss us..we don't have enough money to hire full time tech.....so

we outsource to local people. We do the best we can...and we are "old guys and gals" who've been downsized, outsourced and the rest under BUSH II...and before that Reagan and Poppy. It's amazing what we've been able to do to keep from going on Medicare and cashing it the "nothing left" of our Retirement which we never got. We have enough "TALENT" we are attracting Europeans for our Med Device and Pharma Expertise...but funding for our company from the "high rolling Sharks of the Venture Capital World...doesn't look at us. We are a "grunty/gritty" START UP who has folks who aren't playing "games" with the "High Rollers" because we've all "been their and done that and know they "RAPE YOU" if they com in ...and they don't fund you when you are small because they wait like "Spiders" to pounce on you when your sales hit a certain "mark" and then they buy you out and give you nothing. We all have to pay for our own "health insurace" which costs about $22,000 per year for those who are over 55...which some of us are. We PAY THAT OUT OF OUR POCKETS! No one helps us with this...because we can't get GROUP INSURANCE.

We do the best we can...

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. San Diego CO was out for four hours yesterday

[KoKo]

24. Who is your "service provider" for you Computer...could you believe this

this was hacking or what? Was it a "slow down" like many of us have had or a "total outage." :shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. TIme Warner and it was complete outage

My theory, not that anybody will go there, is that the DNS root servers were attacked... we have had way too many places go down

[KoKo]

29. Well...posts on this thread above...say it was a DNS attack....but

:shrug: Who knows? Interesting it was when "FISA Ammunity Passed" and "Telecoms" were no longer liable for SPYING...but then...I'm not going into "conspiratorial territory."

:-(

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. I don't put anything above anybody

anymore

[KoKo]

36. These days....everything is "open to question" because we don't know

the truth or facts about anything...as you imply in your post. Been shot down by my innocence too many times...QUESTION EVERYTHING

[Blue Diadem]

39. Time Warner here too. I called and got a recording

that said spotty intermittent disruptions throughout just a few towns here. We seem to have cleared up as of yesterday late afternoon.

[Cleita]

23. I had a problem with my satellite provider yesterday.

Unbeknownst to me my ISP punishes me with 24 hours of dial-up speed because I exceeded their limit of download kbs in twenty four hours. I didn't know until I talked to a support person. Bummer! Check with your ISP if they have some rules like this.

[KoKo]

25. Could it be for some DU'ers the Fires in CA? Some of you are posters from there...but this is all

over US...I'm East Coast. :shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. This is why I suspect a cyber attack

because it is that extended.

If we start getting power failures and other beauts (and I hope not) I will know I am onto something

[Cleita]

31. No I talked to my ISP and they told me what it was.

Sometimes atmospheric conditions account for loss of bandwidth like fog and maybe even smoke from the fires could, but they told me that I had downloaded too much in twenty four hours so they cut my bandwidth for that same period of time. I got it back a couple of hours ago like they said I would.

[KoKo]

32. I've seen reports that this is an active "Sun Spot" time and we should expect glitches, but

most that's been posted on DU about this has been sent off to the "Astrology Forum" never to be heard about again.

It could be extreme "Sun Spot Activity" or a DNS attack like "Computer World Mag." reported Upthread here.

Something is going on, though because to many of us are having problems that seem to be glitchy enough that not everyone is experiencing them at the "same time" ...yet it's causing our "work" to be "impaired."

Who would that benefit? Our Sun...(as circumstantial) or other entities? :tinfoilhat:

[Maureen1322]

28. No problem today.

[KoKo]

30. I've had some "slow downs" on DU..though...anyone else? n/t

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

34. I've been noticing problems for about three days now.

One of my local (3 blocks away) clients called me, complaining about it at his place too.

It was so bad here at one point I thought it was backbone problems, but it seemed to clear up for the most part by the end of the day.

[KoKo]

35. Have you had this before....in the last year? n/t

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

38. It's been at least a year since I've seen such a thing happen

...other than DU server crashes, that is.... :evilgrin:

[alphafemale]

37. In other odd electronic glitches. My cell phone kept getting "Missed Calls" from 4 digit #'s.

Happened about 6 times today.