Major DDoS / Spam Attack on BiggerPockets This Morning

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Major DDoS / Spam Attack on BiggerPockets This Morning

Joshua D.Pro Member
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes

Hey BP Family - 

This morning BiggerPockets was attacked by what appears to be some kind of network of spammers, including folks from Korea, Hong Kong, Southern California and elsewhere. This may have been a simple spam attack or a DDoS. We're not sure of the intent, but obviously it wasn't positive. 

We've been working to ensure something like this can't happen again, but this is the first attack of this kind we've faced in the 10+ years the site has been around, so we're in the middle of working on countermeasures. We've had many DDoS attacks over the years, but none quite like this.

Meanwhile, I want to apologize to those of you who saw this, and I especially want to apologize to those who got email notifications for these posts.

Please bear with us as we deal with this and if you see something, say something.  Seriously -- just report any accounts that are spamming and we'll nail them.

Thanks for the patience.

Josh

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Tim Macy
Real Estate Agent · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2014 · 311 posts · 176 votes
11y

Kim Jong Un is after you again......

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  • Michael Rogers
    Certified Public Accountant · Chattanooga, TN · Member since 2008 · 279 posts · 151 votes
    11y

    Are you sure it's not originating from Detroit? 

    After years of podcast jokes from @Brandon Turnerand @Joshua D. Detroit may have decided to strike back. 

    ;) just kidding. Thanks for keeping us updated.

    3Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2014 · 308 posts · 144 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Joshua D.:

    Hey BP Family - 

    This morning BiggerPockets was attacked by what appears to be some kind of network of spammers, including folks from Korea, Hong Kong, Southern California and elsewhere. This may have been a simple spam attack or a DDoS. We're not sure of the intent, but obviously it wasn't positive. 

    We've been working to ensure something like this can't happen again, but this is the first attack of this kind we've faced in the 10+ years the site has been around, so we're in the middle of working on countermeasures. We've had many DDoS attacks over the years, but none quite like this.

    Meanwhile, I want to apologize to those of you who saw this, and I especially want to apologize to those who got email notifications for these posts.

    Please bear with us as we deal with this and if you see something, say something.  Seriously -- just report any accounts that are spamming and we'll nail them.

    Thanks for the patience.

    Josh

     Hey Josh,

    Don't give it a second thought when it comes to the user's here.  We're all adults and are completely understanding when it comes to things like this.  It happens.  :)

    That being said, if your server runs Linux, and your attacks followed a pattern, you may want to check out Fail2Ban.  It's an awesome program (free and open source), that you can custom tailor to automatically ban people at the firewall level (iptables), if certain criteria is met.

    Feel free to pm me if that's the case and you want some more info.  Happy to help!  Thanks again for an awesome site!

    Travis

    1Reply
  • Mohit Tater
    Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 19 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    I am sure this would not deter the BP Team as well as the BP community. 

    0Reply
  • Wendy Black
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2014 · 230 posts · 122 votes
    11y

    Good one, Chris...

    0Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    OP
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    11y

    Thanks for the patience you guys.  We really appreciate it.

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    0Reply
  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    11y

    Boy I missed all of this. What a day to go out and look at properties! Lucky me..: ) lol

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  • Richard F.
    Real Estate Investor · Henderson, NV · Member since 2011 · 87 posts · 22 votes
    11y

    The site is up now, thank goodness!

    Sounds like its time to black list some IP addresses and monitor flow from the same IP ;)

    Good luck guys!

    0Reply
  • Larry Turowski
    Flipper/Rehabber · Rochester, NY · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Look what the team at BP did with this problem!  They dealt with it!  Kudos!  

    In any business, including real estate, we will have hurdles commensurate with the size of our business.  If you are a newbie, you may be your own hurdle.  Find a way to get over.  If you are a small fish investor like me, you'll run into bad contractors and bad tenants.  I'm in the midst of getting over that hurdle now.  If you are bigger you may have trouble getting enough deals, enough money, enough marketing, trouble with employees, etc.  And even bigger and you may get sued, you may get scrutinized by government and so on.

    You make it to the next level by getting over those hurdles.

    2Reply
  • Jerry W.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    11y

    Good job on handling the attack.  Hopefully they were not able to get to billing information like what happened to Target.  It is nice to know you have systems in place.  I was unable to access the site so I didn't see anything unusual.  Thanks for the heads up.  We all need to report the spammers when we see them, and any other real strange activity.

    1Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    OP
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    11y

    Don't worry, @Jerry W. - we don't store billing information on BiggerPockets' servers; we use a 3rd party provider called Stripe which I have full faith in.

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    1Reply
  • Orlando Paz
    Investor in the making · Orlando, FL · Member since 2014 · 201 posts · 49 votes
    11y

    Sounds like the US is late on the rent payment. They are trying to evict us.

    1Reply
  • Linval T.
    Investor · Bay Shore, NY · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 688 votes
    11y

    DDoS attacks are here to stay. This will not be the last, as you know, but, as the network is hardened it will be better prepared to readily fend off future attacks.

    You have credible support staff and vendors to help resolve this issue, so we are not worried, it's only annoying.

    These hackers/pests will not go away unfortunately and have nothing significant to add to the betterment of mankind other than misery.

    0Reply
  • Ryan Dossey
    Real Estate Broker · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    11y

    This thread right here is one of the things I love about Josh and Brandon. They are upfront, honest, and open. If this had happened on other forums Admins would pretend nothing happened and sweep it under the rug. Keep up the great work. 

    1Reply
  • Jordan Thibodeau
    Rental Property Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2013 · 486 posts · 170 votes
    11y

    @Joshua D.

     @Brandon Turner

    No one, I mean no one messes with my mijos Josh and Brandon. The North Koreans will pay for this. 

    On the bright side, this is like a rite of passage for any major website, consider yourselves "Made Men" because the North Koreans are now targeting you. Here's your members only jacket, you've guys have made it. No more top ramen dinners or Safeway Select Diet Cola, it's caviar and filet mignon from here on out.

    LMK if you guys need a publicist. 

    1Reply
  • Amy Hayek
    Investor · Summerville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1 post · 0 votes
    11y

    I was spammed by an account [email protected]  it sent an email to my address book saying I was stranded in the Phillipines.thank you for your help.

    0Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    OP
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    11y

    @Amy Hayek - Sorry to hear about the spam you received, but our site wasn't compromised -- as such, the only way someone might have your email would be if they got it from another source or if you made it available to that person.  We take our members' privacy extremely serious and would never give away someone's email.

    @Jordan Thibodeau - You made my day as you tend to do!  Thanks for the smile!

    Podcast Guest on Show #100
    0Reply
  • Ezechaelle Norris
    Virtual Assistant · Euclid, OH · Member since 2015 · 16 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    thank you for the heads up

    0Reply
  • Jonathan K.
    Investor · Scotch Plains, NJ · Member since 2014 · 105 posts · 50 votes
    11y

    @Joshua D.  

     @Michael Rogers beat me to the punch! I too figured it originated from Detroit! Thanks for flagging the issue. Hope things are back under control.

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2012 · 105 posts · 26 votes
    11y

    The NYSE, United Airlines, The Wall Street Journal and BiggerPockets were all attacked and taken down today. Hmmm....

    1Reply
  • Robert Norvell
    Investor · Fort Smith, AR · Member since 2013 · 150 posts · 32 votes
    11y

    You got this. moving on....

    0Reply
  • Doug W.
    Flipper/Rehabber · Alexandria, VA · Member since 2014 · 461 posts · 262 votes
    11y

    So did the spammers have any input on yellow letters? Maybe they have a strong opinion on bird dogging vs. wholesaling? 

    1Reply
  • Daniel Ryu
    Investor · Suwanee, GA · Member since 2014 · 579 posts · 347 votes
    11y

    @Joshua D.

    Sorry to hear about the DDOS attack.

    I assume that's why I now have to enter a CAPTCHA before I can access BiggerPockets?

    Just wondering - is this a temporary thing or something that will continue on from now on?

    Small price to pay undoubtedly but I was just curious. 

    I've never seen a CAPTCHA message on other sites I've accessed to view a webpage. 

    I've seen it for posting content but not for reading an post, so it's a new thing for me. But I alerted our members out here in Korea about it.

    Thanks!

    0Reply
  • Linda Richard
    Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    11y

    it occurs to me, this is the same day our entire office at  a specific location received a spam email.  That's over 3000 employees and the company is listed among the Fortune 100 Globals,

    0Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    OP
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    11y

    @Daniel Ryu - Unfortunately, since SK was the source, we're playing this thing as carefully as we can.  Hopefully we can tone it down at some point.  Thanks for the understanding.

    Podcast Guest on Show #100
    0Reply
  • Daniel Ryu
    Investor · Suwanee, GA · Member since 2014 · 579 posts · 347 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Joshua D.:

    @Daniel Ryu - Unfortunately, since SK was the source, we're playing this thing as carefully as we can.  Hopefully we can tone it down at some point.  Thanks for the understanding.

     Sorry to hear it came from SK. if you find out who, let me know and we'll go kick their ***(es) on behalf of all the BP members. ^^

    Today .. no Captcha to fill out. If you ever need anything tested from out here, feel free to reach out. 

    Thanks for the update!

    2Reply
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