DDOS Attack | Picked a bad time to come back from vacation

But a few days ago I was building a sand castle on the beach with my two little boys. Actually, I’d build it and they’d knock it down. It was hilarious fun and could have had us featured on a brochure for contentment. I’ve been thinking fondly about those days, and hoping I was savoring every second of it, because I had no idea that at that very moment my work was getting spanked by the biggest DDOS attack ever to come barreling at Name.com.

In short, some very large and very powerful Chinese entity was not happy with one of our customers. The owner of Boxun.com has been publishing news about the scandal of the former Chinese political superstars Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu Kailai. It’s a story involving murder, corruption and the widening gap between China’s rich and poor. This story deserves some serious media attention, but instead many involved have been silenced or locked up.

So here we are, this little but growing company in Denver, suddenly a target of some ticked off Chinese elite. This is where I show up, breezing in happy and as tan as paste can get, and receiving applause for returning to work.  Let me warn you, when you come back to work and people applaud, it’s not because they’ve missed you. It’s because they’re thrilled to have someone else take some bullets. I was quickly briefed on the situation, “Yah, it was bad, there are some pissed people,” and I swear there was an actual skip in her step as she walked away. I should give her more credit than that. It was Ashley, our Marketing Something or Other, and she and the entire staff did an amazing job of handling what could be the equivalent of a Honda getting sideswiped by the moon. DDOS attacks are common, and we have an awesome crew that regularly handles the onslaught, but this was the kind of mauling that inspires international treaties.

All our peeps are back to their regular scheduled programming, we’re still talking with Boxun.com for the best results for them, and I’m still on Hawaiian time, alternately staring out the window and at Google Translate. I think 你的母亲的气味像猪 isn’t good, and not once has anyone here at work offered to bring me a piña colada or rub sunscreen on my back.

It’s OK, it’s what I do, be the public face to these situations. At Name.com it’s easier than places that take more time glossing over things than they do being open and honest about them. So for that I’m happy to be back.