22 votes

Freenode under spambot attack

8 comments

  1. [4]
    time
    Link
    This seems like a lot of effort to trash talk some people who work for free to run an internet chat service.

    The fairly aggressive spambot attacks link to websites that we believe to have been set up to impersonate freenode volunteers, and that we believe to contain offensive and incorrect information intended to defame and libel members of the freenode volunteer team.

    Due to the nature of the attack, this is of course causing serious emotional distress on the part of the affected volunteers and their immediate family and social circles, as well as the rest of the volunteer team.

    This seems like a lot of effort to trash talk some people who work for free to run an internet chat service.

    15 votes
    1. [3]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [2]
        starchturrets
        Link Parent
        Why would someone attack Freenet? Isn't that just some sort of decentralized internet?

        Why would someone attack Freenet? Isn't that just some sort of decentralized internet?

        4 votes
    2. SourceContribute
      Link Parent
      That's the idea; attacking the infrastructure. If it were quantifiable, I think a lot of questions are answered on Freenode, along with planning for a lot of free/open source projects. This is the...

      That's the idea; attacking the infrastructure. If it were quantifiable, I think a lot of questions are answered on Freenode, along with planning for a lot of free/open source projects. This is the equivalent of attacking the Slack/Hipchat or email service of a company. Attack the communication lines and watch everything slow down.

      It's crazy though how well IRC stands up to these things; a combination of good automated tools and good moderation. Something reddit, facebook, twitter and the others could learn from.

      5 votes
  2. [2]
    edenist
    Link
    I connected to my ZNC and it took me a good few minutes to scroll through all of the PMs with links to these supposed blog pages. I mean, it's fairly obvious it's a targeted attack when I'm...

    I connected to my ZNC and it took me a good few minutes to scroll through all of the PMs with links to these supposed blog pages. I mean, it's fairly obvious it's a targeted attack when I'm getting identical messages from literally hundreds of users.
    What actually surprises me is how much effort is going into the attack. It's the worst I can ever recall seeing. Not only on freenode servers, but half a dozen IRC networks [that I'm connected to], across even the tiniest of channels being hit hard over the last week.
    I guess at the moment I'm just conditioned to see all attacks as politically motivated, but I guess this is just someone who's held a long grudge over being kicked by the admins at some point? Just seems completely irrational.

    11 votes
    1. SourceContribute
      Link Parent
      Woah, are they hitting mainly IRC networks where devs hang out? Since Freenode is where questions and discussions about free/open source projects happen, to me this is like an attack on Github or...

      Not only on freenode servers, but half a dozen IRC networks [that I'm connected to], across even the tiniest of channels being hit hard over the last week

      Woah, are they hitting mainly IRC networks where devs hang out?

      I guess this is just someone who's held a long grudge over being kicked by the admins at some point? Just seems completely irrational.

      Since Freenode is where questions and discussions about free/open source projects happen, to me this is like an attack on Github or Gitlab or whatever hosting is used by a project. The goal is to sow disinformation and slow down communications and get newbs scared.

      4 votes
  3. [2]
    Silbern
    Link
    I've been wondering where all the trolls in IRC are coming from :/ I've seen them nonstop in #ibmthinkpad...

    I've been wondering where all the trolls in IRC are coming from :/ I've seen them nonstop in #ibmthinkpad...

    5 votes
    1. SourceContribute
      Link Parent
      Obviously they're Macbook users ;) the one true touchpad.

      Obviously they're Macbook users ;) the one true touchpad.

      4 votes