Many folks have asked for information about site delays and outages. We know many are inconvenienced and apologize but some of this is beyond our control.
Recently the server that houses this site has been slowed down as the result of a DDoS attack and we are still under attack. A Distributed Denial of Service attack is deliberately malicious and caused when a lot of computers try to access the site at the same time - they place too much demand on the server and it locks up.
The computers are usually virus infected machines in third world countries and they are being controlled remotely by the attacker or his hired service (more often). They are turned into an army of bots. Often the owner of the botified computer may never know it's being used this way. These attacks are often instigated by a disgruntled individual and we believe this is the case here as well.
To defend from continuing DDoS attacks we are using a service to block malicious inquiries (from individual, mostly overseas computers) from getting to the web servers. The screen and posting delays are because we have added this extra layer of security, verifying viewing to remove/stop malicious activity. This extra check is especially tough on those with slow connections and some mobile users but it cannot be avoided. Your individual computers and devices are not at risk and the site hasn't actually been hacked - just slowed down. You may see the browser check screen from time to time as your IP is verified.
An attack of this nature is a crime and we take this very seriously, for this reason we are also not going to disclose much about the details but you can read more about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack
It's sad when one angry person decides to muck up the works for everyone and we appreciate your understanding as we get work through this.
Recently the server that houses this site has been slowed down as the result of a DDoS attack and we are still under attack. A Distributed Denial of Service attack is deliberately malicious and caused when a lot of computers try to access the site at the same time - they place too much demand on the server and it locks up.
The computers are usually virus infected machines in third world countries and they are being controlled remotely by the attacker or his hired service (more often). They are turned into an army of bots. Often the owner of the botified computer may never know it's being used this way. These attacks are often instigated by a disgruntled individual and we believe this is the case here as well.
To defend from continuing DDoS attacks we are using a service to block malicious inquiries (from individual, mostly overseas computers) from getting to the web servers. The screen and posting delays are because we have added this extra layer of security, verifying viewing to remove/stop malicious activity. This extra check is especially tough on those with slow connections and some mobile users but it cannot be avoided. Your individual computers and devices are not at risk and the site hasn't actually been hacked - just slowed down. You may see the browser check screen from time to time as your IP is verified.
An attack of this nature is a crime and we take this very seriously, for this reason we are also not going to disclose much about the details but you can read more about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack
It's sad when one angry person decides to muck up the works for everyone and we appreciate your understanding as we get work through this.
