Has it been hi-jacked? Can't get on it. :-/

Yes, it was subject of a DDoS attack late on Friday and, although a specialist firm (prolexic.com) appears now to have been engaged to work on the 'problem', the site has only one page running at the moment (and even that's intermittent):


Quote:

APOLOGIES! TEMPORARY SUSPENSION DUE TO DDOS TECHNICAL PROBLEMS All the functions have been taken off line temporarily to keep it working. Want Martin's detailed PPI reclaiming guide and free template letters? They'll be available as soon as the site is back up and running.  However, to ensure you don't forget, they will be included in the free (ad-free) weekly MoneySaving e-mail (which you can get via the box below). In the meantime, you can watch Martin's Google video Guide to PPI Reclaiming. New to MoneySavingExpert.com? This is the ad-free, free to use Consumer Revenge site, used by over 3,000,000 people in the UK a month.  The best thing to do is get yourself on the distribution list for the weekly MoneySaving e-mail (see box above) which will be a good prompt to come back and save yourself a fortune. What is a DDOS problem? It is a 'distributed denial of service attack'; in other words someone is maliciously attacking the site to stop it being able to function (see Wikipedia's DDOS attacks explanation).  Frankly it's devastating and the fact it happened with the publicity surrounding the launch of the PPI reclaiming campaign is probably not a coincidence. In practical terms it means, they've simulated as if billions of people are trying to use the site at any moment, so of course the servers can't cope.   Sadly it's much easier to destroy something than it is to create it. And finally a word to those who are attacking the site.  Millions use this site, many rely on it for crucial info to make their lives better; some are desperate for help with their debts, and others want support through a myriad of issues.   What you're doing is hurting many people, please stop.

Martin appears to be of the opinion that the site has been targeted as a result of his latest campaign against the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance but, of course, with his outspoken style (e.g. "Screw the banks before they screw you") and high profile campaigns against many 'legal rip-offs', the list of possible suspects must be quite long.

If that last paragraph is true, which I have no doubt in my mind that it is, then it is disgraceful that he should have been targeted in this way. :o

The site appears to be up, although running somewhat slower than I remember.

It's not now!

Site Temporarily Unavailable.

Sorry, the site you requested is currently unavailable. It will be available as soon as possible. Please try again later.

Generated Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:41:58 GMT by Prolexic.com (SI1.LON1/1.0)

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

Interesting perspective from a blogger who says it may not be the banks (who already may have saved millions through the site being unavailable after Martin's programme on Friday 8pm) but Nigeriam scammers:

http://www.vitalsecurity.org/2007/10/moneysavingexpertcom-nigerian-ddos.html

It appears MSE is up and running again now - even the forums are working again.

It looks to be under attack again:


Quote:

Site Temporarily Unavailable. Sorry, the site you requested is currently unavailable. It will be available as soon as possible. Please try again later. Generated Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:56:40 GMT by Prolexic.com (SI1.LON1/2.0)

Back now - perhaps a short-lived (and hopefully failed) attack.