A substantial denial-of-service (DDoS) attack has targeted web host
Namecheap. According to a number of reports the attack was the most serious anyone has ever experienced and impacted around 300 domain names the company hosts. DDoS attacks bring websites down by overwhelming servers with fraudulent access requests. The attack is thought to have also impacted other domains utilizing the Namecheap DNS platform.
The attack, which started 20 February, was announced on the company website which suggested:
“To our regret most of our Free DNS and Default v2 nameservers are under DDoS attack. If your domain name(s) is using our Free DNS or Default DNS v2 (freedns1-5.registrar-servers.com, dns1-5.registrar-servers.com) the following services may be affected”. The site went on to list domain resolving, domain host record updates and URL and email forwarding as services that has potentially been attacked.
“Unfortunately, there is no current ETA for the issue. We will keep you updated on the progress,” the site went on to suggest.
Namecheap’s CEO Richard Kirkendall and VP Matt Russell also wrote on the company blog:
“At around 15.55 GMT / 11.55 EST, a huge DDoS attack started against 300 or so domains on our DNS platform. Our DNS platform is a redundant, global platform spread across 3 continents and 5 countries that handles the DNS for many of our customers. This is a platform meticulously maintained and ran, and a platform that successfully fends off other DDoS attacks on an almost-daily basis.”
The blog went on to suggest that the size was of the attack was estimated as being over 100 Gbps and that it was a new type of attack, “one that we and our hardware and network partners had not encountered before”.
A final post dated February 21 and timed at 9:07 AM GMT / 4:07 AM EST suggested, “We are glad to let you know that the DDoS attack is over and all services are fully functional. Please accept our apologies for the inconveniences caused by this issue and thank you for your patience and understanding.”
This latest attack on Namecheap comes in the wake of last week’s DDoS attack against a domain hosted by a CloudFlare customer. At the time this was regarded as being the largest attack ever experienced.
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