DDOS attack: Why we gave up Friday night and Saturday with our families!

This is the story in sequence of our team giving up their weekend to chase a global story! What a day and what a team. And the best part of this post is the last part! 8pm Friday Night in London, and news starts coming in that a huge DDOS is underway. Resident Dynatrace data scientist David Jones is up to his usual tricks, compiling dashboards and analysis of more than 3000+ websites that we are continually monitoring. Seen below is the DNS connect time of major sites across the US.

• For more see his blog:http://apmblog.dynatrace.com/2016/10/21/have-you-been-taking-dns-monitoring-for-granted-not-today/
• See CNN coverage:http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/21/technology/ddos-attack-popular-sites/

1am UK Time: I'm analysing global data that show that it's not just the US that is impacted.

Australia UK

Quick connect with Australia!

I jump onto whatapps and I'm interrupting Saturday morning of my PR lead Frances Ward who is in Melbourne. We quickly gather our thoughts, and get a media brief out which leads to articles in our top publications! How can I sleep now?

• Australian IT:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/aussie-sites-impacted-by-a-massive-wave-of-us-cyberattacks/news-story/aa4e5c9c14ac594fde7bc5d790845976
• Sydney Morning Herald:http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/major-australian-websites-disrupted-in-international-cyber-attack-20161022-gs8csv.html

I quickly grab about 30 mins sleep before the phone and email is buzzing.

4am: Bloomberg are chasing some commentary

I barely remember giving the interview over the phone but we manage to pick up some cool coverage!

• Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-21/internet-service-disrupted-in-large-parts-of-eastern-u-s

Which then lead to Australian Financial Review which for those outside of Australia, it's the leading business news publication.

• AFR:http://www.afr.com/news/world/connected-gadgets-blamed-as-internet-recovers-from-attack-20161022-gs8i16

SBS Australia is seeking a spokesperson for their 6pm news.

We have 30 minutes to make a call, prep someone and get them to the studio. In steps Paula Rodgers, APAC Marketing Director, confident she can tackle her first TV interview! What a superstar. No time to really prepare, a drive to the studio with Frances and a briefing in the car, and she's in front of the camera. 8am in the UK and we are waiting on the SBS coverage. So excited I called Frances to listen to the TV footage over whatsapp! And Paula delivers!

Saturday Morning: 10am UK

By Saturday morning in Europe, we thought most of coverage was done, but Charlotte Nizieux in France was about to get interviewed on the leading French television network alongside CNET.

• Did I also mention this was her first major media interview? On the biggest TV channel in France!!!

We exchanged some quick briefing notes over whatsapp, email and then a calming phone call to help combat the nerves. Footage coming soon!

And an update to this post - we just picked up commentary in Mashable!

Very exciting to get a story in Mashable! The article focused on a few major companies vs the entire group. The story for me is the scale and severity of attack, how impacted so many sites, and how it impacted as far away as Australia. Nobody was really immune to such a huge DDOS attack. What a day. What a team. Giving up Friday evenings and Saturday's to chase a story. Super proud of everyone! Can't wait to share Paula's interview!