You may have noticed that Skepchick has been in and out (oooooh) for the past day. The cause was a DDoS attack that also targeted FreethoughtBlogs and Feminist Frequency, sites that, like Skepchick, happen to talk about feminism in a positive way. Besides that commonality, we all use different hosts and software, so it seems awfully probable that our “women are people, too” stance is what made us a target.
We owe a huge thanks to FTB for giving us the info we needed to stop the attack and get back online. We also owe a huge thanks to the attackers, who drove a lot of people to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep getting their Skepchick fix while the site was down.
I will conclude with some appropriate gifs, below.
Welcome back!
There is something terribly ironic about people who claim to be supportive of the goals of skepticism attempting to use tactics like DDoS attacks to silence people they don’t agree with.
This kind of behavior should be eschewed by skeptics whether or not the target is inside or outside the movement. If you feel someone’s statements are not comparable with the evidence the proper way to dispute their claims is through…you know…reason and evidence, not through attempts to silence your opposition through hacking. Anyone who thinks the hacking your opponents websites is a legitimate avenue of dissent has no idea what it means to identify as a skeptic.
This is for you, Rebecca. http://i.imgur.com/oqvLUZ4.gif
The internet is under the thumb of the matriarchyyyyyyy. Why else would these sites be back uuuuuup? Your gifs are oppressing meeeeeeeeee.
(Thank you, FTBers, for the work!)
Batman TAS makes me happy, but I think Rebecca would make an awesome Spiderman.
guess whose back, back again, tell an mra friend
Awww yeah! Gif party for DDoSunday http://i.imgur.com/8bULvcj.gif
http://i.imgur.com/Wxh1Q.gif
While you were gone, I decided to do some of the fighting for you. This was the result:
http://dalehusband.com/2014/02/09/rape-apologists/
I also made these, which may interest you:
http://dalehusband.com/2013/12/23/thou-shalt-not-steal/
http://dalehusband.com/2014/01/03/more-mormon-idiocy/
http://dalehusband.com/2014/01/05/truth-in-advertising-photoshopping-must-be-outlawed/
http://dalehusband.com/2014/01/06/rep-bill-young-and-dumb/
http://dalehusband.com/2014/02/06/economic-abuse-of-a-little-girl/
Happy reading!
Oh, I’ve been having fun trolling LDS missionaries who talk to me about Jesus’s adventures…IN AMERICA! on buses and trains recently. (Seriously, I think I’ve read better fanfic on the Pit of Voles.)
Can’t keep a good rage-blogger down!
Ack! Now my browser is getting an animated GIF based DOS attack. Safari can’t handle all this awesome.
Thanks for getting the site back up.
All credit to our site tech, Alex. Really glad you all managed to make it back too. Now I just hope the assholes aren’t terribly sophisticated so they don’t figure out how to beat the new configuration.
Good to see the site back up!
Congratulations on surviving your first DDOS attack! Keep up the good work!
If only it was our first! It’s happened a few times before, but I keep quiet about it.
Multiple congratulations, then! I’m glad you’re back on YouTube too.
In fact, I even scold them on not even realizing that a DDoS attack is really just weaponized spam. It’s not permanent damage, and all that happens in the end is that Skeptech gets a bunch of shiny new IPs to send to the local police department to investigate for harassment.
Glad you’re back! Well done!
…if DDoS’s mean gifs like that, I want to be DDoS’d EVERY DAY.
Glad to see you back.
I think I don’t understand how to freeze peaches correctly:
Banning somebody from your own blog: Terrible censorship call Amnesty International!
Trying to silence three different networks you disagree with: Just deserts!
Anybody know what that Peter Dinklage GIF is from? He is amazing in everything he does.
It’s from a movie called Penelope. You can see the entire thing on YouTube which may hint at its quality.
Rebecca Watson
Ah and I was worried they’d think you’d gone away!
I have a theory that the reason scammers tend to also be conspiracy theorists is because, if they had the power, they would work to censor real scientists and historians in the way they accuse academia of doing so. Evil cannot comprehend good, if you will. (Of course, evil would say good is dumb because evil stole good’s Schwartz ring.)
It would apply to misogynists too.