Over the past month we have been subject to some concentrated
hacking attacks. In some ways it's a compliment: we are seen as a
worthwhile target. The attacks have been traced back to an ISP in
the States. This does not mean that the hacking individual or
organisation is US based, in the same way as "dot com" can be based
anywhere in the world. We are completely satisfied that the attack
went frustrated: the attacks were logged, no data was accessed and
further or deeper penetration was blocked.
However in part to make sure no data was compromised, the web
services were down for a time. This was typically from around
midnight to early morning, so we apologise if you were an early
worm trying to view our site. Statistically a limited number of
visitors were affected as our legitimate visitors overwhelmingly
keep UK office hours.
Over the years we have been attacked countless times, however
this is the first time they have been of sufficient intensity to
cause any disruption as opposed to simply being blocked and
shrugged off.
It is our policy to be open about these events: so that you know
if there isn't an entry in our blog then there hasnt been a
problem. We now have in place measures to stop these attacks at an
earlier stage and maintain the otherwise uninterrupted web presence
we have provided over the last ten years.