ForFree4U Network Status Update

[ForFree4U]

Hi All,

You will probably be aware that we were affected by the June 7 hacking of our web host, which brought down an estimated 100,000 websites. Those of you trying to access our network are still being greeted by an error message, and so I am posting to provide an update on what is going on behind the scenes, and to try to quell any concerns that you may have.

The hacking could not have come at a worse time for me personally, or us as a business. I recently sat my A-levels, and the hack came bang in the middle of exam season; this meant that, whilst I had set aside a three-week period to concentrate mainly on exams, my plans were thrown into disarray and I found myself having to juggle my education with trying to get the network back online.

With a big product launch approaching at the end of this month, the business was already running at close to capacity. Whilst a lot of resources and time have rightly been diverted away from the launch towards getting the sites back up and running, our response has perhaps been hindered by everything else that is going on.

After finishing my exams, I took a two-week break in Europe with friends, which is the reason for my lack of recent activity on eXceem. I was initially confident that the network would be restored fully before I left, and the host confirmed as much. In the event, they have not done so and they have broken almost every promise and every deadline.

We have probably been hit harder than most by the hacking, however questions must of course be answered. I am not happy with the circumstances surrounding the hack or why we have not yet been placed back online, and please be assured that we are pressing the hosting company for answers and a speedy resolution.

As the situation is ongoing, I can’t go into too many specifics as I can’t compromise any avenue we may choose to take in the coming months.

The continued downtime is not ideal for either you, our members, or us, and I want to reassure you that we are doing all we can to get everything going again, and it remains our highest priority. I will be liaising closely with Jon to provide him with constant updates, but please be assured that we aren’t going anywhere.

Although I can’t yet give an ETA, we will be back, and I thank you for your ongoing patience and support in what can only be described as an unfortunate and painful situation for involved.

Many thanks,
Jonny

[digger600]

Thanks for the update jonny, if you ever need any help with anything don't hesitate to ask

[Wem101]

Thanks for Updating us Members

[moviedrome]

Just to add to what Jonny has said (and so he doesn't feel victimised by the host!)

We were hosted with the same company that got attacked and I can 100% vouch for the broken promises and deadlines he is experiencing. Luckily for us we had offsite backups not managed by the host which I managed to access and upload elsewhere.

If we had to rely on the hosts getting the sites back up they would also still be down and even though I have now cancelled my server with them, it still pings and still gives 404 errors exactly like it did 5 minutes after the attack so they have done absolutely nothing on it since then.

I feel for you Jonny and if you need any help just give me a yell, I know how frustrating it is dealing with them