Distribute.IT

Summary

Distribute.IT, an Australian domain registrar and web hosting provider, suffered a sophisticated cyber attack that permanently destroyed approximately 4,000 customer websites and email systems. The attackers not only wiped the servers but also destroyed all backup data, making recovery impossible and ultimately forcing the company out of business.

What Happened

In June 2011, attackers launched a highly coordinated assault on Distribute.IT's infrastructure. The attackers gained access to four of the company's servers and systematically deleted all customer data, websites and email files stored on those systems.

In an unusually destructive move, the attackers also located and destroyed all backup copies of the data. This level of thoroughness suggested intimate knowledge of the company's systems and backup procedures. The attack affected 4,800 domains and customer accounts, with approximately 4,000 websites disappearing permanently.

Distribute.IT worked with the Australian Federal Police to investigate the attack. Sources close to the matter suggested the incident may have been industrial espionage rather than a typical hacking incident.

Impact on Individuals

While this was primarily a business-to-business attack, the impact on affected organisations was severe:

• Permanent data loss: Thousands of small businesses lost their websites, customer databases and email histories with no possibility of recovery
• Business disruption: Companies relying on their websites for sales or customer communication faced extended outages
• Reputational damage: Many businesses had to explain to their customers why their online presence had vanished
• Financial losses: Affected organisations had to rebuild websites from scratch and potentially lost years of accumulated data

Organisational Response

Despite every effort to recover the destroyed data, Distribute.IT was unable to restore customer websites or email systems. The scale of the attack and the permanent loss of customer data proved fatal to the business.

The company was forced to sell its remaining assets to fellow online provider Netregistry. Distribute.IT also lost its authority to function as a domain name registrar. The incident demonstrated the catastrophic business impact that sophisticated cyber attacks can have on technology service providers.