I’m reading on Facebook that esctoday has been hacked and their site content completely wiped. Apparently, a statement attributed to the attackers says this was because they support Eurovision, which the attackers equated with supporting a “gay pride event”.
That was the claim being circulated at the time, rather than a proven explanation of who was behind the attack. Contemporary reports referred to hackers; there was no reliable evidence that they were terrorists or that the attack was linked to a formally designated terrorist organisation.
This is a terrible blow for everybody who has put in many long hours working for the site, and for the many fans who visit daily for Eurovision news, especially as we’re now so close to this year’s show in Baku. The incident happened on 17 May 2012, just days before the first semi-final on 22 May and the grand final on 26 May.
I’d like to send the esctoday team my support and hope you’re back up and running soon guys.
Update: ESCToday later clarified that this was not simply a DDoS attack. A security vulnerability had allowed articles, scripts and other files to be deleted, wiping material built up over approximately 12 years. The team had backups, but chose to relaunch with a new format rather than simply restore the old site, returning online during the week before the Eurovision final.
The attack also came during a wider period of Eurovision-related website attacks around Baku 2012, although that does not by itself prove that all the incidents were part of one coordinated campaign.
Monty x
