“THANK YOU FOR THE EGO BOOST”
Dear Hackers,
I have no idea who you are – and probably never will. Nor do I know who paid you … or how much it was worth. Or on whose behalf you got paid.
What I do know is you masked your multi-layered (and ongoing) “injection” attack against this website exceedingly well – using computers in faraway China, Eastern Europe, India and Japan to do your dirty work for you.
Impressive …
Your cyber assault has been extremely successful, too, dear hackers. It has completely shut my website down in some cases, while in other cases it has littered viewers’ screens with bold, flashing warnings alleging that FITSNews.com was infected with “malware” (and that visiting our pages would infect their computers, too).
Take a look …
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(Caps provided)
FITSNews has been hit with cyber attacks before, but never anything like this. In fact your attack has been so successful other websites are writing articles about it.
Is there actually malware on FITSNews.com?
No …
(Click to enlarge)
(Cap provided)
… but you hackers know that.
Your attack was (is) all about viewer suppression – scaring people away from visiting FITSNews.
It’s also all about censorship – making it difficult-to-impossible for people to view the content on FITSNews.
Mission accomplished …
In years past, an attack like this would have made me incredibly angry at you hackers. Raging mad, even. More likely than not, I would have taken to social media and vowed to “find out who did this to me” – maybe even promised retribution via the business end of my Buster Posey model Louisville slugger.
(Click to enlarge)
(Pic Sic)
(Such a tough guy, I know).
Today, though … I’m flattered. Disappointed for my readers, to be sure, but honestly flattered that someone views me as sufficiently influential so as to require such a sophisticated silencing.
Don’t get me wrong, in addition to doing everything we can to push back against your attacks we’re also doing everything we can to find out who you hackers are … but you guys covered your tracks far too well for that.
Which, again … is incredibly flattering.
Seriously: I knew my little website had scared the local politicians pretty good, but to have big-time hackers such as yourselves launch such a massive, sustained, global assault – and to roll it out it one week before my home state hosts its pivotal “First in the South” presidential primary election – well, that’s nothing short of a badge of honor.
In fact it may be the nicest compliment anyone has ever paid me.
So thank you for the ego boost.
I’ve never really had a plan with FITSNews. It’s always been a “call it like I see it” operation. And sometimes I call it quite bluntly – perhaps pushing the envelope when it comes to appropriateness.
But I’m not going to stop … and the more you try to stop me, well, the more it validates what I’m doing.
Will Folks, Founding Editor
Columbia, S.C.
2/18/2016
57 comments
Have you had detectives following you around? Have you been falsely accused of being a suspect in a most serious crime? Have you had semi-automatic gunfire outside your house at night after visiting a newspaper earlier in the day? etc. etc.
Welcome to the club, Will.
You really don’t know much about cyber-attacks do you? It comes across in your writing. Been through it before so it shouldn’t be funny. But it is.
“Sophisticated” or in other words using a botnet to DDoS or slowloris. Host should have equipment that can prevent or mitigate this stuff automatically.
How much did pogo pay the attackers? Figure a homeless guy like him couldn’t afford it.
Hold on – let me see if his site is still up. Yep, still there. Must be someone else.
I think it is hilarious to watch SOME of you lying sewer dwellers run around with your head up your asses-scared shit less and spooked by this alleged attack.
Karma indeed.If Fits wants to turn his threads over to lowlifes like you and this new ‘Flip’ to spread libelous/malicious false allegations about pedophilia/child molestation, in my opinion he deserves this.
I thank whoever did it!
Well you’re still here. SC Media?
Pogo admitting he had his hand in the attack?
Really going to be a let down when willie finds out the hacker is a pimple faced 13 year old at Swansea Middle School
Even more surprising will be the fact that this kid’s Uncle is the former poster Grand Tango who was forced out of the flooded basement of his mother’s double wide when the 200+ acre crap farm next door started erupting
FitsNews pretending he was hacked is one of the most comical things to happen this primary season. Way to drum up a spark od interest. What’s more telling is that not one organization is willing to advertise on what claims to be a site read by thousands.
Has anyone wondered (as I have wondered) what the Grand Turnip and Mama talk about after dinner while they slug down cheap booze and crack open roasted peanuts with their teeth?
“But I’m not going to stop … and the more you try to stop me, well, the more it validates what I’m doing.”
Excellent response.
I have had trouble accessing your site off an on beginning Sunday. I suspect Bush people (RNC). They Really Hate the Free Press. Fascists.
I’m going with Kenny.
Damn! A feature article in the ‘Sumter Citizen’! How does it feel to move up to the big leagues?!? :)
Will, tell Tommy (the thirteen year old who lives across the street and who serves as the CIO) that it’s still affecting desktop/laptops but my Kindle and Android are not affected.
I can get in with my home laptop – though my kids are not happy with it. But work laptop – no way.
Straight up, Will. Like always…Even when you piss me off.
Mine gets exhibit #5, the “Red Page of Death”.
Haven’t received any warnings, it just jumps to another thread.
Same here. #5
Same here.
I feel your pain. That hat turned round backwards really looks menacing .Think about investing in a tennessee thumper. no muss no fuss
Fiiiiiits come out and playay
though i think you are politically obtuse, i really enjoy your blog Will, keep up the good fight against those that try to silence you, its the American way.
Well said. I visited the desktop to find it down still so had to resort to the cell- something I just never do.
That said – Will, although you weird me out with the third person thing occasionally- I like how you roll on the reporting. I was sort of hoping that they just paid you a tidy sum to go offline for a week or so. Hell, you have mouths to feed so who could blame you?
It says alot that they are trying to silence you. Glad to see you are taking it well.
As for me – well Trumps still in it so he has my vote. The reasons are endless.
Goooood day!
The only place I get the malware warning any more is when I tried to click Will’s links to previous stories about Ravenel. I think Ravenel is your culprit.
Yes, local politicians with cash to throw away.
When people stop criticizing and no longer are out to “do you in,” that is when you become irrelevant.
I never experienced any problems other than hopping from one page to another.
I don’t know if it matters, but I run Windows Ten, use Firefox browser with two ad-blockers. In the long run that should not make any difference, but my problems were minimal.
Keep up the good work.
Note, as I was typing this, it jumped to the Ted Cruz article.
adblock plus and what?
uBlock… it is a free download like adblock and both will run simultaneously.
thanks, i’m a cord cutter, and you just about can’t watch espn2 online without ad blockers
Ads are almost non-existent on my computer.
well mine just got better, thanks for the info, now i have 2 little stop signs in the top right corner, hehe cyber rat poison.
Hope it helps. Mine still continues to jump to a different article, no big deal, just a couple of left arrows and I am back to my place.
Which browser are you using? Firefox, Chrome, etc. ??
Thanks, gonna check that one out.
It looks like you don’t need ad blockers on FITSNEWS.
I might not need it, but I have never seen a degradation, in performance.
Which ad blockers are you using? never mind, you posted below — I’m going to get those.
uBlock and ad block..
They really work well for pop-up ads.
I also use Ghostery. It’s a bit more powerful than adblock in that it allows you to customize what exactly you want block on each page. It sometimes blocks stuff you want to see or use.
I’m currently using Chrome. I tend to go back and forth between Chrome and Firefox.
I keep trying to use Edge but for now their are no adblockers for it.
I have not checked out Ghostery. I’ll have to look it up.
I use Windows ten and it has Edge, I don’t use it.
I have 10 also. I’ve tried Edge a few times. It has a kind of bare bones look and seems to quick but no ad blockers will work on/with it right now. Because of that I don’t recommend using it. I do keep an eye on it and when ad blockers will finally work with it I’ll try it out for real and give it a serious use for a few days.
I Loaded Ghostery. Set it up and will see how it works.
Ya know Wil……..this malware stunt may actually tell you that you are in fact more important than the email account and server that Hillary resorted too. You mean these hackers will attack Fitsnews but yet fail to take out a US Secretary of State server..? Truth be known….Post publishing is really trying to verify how much traffic you really impression-ate across our media landscape. Maybe their wonks are trying to verify just how much swag to pony up for Brian Hicks?
I can’t catch a break. Every time I try to see what dumbass thing Folks is yammering about, I’m able to do it unimpeded.
HA! Now THAT is funny. +2 to you good sir or madam.
Damn that Kenny.
Not wanting to be a smart ass – but your hosting provider should have been able to defend on this.
This.
His brilliant “CIO” can’t figure out its not the site that’s being hacked, its all the stupid ads that are paying him.
Fits..you’re not that important. No one is focusing on you, nor your site. Attacks go on all day, every day–mostly by bots looking for vulnerabilities on every web site..You problem is your add, that are purchased through more nefarious companies that ARE trying to hack your readers passwords, or were hacked at some point as well.
Quit selling ads to the only bidder, and watch your problems go away.
I think it is hilarious and I THANK whoever did it.It has become common place on Fits for bloggers and their family members to be falsely accused of pedophilia and child molestation if contributors aren’t politically correct.
Somebody tried to ‘hack’ me today..
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Bad ad companies putting up malware invested ads is all part of the free market though! LMAO!
Keep up the good work ladies… and Tell The Marshal we love his Mexican/North Korean hairstyle.
Im new here but almost every article I tried to access had a google orange screen telling me I would get infected if I proceeded. Why are all you people bashing Will for an article telling the hacker(s) what they don’t want to hear? Stop.
…… and WE are still here, also!