Distribute.IT forced to transfer hosting services to other providers

Domain register and Web hosting provider, Distribute.IT, has been unable to recover any of the data hosted on its four servers following an infrastructure hack last week by a group called Evil and is now transferring customers to other hosting providers.

In a statement issued on its blog on 21 June, the company wrote that data, sites and emails hosted on its Drought, Hurricane, Blizzard and Cyclone servers was considered by experts to be "unrecoverable."

"While every effort will be made to continue to gain access to the lost information from those hosting servers, it seems unlikely that any usable data will can be salvaged from these platforms," wrote a company spokesperson.

"In assessing the situation, our greatest fears have been confirmed that not only was the production data erased during the attack, but also key backups, snapshots and other information that would allow us to reconstruct these servers from the remaining data."

This has meant that Distribute.IT no longer has "sufficient resources" within the platform to transfer 4,800 domains and accounts to other parts of its server infrastructure and it was now looking to help customers transfer hosting and email to other hosting providers.

"We would like to thank those loyal customers who have stuck by us during this difficult time and elected to have their hosting remain on our servers," wrote the spokesperson. "Your thoughts, consideration and kindness will not be easily forgotten. Much soul-searching and thought has gone into taking this course of action, but at this time we cannot see any alternatives for the affected servers."

While Distribute.IT staff would continue to try to recover the information, the spokesperson wrote that the chances for recovery beyond the data and files so far retrieved were slim.

"The overall magnitude of the tragedy and the loss of our information and yours is simply incalculable; and we are distressed by the actions of the parties responsible for this reprehensible act," the statement reads.

Got a security tip-off? Contact Hamish Barwick at hamish_barwick at idg.com.au

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick

Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU

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