DDoS attacks - F.A.Q.
Wednesday, 22 May 2002
What is oz.org?
oz.org is a community run internet relay chat (IRC) network primarily run in Australia for the main purpose of
offering people a place to converse, share ideas, socialise, and of course to network
Scope of this Document
To explain what is currently happening with servers, the channel service, and connectivity to the oz.org IRC network
What servers can I connect to?
If you are a local Australian user not connecting to the
net via a University, use ‘alphalink.melbourne.oz.org’
If you are from outside of Australia, use ‘skybytes.us.oz.org’
This list (or a more concise and up-to-date version) is at http://www.oz.org/servers/
Why is this happening?
Several servers have been disconnected to continual Denial of Service (DoS) attacks from unknown sources
Why did the hosts of those servers disconnect them?
The isp(s) involved were faced with a decision: either their servers face continued attacks (costing them money) or they pull the plug. They chose
the latter
Dos? - What is a DoS?
Denial of Service Attacks (DoS) involve many types of connections being made to the
target machine with the aim of making that machine unavailable to others
that might wish to legitimately use it (in this instance, an IRC server)
Z - Where is it?
Z is primarily located on one of the disconnected servers. Until it gets its new home we will be without it.
This should be no great issue as you don’t need ops to chat
How can I get ops in my channel without Z?
You can’t unless you get everyone to part and then rejoin
What will happen with my channel when Z comes back?
It will be as it was before Z left
How do I register a channel with no Z there?
You can't. Until Z has returned on a stable permanent basis there will be no further new channel registrations
So what’s going to happen?
All efforts are being made to return services to full function.
Be patient with us and please don’t nag #help or irc operators.
The situation can’t be fixed if they’re constantly answering questions.
Watch http://www.oz.org/ for any changes as any changes will be announced there
as soon as humanly possible
oz.org would like to thank all its volunteers, supporters, and users that have offered both their moral and physical support during this difficult time.
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