At Bambuser we truly believe in free speech and democracy. Over the past years we've seen more and more activists and citizen journalists use Bambuser to broadcast real-time information about activities and events when they happen. We think that user generated content broadens the overall picture of what's actually going on, and is needed to complement professional news reporting. It can also, as we've seen for example in Syria, break news for the world to see. When traditional media has little or no possibilities to have journalists on site, user generated live streams are essential.
With this is mind, we've decided to give away a special* free Bambuser premium status to activists and citizen journalist users who apply, no matter where in the world they operate. If you'd like to apply, please send an email with your Bambuser username and a brief description of your content, to info@bambuser.com, and we'll be happy to upgrade you. We believe videos from areas with unrest should be ad-free and we also think you should have the opportunity to learn more about your viewers.
If you also want to make your broadcasts available to media outlets around the world via Associated Press, make sure to tick the Allow AP check box in the Settings on your dashboard. If you want to know more about this cooperation, see our blog post Let Associated Press contact you about newsworthy content.
*Ad free player, unlimited viewing hours and storage, player customization options and access to extensive statistics.
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Bambuser under attack
Yesterday Bambuser went down for a few hours. We were for the first time subjected to a severe Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. The attack was apparently aimed mainly at Russian citizen journalist users.
We have confirmed that the computers taking part in the attack are part of a known bot network. This botnet is available for rent according to our sources.
Although the attack is still in effect, we have managed to limit the damage. Many thanks for all the patience, support and practical help.
May 9, 11:30 CET
We noticed an unusual spike in the load on our servers. This traffic quickly grew while our tech team worked hard on making our site accessible again.
May 9, 13:47 CET
After analyzing the situation, we concluded this was a distributed denial of service attack and informed our users on Twitter.
May 9, 15:19 CET
Bambuser was up and running again, although still under a heavy load from the attack. A few users may unfortunately be affected by our efforts to block the attack.
After 15:19 CET
We have continued our work on minimizing the effect of the attack, which continued with varying strength (and is still going on at the time of writing).
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a huge flood of network packets intended to take up resources and prevent other people from accessing content. There is no hacking/cracking involved.
As is the nature of DDoS bot networks, the computers that are part of a botnet are often normal PCs in home and office environments and the users are usually not aware that their machine is infected and part of a bot network.
Hence, even though the sources of the network packets are known, it does not mean that one has identified the real origin of the attack.
DDoS attack described on wikipedia.
We have confirmed that the computers taking part in the attack are part of a known bot network. This botnet is available for rent according to our sources.
Although the attack is still in effect, we have managed to limit the damage. Many thanks for all the patience, support and practical help.
What happened?
May 9, 11:30 CET
We noticed an unusual spike in the load on our servers. This traffic quickly grew while our tech team worked hard on making our site accessible again.
May 9, 13:47 CET
After analyzing the situation, we concluded this was a distributed denial of service attack and informed our users on Twitter.
May 9, 15:19 CET
Bambuser was up and running again, although still under a heavy load from the attack. A few users may unfortunately be affected by our efforts to block the attack.
After 15:19 CET
We have continued our work on minimizing the effect of the attack, which continued with varying strength (and is still going on at the time of writing).
Technical info about the attack
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a huge flood of network packets intended to take up resources and prevent other people from accessing content. There is no hacking/cracking involved.
As is the nature of DDoS bot networks, the computers that are part of a botnet are often normal PCs in home and office environments and the users are usually not aware that their machine is infected and part of a bot network.
Hence, even though the sources of the network packets are known, it does not mean that one has identified the real origin of the attack.
DDoS attack described on wikipedia.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
We're back up again
After hours under attack, we're back up again. We're still under heavy load, but hopefully all will be back to normal very soon. Many thanks for your patience and empathy.
بعد ساعات تحت الهجوم، ونحن حتى يعود مرة أخرى. ما زلنا تحت الحمل الثقيل، ولكن نأمل جميعا سوف يعود إلى وضعها الطبيعي في وقت قريب جدا. شكرا جزيلا على صبركم والتعاطف.
После нескольких часов под угрозой, мы снова. Мы до сих пор под нагрузкой,но, надеюсь, все вернется к нормальному очень скоро. Большое спасибо за ваше терпение и сочувствие.
We're running hot...
We are currently experiencing something we believe is a DDoS attack, we are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We're working around the clock to get back to normal.
We let you know asap we know more. Many thanks for your patience.
ونحن نشهد حاليا شيء نعتقد أنه هجوم دوس، نحن نأسف بشدة عن أي إزعاج قد يسببه هذا الأمر. نحن نعمل على مدار الساعة لتعود إلى وضعها الطبيعي.
نخبرك في اسرع وقت ممكن ونحن نعلم أكثر من ذلك. شكرا جزيلا على صبركم
Мы сейчас переживаем то, что мы считаем DDoS атаки, мы ужасно извинения за причиненные неудобства это может привести. Мы работаем круглосуточно, чтобы вернуться к нормальной жизни.
Мы сообщим вам как можно скорее мы знаем больше. Большое спасибо за ваше терпение.
ونحن نشهد حاليا شيء نعتقد أنه هجوم دوس، نحن نأسف بشدة عن أي إزعاج قد يسببه هذا الأمر. نحن نعمل على مدار الساعة لتعود إلى وضعها الطبيعي.
نخبرك في اسرع وقت ممكن ونحن نعلم أكثر من ذلك. شكرا جزيلا على صبركم
Мы сейчас переживаем то, что мы считаем DDoS атаки, мы ужасно извинения за причиненные неудобства это может привести. Мы работаем круглосуточно, чтобы вернуться к нормальной жизни.
Мы сообщим вам как можно скорее мы знаем больше. Большое спасибо за ваше терпение.
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