Basecamp hit with a DDoS attack, says blackmail attempt points to same group that targeted Fotolia

Project management tool Basecamp has been struck by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The company says it’s been contacted by a party claiming responsibility, who are also demanding payment in exchange for a virtual ceasefire.

Basecamp said it “will not succumb to blackmail” and has alerted the relevant authorities to find the individual or group behind the attack. Based on the email address used for the blackmail attempt, Basecamp believes those responsible were also behind a similar attack on Fotolia.com last week.

The firm is now collaborating with Fotolia to learn more and reaching out to GitHub and Meetup, who also experienced DDoS attacks earlier this year, to see if they were targeted by the same group.

“We’re doing everything we can with the help of our network providers to mitigate this attack and halt the interruption of service,” Basecamp said. “We’re also contacting law enforcement to track down the criminals responsible. But in the mean time, it might be a rough ride, and for that we’re deeply sorry.”

Basecamp admitted there is no quick fix for a DDoS attack and is unable to estimate when the situation will be resolved. The company, formerly 37Signals. added that it was working “as quickly as possible” on a fix.

It’s worth noting that when I tried to log into Basecamp earlier, I didn’t encounter any difficulties. The scale of the DDoS attack’s impact is currently unclear and there is no guarantee its service won’t deteriorate further before a solution is found. “You may well be able to get into Basecamp occasionally during this attack, but that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear,” the company said on Twitter. “Attacks wane and wax.”

Update: Basecamp says its project management tools should be available for “95% of all customers” now. Some slowdown should be expected, however.

Headline image via Shutterstock