HACKER Shuts Down Selective Tomato Blogs

That is awful - I hope they get it fixed soon - and that they catch the person who did it!

Wow!

That is just mean spirited.  Bad Kudos to the Perps.

Gena - that just stinks! How low that is. I agree with Mike...that's just mean spirited.

This has been a real pain in the ass to the say the least.  A real violation or sorts, that's for sure.  

We're on the cusp of rebooting all the sites that were affected: around 20 total.  Gena and gang will be back in business in just a few moments more.

Steps have been taken to ensure that something like this will not be happening to us again.  But most importantly we look to involve the authorities to ensure that the perp doesn't have the opportunity to commit such a crime on anyone else.

Hi Gena, I have written you a message 3 times already and then I check the site and see that isn't up, hit the x and lose it all and start over again. This a clear example of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,lol

In my comments that got deleted I mentioned that we are in good hands with Jim and I am sure that he and his staff will do all they can to get us up and running soon. Thankfully we have someone that looks after all us and it pleases me to be associated with JIm, but I wonder, why us? I can't imagine why we were targeted by the evil doers.

It is a scary world we live in when some people seek to be so destructive and evil and that they have the ability to even think in these terms. More scary is that they actually desire to do so.

Thanks again for letting our friends know of our plight. Jim will get us through this , I have every confidence in him and the staff. But a little prayer won't hurt either, :-)

PA, I love your new blog header. I worked on mine and it looks OK, for now at least. I wanted to do the textbook theme and I just don't have the right pictures as yet of my site to make the banner look right. So for now it is the San Diego Skyline.

Courtney, I can assure you that the Tomato is doing everything in his power to make sure that this perpetrator is caught and pays the price. And several of us, will also make sure that a price is paid. This is nothing short of malicious sabotage.

Oh Mike, I wish for them more than just bad kudos...definitely mean spirited...you got that right!

Thanks for coming by and lending your support, Linda. This perpetrator is very low. And to hand select from the server the bloggers this person chose to delete is extremely transparent.

Sites are starting to come back on now.  Look for yours to pop back super soon.

Real Estate Tomato, so glad that all of the "Big Guys" are on this. Hopefully, we will be back up soon. So glad that we are with a reputable person such as yourself. It is reassuring knowing that you will do everything in your power to expose and legally address the perpetrator. 

I know that we are in good hands and that we will be back up running soon.

William, sorry you had difficulty getting your comment in. I was probably editing this article when that was happening to you.

So sorry that you were effected by this low individual, too. I like you, know that Tomato and his staff are doing everything possible to make sure that we will be up and running soon. I know that it has taken longer due to the fact that they need to have the evidence of who did this and keep it for legal remedy.

Glad that we are with a reputable person like Tomato who will seek justice for his clients.

William, I'll come over and take a look at yours. Some of the AR people have done a really nice job on redoing their pages. I wish I were that talented. Mine will have to do for now.

Real Estate Tomato, believe me it couldn't be soon enough. Just checked and nothing up yet but hopefully sometime today...I'm hoping...

Gena,

Thanks for alerting us!  I think people who are very angry do things like this, and they do it just because they can.  I hope they are caught and have to PAY!!

I love the new look to your AR blog!!

April, Anger and Jealousy seem like 2 reasons someone might do something as malicious as this. Sometimes, people can't handle others successes and also need to be in anger management classes. One of things I think that has been so nice here at Active Rain is how almost everyone revels in each others accomplishments. That's the way it should be, it's the mature way, it's the best way but I guess there are those that still need to learn that. And part of learning is having to pay for what you have done...that's yet to come.

Thank you. There are so many talented AR members who have customized their sites beautifully. I am always amazed at the talent that we have right here. 

Thanks for coming over and being supportive.

This is worse than mean spirited, it is vicious and I hope they find the individuals who did this.  Will be curious to hear more as this unfolds.  Not too mamy people know how to do this stuff I can't imagine.  Good luck restoring this and getting back to business.

Gena: Rather than spending countless hours tracing IP addresses and the such, hope the Tomato guys just call the Feds. The consequences from this mischief have been costly for all.

Hi Genda - This is a vicious attack, whether it was intended as a prank or not.  Love the new look!

Virginia,

I don't know if I would call the intentional deletion of some of our clients' databases and files a "prank".  This is akin to breaking and entering, stealing and destruction of private property.  Hardly graffiti.  Let's stick with "attack."

Miriam, I tend to agree with you. This took a lot of forethought and required a great deal of knowledge. Seems as though this would be a big step up from vicious...wonder what word would best describe this act? I'll have to give that some thought.

Yes, I'm sure that as Tomato uncovers this culprit all will be revealed...stay tuned.

Roberta, I quite agree. I do hope they call the Feds instead of spending anymore time digging through the pile of traces this sick perpetrator left behind.  For every minute this remains as such it continues to cost all of us our business.

We have already compiled all the evidence.  We needed to do so before reseting and reloading everything, otherwise their traces would have been lost.  So it was time well spent.  Now we are just getting the sites back up.

Virginia, prank? I can't even put my arms around that. Surely no one would be that stupid as to set themselves up for a criminal offense. Who ever it is, meant to do what they did,they chose the people in the database to do it to and they had to also chose the database since there is more than one. Very clearly this is breaking and entering.

Thanks for the compliment on my new look here. Hopefully, I'll see Sacramento Real Estate Voice back up on it's on platform instead of just a picture of it, here. 

Tomato, glad to see you. I think you are absolutely right...I missed a few things when I wrote back to Virginia so I thank you for picking up the slack..."This is akin to breaking and entering, stealing and destruction of private property Hardly graffiti.  Let's stick with "attack."

This has been devastating and I do hope the sick individual who did this is preparing to be caught.  When do you think we will know who this is?

We are not going to rush to judgment, or falsely assume anything, or insinuate whom it may be... we'll simply compile the evidence and let the investigation commence. 

Tomato, that sounds like the man with character that I have always thought you to be. Since, I have never been through this before as I am sure the others have not as well, how long of a procedure do you think this investigation will take before fruition?

Depends on the clarity of the evidence.  I have not seen anything personally - Jason has compiled everything.  We will be reviewing it once we have gotten everything back on track.  I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Thank you Tomato. I look forward as do the other Tomato bloggers on being back up as soon as possible and as soon as you have had time to go over all this with Jason, I will appreciate a call to go over the findings.

That sucks, saddens and pisses me off all at the same time.  So sorry all of you are going through this. I hope they catch this person!

Oh Gena - I'm so sorry to hear that!  I needed Maggie Dokic's e-mail this morning and went to her site and saw that it was down as well.  I will NEVER understand mean spirited people.  I'm still trying to clean up the mess one such person did when they blacklisted my site and now people cannot respond to my e-mails.

If we could just refocus that negative energy into something constructive, the world would be a better place.  I hope the perpetrator is found. 

Thank you Carolefor your support. After all the years worth of work and knowing how many contacts I receive each and everyday from my blog as well as phone calls, this is a devastating disservice to my business.  I too, hope that the trail left will without a doubt show the perpetrator who saw fit to do this.

I sure hope you catch them. This is just terrible...I simply don't understand people sometimes.

I am so sorry Gena!

Ines, thank you so much for Maggie's name. What is the name of her blog, so that I can list it above. I only wanted to list those who I was sure of. I appreciate your sound words. I had no idea that you had been "blacklisted."  I am so sorry to hear that. I don't know why anyone would want to do that to you. Just as I can't figure out for the life of me how anyone could be so low as to sneak in the back-end of a server in the middle of the night and search for certain people to delete.

I think you are right that if they put that same energy and time into something productive, we would all be better for it and I know they would. Thanks again for lending a shoulder.

We have all completed...just now waiting for the sites to reload as live.  Just a waiting game now... and has been for the last few hours.

Maggie's blog is: theblogthatatemiami dot com

Gena,

On behalf of those of us here at ActiveRain, I'm really sorry this happened! It is amazing the lengths that some people will go to to hurt others. We will certainly be standing by to hear the outcome of if they can find who did this.

Any idea of if/when the sites will be back up? 

Gena- How  awful.. Interesting that all the blogs that were hacked were Active Rain membrs.. Lots of trash going around about AR.. wonder if it is a coincidence..

Monika, who would have thought...obviously it is someone who has a vast knowledge on how to break and enter. This is when you need to have lots of guard dogs! What's even worse is that a few minutes ago I had to go and mail the check to the U.S.Treasury. That always hurts.

Hopefully, when Tomato gets it back up and running, the phones and emails will continue. I would hate to think that this sorry person could destroy what I have tried so hard to build over 2 years could be destroyed in a matter of a few hours. Today is the 48th hour that our blogs have been down and they are still down.

Thank you for your support. I appreciate it.

Not all were AR bloggers... but most were... we encourage membership in our training, of course.

Ines,thank you. Now, that I know each of the name that goes with the blog, I'll put that up. Do you happen to know who has Port Orange Juice?

Gena, we didn't lose your hard work - I promise.  It's just been a real pain in the ass trying to get everyone to reload.  I assure that there will be no loss of traffic or juice from this.

Janis Gagliardi is POJ

Bob, thank you. I saw your icon over here earlier and knew that you would be back. I along with all the other Tomato bloggers appreciate your concern. No, we really don't know when we will be back up. They went down after 9:00 pm on Sunday and here we are, unfortunately. I certainly hope the culprit has left their tracks. I know I have felt them.

Kaye, what kind of trash are you talking about? I haven't heard about this? Of course, AR just be coincidental since all of us started here before we got our own blogs. Most people do, don't you think?

Hi Gena - hope your sites are back up shortly.  I'd be feeling like I was choking if mine went down. 

I just never understand why people who have those kinds of skills and know-how choose to do nefarious things like this instead of doing something realy great with that knowledge.

Sorry to hear you're going through this,
Ann

Gena - I forgot to mention how much I really like what you did to your header - love that look!!

Ann

Tomato, I would imagine having to load everything that all of us have written over all the years, months and days must be taking a long time. This is so unreal.

Ann, thank you for taking the time to comment. Yes, it has been a rather choking couple of days. And I'm with you...I don't understand the mind of someone who has that type of knowledge to use it in such a destructive manner. It says a lot about the person. Luckily, I believe in Karma.

I'm of course not the only one that this happened to. The others are having just as much pain. And I thank you on behalf of all of them for your kind words.

Glad you like the header. Hopefully, I will soon see the real one! I hope.

It's Janis Gagliardi Gena - http://activerain.com/portorangerealtor (Port Orange Juice)

Ines, thanks Jim jumped in too. If anyone knows who else was wiped off the face of the earth, just let me know and I'll add them to the lovely list that no one wants to be part of.

Gena, That is just incredible! Someone must be very bored with their life to even think about doing something like that! Why target RE blogs?

Hi Gina,

So sorry to hear about this. I hope all who were affected get even more exposure as a result of this, they're all great folks! 

Karen, you got me. The only reasons I can think of are:

1. Stupidity
2. Mean-Spirited
3. Jealousy
4. Anger

What ever the reason they have used to convince themselves that they are justified, is the work of a very sick person.

Lynda,well that's the only positive thing I've heard. Thank you on behalf of all the bloggers that have been effected.  Hopefully, that will be the case.

Janis,I know how you feel. And I know that Jim and the guys are doing their very best to get everything back up and running smoothly for us. I guess if we didn't blog so much there wouldn't be so much to have to load up on the servers.

Hopefully, we will be back up soon.

Wow Gena - that's a dirty trick.  How annoying!  I hope it doesn't slow you down too much.  We had a bad experience with a hacker targeting one of our office members a while back.  It took the FBI a long time to find out who it was.  Really bad for the target person.  Good luck!

Gena, I'm just taking it all in stride.  I've been so busy, I guess it was time for me to take a break (Just trying to keep things light LOL). 

If this had to happen to me, I am glad it happened with the Tomato to come to the rescue.  Jim and his crew have been unrelenting in getting everyone back up and running.  Thanks Mighty Tomato!

When Ines called me this morning I had not yet heard that it was a deliberate attack, just that servers were down.  I was shocked when I got the email from Jim telling us that someone chose to do this to us.  Why someone with such talent would choose to use it for destruction is beyond me, but then again, I'm kinda simple. 

I'm still down.  I guess I'll go back to sipping margaritas by the pool.  (just kidding!) 

Hi Gena:  So sorry to hear about this.   I was just thinking how vulunable we (Realtors) must be because we are on all kinds of sites, email and junk mail list.  This is so terrible.  One bright light is you found so many people supporting you :-)   Sylvia

Gena:  Please add Athol Kay with http://www.reagentinct.com  He, too, has been sabotaged:-(

Port Orange Juice is still down. I hope my site is back up when I wake up in the morning.

What a nightmare, so sorry you are all going through this.  Isn't there a backup that can be brought up for an occasion like this?  

Georgina, you know Roberta mentioned getting in touch with the FBI, too.  I was wondering if they would take on something like this but if they did for a member of your office staff then I guess its not as far fetched as I thought. Perhaps, Tomato will be turning over all the information to them. 

We still are not up and I can definitely state that this has effected my business. It's most obvious by the lack of emails, house searches and phone calls.

I do hope that the perpetrator is caught, soon.

Thanks for coming by and lending a strong shoulder.

Maggie, keep your sense of humor because what some of the rest of us are feeling is not a positive outlook. We would all do well to think like you. I think yesterday I was a little more optimistic but today, I'm down right angry. And angry really isn't such a good thing. It is definitely not in my best interest especially now.

You are absolutely right...if this had to happen, I'm thankful that we are with a great team like the Tomato to get us through it. They have worked endlessly to gather information and to get the backups loaded which obviously is taking a long time. The funny part is that if we all didn't blog so damn much, it wouldn't take so long to load all the articles.

Scoot on over and pour one of those margaritas for me...

Sylvia, that is a very bright light. And I am so very thankful as I am sure the rest of the Tomato gang is, as well. We are hurting and it means so very much to all of us to have the support of the one place where we all started.

Yes, it can happen to anyone and believe me, it doesn't feel good.

Roberta, thank you. I will.  I have a list of blog sites but no names so I appreciate the help.

Janis, I hope so too. It would be a nice warm welcoming. I know that Jason is doing the best he can and we want to make sure that all the links are up and running correctly. We'll all have to go over and welcome everyone back on board tomorrow....

Laurie,yes there is a backup but to load everyone that was deleted and all of their files takes a long time to load. If we weren't prolific bloggers it might not take very long.  But sense that's not the case, it is taking quite a bit of time. And  to be honest I believe that they have also been gathering vital information on the culprit, as well. They are working as fast as they can. From what I understand, Jason never even went to bed last night.

Thanks for concern.

Hey gang - the sites have been back up for a couple of hours, and we are aware that the data shown only goes back to Dec 07.  We are loading the latest files now and it will take us a few more hours to get the most recent content back on the site where it belongs.

Feel free to check in, but please be aware that we're still working very hard to get back to normal.   Jason has been up for 40 hours, and I'm working on just a few hours of sleep.

I appreciate all your support and confidence in us, and find it very comforting that y'all have gravitated towards this forum to stay on the same page.

We will be sending out an 'update' email to all the victims once we have wrapped up the reload and quality assurance.

Thanks again for your patience and understanding. 

I'm one of those "everything happens for a reason" kind of girls.  I believe something good will come from this.  It is really nice to see the blog community come together to support all of you!  And also impressive to see how the Tomato has kept you all in the communication loop!

Wish there was more that the rest of us could do.   Nasty business!

Wow Gena that is just terrible! It is amazing the lengths people will go to make others suffer - I hope they get what is coming to them!

Port Orange Juice is back but up to Dec.17th. Missing all posts since then and all the hours of optimization gone !! I can't believe this!!

Gena, et al: 

Hope and pray everything is back up today.  Must have been "a hacker's wet dream."

Tomato, thank you to you and to your staff for the countless hours this has taken to get our blogs back up and running. I, along with the other Tomato Bloggers are most appreciative of how this has impacted not only us but you, as well.

We will try and be as patient as possible until all the files are loaded.

Linda, we do have a wonderful community and some very GOOD people. I know I have been so impressed by the outpouring of support and I'm sure the others feel it too. Thank you so much for your support as well.

Tomato is a man of character and his staff has worked endlessly to gather the information needed for the authorities while also painstakingly uploaded the many files for each of the attacked bloggers. This has not been easy on anyone.

I hope the community supports each of the Tomato Bloggers as they come back up and lend a supportive shoulder.

Bill,I quite agree. It really is amazing that anyone would have that much hatred in their soul. You almost have to feel sorry for anyone who lives their lives like this. They must be very unhappy. Perhaps, a little time in the pokey might help them realize the consequence of their actions.

Thank you for your support and I hope that you will lend a supportive comment or two to the Bloggers that have been victimized in this brutal attack.

Janis, hang-in there girl. It all takes time. We have way too many articles but they will eventually all get up there. I know it is devastating but we all support you and will make it right, somehow.

Roberta, interesting! Someone's wet dream is another's nightmare. It just goes to show you how sick they really are.

To EACH and EVERYONE: Please follow the update to this article at ATTACKED Bloggers Emerging - Lend a Helping Hand  We need your support more than ever!

Gena - I'm still stunned and so happy it sounds like you're all up and running again - great to have a dedicated team behind you!!! Off to work on comments :) I know what it was to drop out of the search engines and it was devistating financially - but at least people could still find us - this is every bloggers worst nightmare!!!

Folks, I don't think our google juice was affected by this.  I've done some selective searches using terms I know I rank for and I still come up in the search, although if it's for a post that hasn't been restored (newer than Dec 17th) it will be a dead link, but the ranking is still there.  I could be mistaken but I tested it out myself this simple way and I am not overly concerned that I suffered in the ranking because of this.

Gena, so sorry I could not speak to you earlier.  It has been an incredibly long day for me.  I'm heading over to your new post now. 

Gina - I just now went back and read all of the comments on this post and saw your comment to me - I certainly didn't mean to make light of the situation by using the word 'prank'.  This was a vicious attack from a very sick person.  My only blog is on Active Rain, I only have a couple dozen posts here, but I would be very upset if they were lost along with the comments and the value to my business.  The word 'prank' does not convey the malicious intent that was obviously in play here.

Cyndee, well it's another day of December 2007 articles showing and hopefully soon all the others will be up. As far as the damage...I don't think anyone could possibly understand the damage that has been done to all 22 people.

I bet you are thanking your lucky stars that the vicious hacker by passed your blog. From what I am told they were selective in who they chose and who they left alone.  Interesting!

Glad that you are going in to comment on each of the blogs that are currently up. I have been surprised at the response and compassion for our fellow bloggers.  I do hope that you will follow through and comment.

Maggie, I think you are probably correct as long as the search engines have not gone out to spider the sites. Dead links do hurt a blog. As far as social networks are concerned, it definitely at this point has hurt. And in terms of business lost, I can testify to the fact that it has indeed hurt.

Hopefully, we will be fully up soon so that we can try to do some damage control.

Virginia, don't worry about it. I think we all knew that you didn't really mean a "prank"...it was simply a poor choice on words but it was pretty clear that you can see the gravity of the situation.

We are entering day 4 and not fully operational. Unfortunately, it is taking some time to reload the more current pages. There are bloggers who have changed companies, and therefore changed their blogs to reflect that but are sitting today with old information and portions that are not working correctly.

This malicious coward who broke in and destroyed blogs has unfortunately caused a great deal of harm and will be prosecuted to the fullest degree possible.

I appreciate you coming back and clarifying how you feel.

Just want to say that it is too bad you all have to go through this.  I hope the personor persons who are responsible get caught.

This is simply outrageous.  It's too bad that some people have too much time on their hand to do wrong to others.  What goes around, comes around.

Teresa, can't tell you how much I and the others hope so, too. Thanks for stopping by and offering your support.

Irina, hopefully their "come around" will be time in the pokey and a fat lawsuit as well as being "outed" by our profession. Thanks for your support on behalf of all the Tomato bloggers who experienced this devastation.