CI / CB website issues

**Rugbysh9** · 07-17-2009, 12:17 PM

Anyone out there having any issues with these 2 website? Its been pretty spotty for me the last few days and I 'm getting irked I can't manage my bids or even see if I need to.

Andrew

**Roger** · 07-17-2009, 12:21 PM

Yup for some reason I have not been able to get into CI recently although I have had some e mails from them on their daily deals. Had a problem Wednesday getting connected to them. Roger.

**denver24** · 07-17-2009, 12:34 PM

I've noticed the connection issues and I've had problems on Famous as well.

**denver24** · 07-21-2009, 09:28 AM

I am still having a tough time getting onto CI, Famous, or CigarBid.

I have also had problems getting onto some other cigar websites.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think Big Bro might be trying to "cure" our "addiction" and collect more tax dollars by limiting access to online sites and forcing more B&M purchasing. After all, the kids need health insurance, and we have to pay for it!

Ok, sorry, that was my morning rant and I got it all out and I am done now!

**ashauler** · 07-21-2009, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by denver24

I am still having a tough time getting onto CI, Famous, or CigarBid.

I have also had problems getting onto some other cigar websites.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think Big Bro might be trying to "cure" our "addiction" and collect more tax dollars by limiting access to online sites and forcing more B&M purchasing. After all, the kids need health insurance, and we have to pay for it!

Ok, sorry, that was my morning rant and I got it all out and I am done now!

Well, perhaps you will find this useful: http://zapatopi.net/afdb/. It comes with high recommendation.

**Rugbysh9** · 07-21-2009, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by ashauler

Well, perhaps you will find this useful: http://zapatopi.net/afdb/. It comes with high recommendation.

LMFAO!!!

**denver24** · 07-21-2009, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by ashauler

Well, perhaps you will find this useful: http://zapatopi.net/afdb/. It comes with high recommendation.

Will that stop the voices in my head?

**DeeDubya** · 07-21-2009, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by ashauler

Well, perhaps you will find this useful: http://zapatopi.net/afdb/. It comes with high recommendation.

I'm never without mine. I just put my cap on over it when I go out. I love wearing mine at night when sleeping. It can intensify dream flying and avoid intercepting your spouse's dreams (which is never a good thing).
The heavy duty quilted foil works best and lasts longer.

**dmac** · 07-21-2009, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by DeeDubya

... and avoid spouses intercepting your dreams (which is never a good thing).

Fixed that for ya deedub

**Roger** · 07-21-2009, 03:45 PM

yeah... but how many channels can you pick up with that thing? And are they're digital?

**DeeDubya** · 07-21-2009, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by dmac

Fixed that for ya deedub

Thanks, said it backwards. She's an angel, not an evil thought ever.

**DeeDubya** · 07-21-2009, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by Roger

yeah... but how many channels can you pick up with that thing? And are they're digital?

It sounds a lot like tuning an old WWII short wave radio with a lot of cross-talk. And I forgot to mention the migraines and amnesia that follow a session.

**cinda** · 07-21-2009, 04:35 PM

Rocky Patel 'R4' Corojo Double Corona

20 Cigars (7.5" x 52)

MSRP: $120.00

CI 1-Day Deal: $39.99

Qty Available: 2,349

These seemed like a good deal . The price ends tonight. Cigar International

but you can not get in to it

**Roger** · 07-21-2009, 07:16 PM

Hey Cinda I just clicked the link to the cigars you listed above and got on the CI site. First time in a week that happened. But the deal is sold out already. Thanks for the tip cinda!
Roger

**ggiese** · 07-21-2009, 08:38 PM

Looks they replaced Cbid with "Make Me An Offer!"....

**cinda** · 07-21-2009, 09:30 PM

Many of our customers have been wondering why our websites have been slow or inaccessible for the past five days. The problem was due to a targeted Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, similar to what has recently been happening to some large government websites, financial institutions, and e-commerce sites in the U.S. and abroad. For those of you who do not know what a "DDoS" is and what it is not, I will briefly explain. First and foremost, no one's personal data has been compromised. I want to assure you that all your personal data is safe, protected and intact.
So what is DDoS? These attacks occur when a flood of traffic is deliberately sent to a particular website in an effort to overwhelm the site and prevent legitimate users from getting through. This is exactly what occurred over the last five days to famous-smoke.com and to some of our competitors in the premium cigar industry. WE ARE NOW BACK, and I have taken steps to ensure that this cyber terrorism will never happen to Famous Smoke Shop again:
We have contracted with experts in the internet security industry to mitigate the attack, and our website was successfully brought back on line Sunday evening. Our security consultants will continue to monitor our network traffic to combat the continued attacks. In partnership with our security consultants, we have performed exhaustive security audits of our networks, servers and websites. Again, I want to reiterate that in no way was our security breached or our data compromised. Although the attackers were successful in generating enough traffic to bring our websites down, we were not "hacked," and all of your personal data has been, and continues to remain, secure.
Like many of you, until a few days ago, I had never heard of DDoS, nor did I understand how widespread this problem has become in the ecommerce sector, how vulnerable we were, or what the consequences of such cyber terrorism would be. Had all retail cigar websites been affected, as some others were, your online cigar supply lines would have been severed completely.
Unfortunately for me, while this disaster was occurring, I was in Nicaragua and Honduras, and did not fully understand what was happening to my company. You can only imagine my frustration. All I was thinking about was creating new products for my customers, and I'm pleased to report that we have some excellent new surprise cigars on the way.
Thankfully, right now our company is functioning normally again. We were attacked. Jealous competitor? Anti-smoking terrorist? It's impossible to know at this point. Suffice to say, we are doing everything in our power to get to the bottom of it. Moreover, because of the deliberate targeting of our industry, and the scale and duration of the attack, Federal authorities have taken an active interest in pursuing the attackers and we intend to cooperate fully.
Even more frustrating was being unable to communicate and inform you about the situation until now, since our email was out of action as well. Therefore, I apologize to all of you, my valued customers, for the inconvenience and the silence.
Sincerely,
Arthur Zaretsky
President,
Famous Smoke Shop-PA, Inc.
www.famous-smoke.com

**ggiese** · 07-22-2009, 08:29 AM

DDos - one of the oldest tricks in the book...

Although they are getting uglier as time progresses.

Personally - I think it's a "smurf attack".

**FactoredReality** · 07-22-2009, 09:27 AM

Bot nets will be the economic weapons of the future. Distributed Denial Of Service was a lot more effective before we started using smart switches and massive fiber backbones across the country.

Sounds like their IT guys were sleeping on the job a bit.

**Rugbysh9** · 07-22-2009, 09:30 AM

Cinda thanks for posting that. I FS credit for reaching out to its customer base and letting them know what's been going on. As far as the federal authorities looking into it, I think (in my own delusional mind) that they are only trying to make sure they continue to generate revenue from the SCHIP tax.

Just my $0.02

- Andrew