Trick not treat: 123 Reg down on Halloween, DNS borked by DDoS

In the 21st century, kids can be a real nuisance

Customers of 123 Reg suffered more tricks than treats this morning when a DDoS attack hobbled the registrar's services.

Users were confronted by DNS lookup failures until early this afternoon, when 123 Reg said it managed to get the attack "contained" and services restored.

Inevitably, the delay provoked customer gripes.

.@123reg web services currently running slower than an asthmatic hamster with heaving shopping 😬

— Phil Lindsay (@pl) October 31, 2016

This is the second DDoS targeting TITSUP-afflicted 123 Reg for the quarter. Back in August the outfit experienced a DDoS attack of 30-plus Gbps to its data centre, with its protection systems kicking in within seconds of the attack being detected.

Our network teams are working hard on fix at present and we will update you as soon as we receive further information.

— 123 Reg Help (@123regHelp) October 31, 2016

The DDoS is currently contained and services should now be restored. We will continue to monitor and thank you all for your understanding.

— 123 Reg Help (@123regHelp) October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween! ®

Update: A 123 Reg spokesperson recently got in touch just before 14.00 to say:

Earlier today we experienced a DDoS attack to our data centre. Our team mobilised immediately and managed to contain the attack, and customers’ services were restored within two hours. This is thanks to the large investment we have made over recent months to ensure we have the strongest defence possible against such attacks.

All services are now restored and we thank our customers for their patience and understanding. We know how important it is for our customers to have access to our services at all time and we are very sorry for any intermittent connection issues that some of our customers may have come across today.