Hackers mistake French rugby club for German stock exchange

A display shows the German Stock Index DAX at the stock exchange in Frankfurt am Main
A display shows the German Stock Index DAX at the stock exchange in Frankfurt am Main. A fansite for a French rugby union team is recovering after hackers mistook it for the website of the German stock exchange and launched an attack.

A fansite for a French rugby union team is recovering after hackers mistook it for the website of the German stock exchange and launched an attack.

The allezdax.com website for second division Dax in rugby-loving southwest France was shut down for two weeks after its usual 700 daily page hits -- 1,200 on match days -- skyrocketed to 80,000 because of the attack.

"Our defences were certainly inadequate," one of the site's administrators who gave his name as Stephane told the France Bleu Gascogne radio station.

He said the had "insulted us copiously in German" thinking they were something to do with the DAX, Germany's blue-chip market index.

"I only have one thing to say to them: leave us alone!" Stephane said.

"Having been attacked full-on by a young, spotty Teuton, the site is back with more security," the site's homepage said on Thursday.

The site notes that as a result of the attack, it is now twice as popular as the Dax club's official site.

(c) 2011 AFP

Citation: Hackers mistake French rugby club for German stock exchange (2011, November 3) retrieved 26 July 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2011-11-hackers-french-rugby-club-german.html
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