Only just got a minute at my desk to see this. Thank you so much for sharing and building awareness. I just hope my story helps others save their work. Really appreciate the support.
You're welcome. Sounds like they need to improve the UX on this page big time. Even if you're not in the danger zone there should still be a final 'are you sure?' warning before everything is deleted. I hope they've given you a ring and an apology at least.
I have some of your emails so just holler if you want me to send any over. Have fun in Paris :) X
"What if they were hacked!? Everybody’s being hacked. I popped into my local Co-op last night, and the shelves are still empty because of the cyberattacks."
That's just for starters: this issue may get worse. When more advanced AI is used by hackers, bank accounts and the databases controlling smart meters for electricity etc (which send and receive meter readings and credit status by RF data transmissions) will increasingly become vulnerable.
If they use mobile phone repeaters, then they will become vulnerable to "man-in-the-middle attacks" (where bogus mobile or wifi networks operating from a mobile van pretend to be your bank, or other secure service, to intercept login data etc), and the final level is EMP attacks to cause power blackouts.
EMP was first fully documented and demonstrated as a weapon by a series of Russian high altitude 300kt yield tests at heights of up to 300km over Kazakhstan during the Cuban missiles crisis; power and communications lines over 500 km long were shut down by large induced direct currents, and the attached electric power plant at Karaganda was burned down due to DC overload of transformers.
As the recent power blackouts across the iberian peninsula showed, you can't buy food even with cash when the tills in the supermarket are powered off, you can't get cash when the cashpoints have no power, you can't watch tv, use the microwave, or boil the kettle. You can't use your phone for communications, or even as a torch or games console when the battery runs out and you can't recharge. There's a lot of dependence on technology, and just about everything is vulnerable to a prolonged blackout. At the best of times, the delivery times for large custom-made, high-current, oil-cooled replacement power transformers can be six months. If a huge number are needed and society is totally disrupted by the chaos, it would be like the stone age for years.
👀 What a minefield, Nige - it's fascinating but yes, I wonder where we're going with it all. I just had a call from my mobile network and said I wasn't going to answer his security questions as I don't know if it's a genuine call. He said, "fair enough". I asked him to email me instead and I'll call them back. I don't answer my phone now unless I recognise the number because there's so much scamming and sales stuff.
I've been banging on about this for almost two decades, but digital content publishers need to step up from winging it like amateurs and start taking responsibility like professionals.
Printed newspapers and magazines, like any serious endeavour, have always considered it normal to prepare a Plan B should anything go wrong. What if the presses break down? They'd pivot straight to a third party press site with whom they'd already made a retainer agreement. National daily newspapers devise disaster recovery plans should their premises burn down, get blown up or be occupied by protesters: some even maintain fully equipped "twin" newsrooms at alternative sites to which they can relocate staff at the drop of a hat (or bomb), just in case.
I was working on the app edition of one of these nationals about 10 years ago, when one night our digital production partner turned to us and announced their production system had broken down. It wouldn't be back online for 24 hours, they said. So we couldn't publish that day's edition, lost a day's advertising revenue, and had to extend our readers' subscriptions by a day. In one fell swoop, they had prevented the publication of a British national daily newspaper... A historical achievement that neither the Kaiser nor Hitler had managed.
Digital publishing systems are run by kids and amateurs. It's up to us as content creators to grow up and take the initiative to do things properly, like a good business should.
Make it a goal to develop a disaster recovery plan for your newsletter this week. If Substack feeds YOUR publication through the shredder, what will YOU do?
We need your Autosave, Al! No 'Are you sure?' warning message either before the nuke.
Great lesson! I agree. Problem is we're solo creators mostly trying to do everything and things slip. I realised how vulnerable I was the other day relying on my banking app to pay for a hotel (login error) and didn't have enough cash in my regular account. I need to start carrying a bit of cash around with me again and stop relying on Contactless / apps for everything.
The M&S, Co-op and Harrods attacks must be costing them a bomb - it's like lockdown 2.0 with the empty shelves.
How are you backing up your stuff? Think I'll use a USB stick as well as saving to my laptop just in case. I've seen no comms about it (no emails, nothing on social, no public apology) - maybe they will when they figure out the problem. Hope so bcos communication is everything. It's not just Lucy either.
I'm sure Lucy would appreciate a cuppa & chat - she's not far from you.
Quite agree. The lesson to be learnt - a miserable one - is that Substack is like most modern tech businesses in that they are (bless 'em) incompetent in a number of areas that a generation earlier would have been dealt with as part of everyday standard practice.
Why do you thihk there are so many reports of cyberattacks these days? The victim companies claim they were the result of "sophisticated hacks" but they absolutely aren't. Just the result of half-arsed IT management implemented in a half-arsed way. So, basically, customers like us are worth a mere quarter of an arse to them.
Only just got a minute at my desk to see this. Thank you so much for sharing and building awareness. I just hope my story helps others save their work. Really appreciate the support.
You're welcome. Sounds like they need to improve the UX on this page big time. Even if you're not in the danger zone there should still be a final 'are you sure?' warning before everything is deleted. I hope they've given you a ring and an apology at least.
I have some of your emails so just holler if you want me to send any over. Have fun in Paris :) X
Yes, I did get a phone call finally. Still waiting for next steps a bit. All a slow process.
Excellent - I'm so pleased they rang you.
"What if they were hacked!? Everybody’s being hacked. I popped into my local Co-op last night, and the shelves are still empty because of the cyberattacks."
That's just for starters: this issue may get worse. When more advanced AI is used by hackers, bank accounts and the databases controlling smart meters for electricity etc (which send and receive meter readings and credit status by RF data transmissions) will increasingly become vulnerable.
If they use mobile phone repeaters, then they will become vulnerable to "man-in-the-middle attacks" (where bogus mobile or wifi networks operating from a mobile van pretend to be your bank, or other secure service, to intercept login data etc), and the final level is EMP attacks to cause power blackouts.
EMP was first fully documented and demonstrated as a weapon by a series of Russian high altitude 300kt yield tests at heights of up to 300km over Kazakhstan during the Cuban missiles crisis; power and communications lines over 500 km long were shut down by large induced direct currents, and the attached electric power plant at Karaganda was burned down due to DC overload of transformers.
As the recent power blackouts across the iberian peninsula showed, you can't buy food even with cash when the tills in the supermarket are powered off, you can't get cash when the cashpoints have no power, you can't watch tv, use the microwave, or boil the kettle. You can't use your phone for communications, or even as a torch or games console when the battery runs out and you can't recharge. There's a lot of dependence on technology, and just about everything is vulnerable to a prolonged blackout. At the best of times, the delivery times for large custom-made, high-current, oil-cooled replacement power transformers can be six months. If a huge number are needed and society is totally disrupted by the chaos, it would be like the stone age for years.
👀 What a minefield, Nige - it's fascinating but yes, I wonder where we're going with it all. I just had a call from my mobile network and said I wasn't going to answer his security questions as I don't know if it's a genuine call. He said, "fair enough". I asked him to email me instead and I'll call them back. I don't answer my phone now unless I recognise the number because there's so much scamming and sales stuff.
Going back to my cabin in the woods now :)
I've been banging on about this for almost two decades, but digital content publishers need to step up from winging it like amateurs and start taking responsibility like professionals.
Printed newspapers and magazines, like any serious endeavour, have always considered it normal to prepare a Plan B should anything go wrong. What if the presses break down? They'd pivot straight to a third party press site with whom they'd already made a retainer agreement. National daily newspapers devise disaster recovery plans should their premises burn down, get blown up or be occupied by protesters: some even maintain fully equipped "twin" newsrooms at alternative sites to which they can relocate staff at the drop of a hat (or bomb), just in case.
I was working on the app edition of one of these nationals about 10 years ago, when one night our digital production partner turned to us and announced their production system had broken down. It wouldn't be back online for 24 hours, they said. So we couldn't publish that day's edition, lost a day's advertising revenue, and had to extend our readers' subscriptions by a day. In one fell swoop, they had prevented the publication of a British national daily newspaper... A historical achievement that neither the Kaiser nor Hitler had managed.
Digital publishing systems are run by kids and amateurs. It's up to us as content creators to grow up and take the initiative to do things properly, like a good business should.
Make it a goal to develop a disaster recovery plan for your newsletter this week. If Substack feeds YOUR publication through the shredder, what will YOU do?
We need your Autosave, Al! No 'Are you sure?' warning message either before the nuke.
Great lesson! I agree. Problem is we're solo creators mostly trying to do everything and things slip. I realised how vulnerable I was the other day relying on my banking app to pay for a hotel (login error) and didn't have enough cash in my regular account. I need to start carrying a bit of cash around with me again and stop relying on Contactless / apps for everything.
The M&S, Co-op and Harrods attacks must be costing them a bomb - it's like lockdown 2.0 with the empty shelves.
How are you backing up your stuff? Think I'll use a USB stick as well as saving to my laptop just in case. I've seen no comms about it (no emails, nothing on social, no public apology) - maybe they will when they figure out the problem. Hope so bcos communication is everything. It's not just Lucy either.
I'm sure Lucy would appreciate a cuppa & chat - she's not far from you.
Quite agree. The lesson to be learnt - a miserable one - is that Substack is like most modern tech businesses in that they are (bless 'em) incompetent in a number of areas that a generation earlier would have been dealt with as part of everyday standard practice.
Why do you thihk there are so many reports of cyberattacks these days? The victim companies claim they were the result of "sophisticated hacks" but they absolutely aren't. Just the result of half-arsed IT management implemented in a half-arsed way. So, basically, customers like us are worth a mere quarter of an arse to them.