Avsim.com - Hacking Case

Hacking Case

On May 12, 2009, AVSIM was attacked by a hacker, resulting in a catastrophic loss of data of the website. Tom Allensworth, CEO and Publisher of AVSIM, explained that the site used two servers to back-up the site's data, but that the hacker deleted the content of both, destroying the ability to use one server to restore the data of the other. The site had not established an external backup system. After AVSIM went offline, Allensworth issued the following announcement:

“We regret to inform the flight simulation community that on Tuesday, May 12, AVSIM was hacked and effectively destroyed. The method of the hack makes recovery difficult, if not impossible, to recover from. Both servers, that was the library / email and web site / forum servers were attacked. AVSIM is totally offline at this time and we expect to be so for some time to come. We are not able to predict when we will be back online, if we can come back at all. We will post more news as we are able to in the coming days and weeks….”

Nevertheless, the recovery process went quicker than most expected. Sections of the site began restoration on May 26, and as of May 28, most of the site has been recovered to its original form, but the file library and some links are still being repaired. The cost of the recovery of the site is about $25,000 to pay for new servers and experts who will recover the files. Most of that cost has been funded through Avsim's donation system and advertisers. Limited service was restored after Memorial Day, 2009. The file library was then tentatively scheduled for reactivation in the first week of June, 2009 following file investigation, debugging and recompilation.

A gradual recovery of the site took place over several days. The servers were replaced, the email addresses and forums were recovered on May 26, and the front page and other elements of the site on May 28. On the 28th it was also announced on the front page that approximately 90% of the file library would be recoverable, and that all Flight Simulator X and Flight Simulator 9 files were intact. The library was brought back online, with more than 95% of the original content, as of July 26.

On September 7 AVSIM filed a civil suit in Britain against the person who hacked the organization in May. The AVSIM website issued the following statement:

“Today, September 7th, 2009, AVSIM filed a criminal complaint with the Police Constabulary of London. We will not name any names, but have incontravertible evidence of the individual that performed the hack of AVSIM on May 12th this year. We have protected the forensic evidence and provided that evidence to the London police. We are committed to bringing justice to bear on this case... hough we tried to resolve this over the last three months out of court, giving this person two opportunities to settle with us, the individual did not avail himself of the opportunity - in fact, he has ignored our proffers. We are now doing as we promised this person we would do; ratcheting this up to the next, criminal, level. To the extent that prudence allow, we will keep you informed of future developments.”

As of July 2011 AVSIM have still not updated its users on the situation and it appeared that the matter had been brushed under the carpet given the last few words of the above quote; then, in a retrospective blog post in June 2012, Tom Allensworth, the founder of AVSIM, explained that legal action was ultimately dropped, and that (apparently for unrelated reasons) the alleged hacker subsequently committed suicide.