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Source: MSFT/Danger's Servers Were Sabotaged

by - source: Tom's Hardware US

There's been quite a lot of toing and froing when it comes to Microsoft/Danger's huge, server-related boo-boo. While customers are sobbing, mourning the loss of all their data, folks are asking the same question over and over, "How did this even happen?"

Previous reports suggested that the good folks at Microsoft-owned Danger failed to back up user data before a SAN (Storage Area Network) upgrade. The company had Hitachi in to do the job for them and for some reason, no one at Danger backed anything up before Hitachi did the deed. Hiptop3 cites several sources that say something went wrong during the upgrade, everything was lost and there was no working backup to save the day. Today there's another, more sinister story doing the rounds: Someone at Danger did this on purpose. AppleInsider cites an anonymous source who says 'all signs point to sabotage.'

"Someone with access to the servers at the datacenter must have inserted a time bomb to wipe out not just all of the data, but also all of the backup tapes," said the source, adding, "Finally, I suspect, reformatting the server hard drives so that the service itself could not be restarted with a simple reboot (and to erase any traces of the time bomb itself)."

Now sabotage is a big jump to make. Sure, no IT professionals in their right mind would start any kind of server maintenance work without backing everything up first but accidents happen, right? Well AppleInsider's source seems to think that it's definitely plausible, explaining that this outage just didn't fit in with what ordinarily happens.

"If this was an ordinary sort of failure, the service would have come back within a day, so once again, all signs point to sabotage."

Man, I don't mean to rub it in, but Sidekick users must be getting more mad with each passing day.

Read the full scoop on AI.

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jcknouse 10/14/2009 5:43 PM
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Um...if for some reason the scheduled system backup failed and no one checked it to make sure, they could have assumed there was a good backup and just told Hitachi they had one. Then when they went to restore...OOPS!

So much for QA, huh? lol

bill gates is your daddy 10/14/2009 5:49 PM
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Sounds like someone is in a mad rush to find a scapegoat quick...no matter how convoluted it sounds. I'm surprised they have not blamed this on terrorism.

Just accept the blame and bend over.

davidhbrown 10/14/2009 5:59 PM
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A program that wiped all their off-site tapes (presuming they had any)? That's some program.

darkknight22 10/14/2009 6:00 PM
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I read the full article on Apple Insider, interesting read. The real problem is that Danger was running Linux/Oracle due to contractual obligations with T-Mobile. Apparently Microsoft's Forensic Team has 0 experience in that department and can't track down what really happened.

Overall the management setup between Danger/Microsoft/T-Mobile was just a mess waiting to happen.

legierk 10/14/2009 6:01 PM
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Seemed to work to my advantage...got my wife out of the TMobile contract she was in WITHOUT PENALTIES and got her on my plan (different carrier) due to this snafu.

jrsdav 10/14/2009 6:01 PM
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AppleInsider cites a anonymous source that is saying "Sabotage!"?

Attacks made towards one of the iPhone's biggest competitors, the Sidekick?

Sounds like this is one for the Jobs Mob conspiracy buffs.

magicandy 10/14/2009 6:13 PM
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I smell a created scapegoat to take the fall for Danger's/MS's upgrade screw-up.

terr281 10/14/2009 6:15 PM
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(I am not saying the story is true, but...)

I work in IT dealing with the daily backups (and restores) of data for a mid-sized company. The story could be true if the following were true in their enterprise:

1. Their backup software resides on the same SAN as the actual data. (Very plausible.) This would erase the "catalog of backups" and the actual backup program at the same time as the data. (Formating an entire corporate SAN is NEVER done.) If backups of the backup software's catalog were not done correctly, or if paper/other records of these backups were not kept, then trial-and-error of "which tape to use" would be the only solution to get the data back.

2. Same situation as above, with the data and backup catalog being deleted/corrupted at the same time, but this time the "former employee" at Danger was the Backup Administrator. Due to his/her position, he could easily have destroyed/corrupted all records of the backups. (This could have been done manually... OR... as the suggestion states, with a time bomb program.) Again, paper (or other electronic records, such as emails to multiple parties), are the only solution to correct this one.

In short, if Danger's corporate policy did not require more than one person to be involved in the backup process (even X years ago prior to the merger), and "other forms" of records were not the norm now, then this is plausible.

tayb 10/14/2009 6:48 PM
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The fact that this story is coming from Apple Insider makes it more believable. Apple Insider isn't exactly known for unbiased articles why in the world would they write an article shifting the blame AWAY from Microsoft?

Honis 10/14/2009 6:49 PM
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People actually read Apple Insider? It is the Fox News of technology!

Sidekick users should jump ship while T-Mobile is letting them break contract with no penalties and get a phone with local storage of user data.

squirtle 10/14/2009 6:51 PM
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incompetence of great enough scale is the same thing as sabotage

wildwell 10/14/2009 7:04 PM
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Uh oh, sabotage, must be the North Koreans again!

sslazio77 10/14/2009 7:12 PM
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Undercover Apple "Genius" is definitely behind this...

tester24 10/14/2009 8:00 PM
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I would believe this over them neglecting on doing a backup. I work for a hospital and before any type of system migration or upgrade backups are done and checked a few times before we go ahead with maintenance.

nirvanabah 10/14/2009 8:06 PM
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Ohhhh I can't stand it, I know you planned it!

...Beastie Boys know whats up

pug_s 10/14/2009 8:34 PM
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It could've been some rogue backup admin messed up with the backups. Microsoft should've tested the backups for validation.

Anonymous 10/14/2009 8:54 PM
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maby their server is running Os X and they upgraded to Snow Leopard?

Uncle Meat 10/14/2009 9:01 PM
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Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage.

asjflask 10/14/2009 9:21 PM
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"Man, I don't mean to rub it in, but Sidekick users must be getting more mad with each passing day."

More mad... Lol..

Anonymous 10/14/2009 9:29 PM
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I call BS. It would be virtually impossible to destroy backup tapes with a worm unless they resided in a tape library and in that case incompetence is more to blame than sabotage. If they resided elsewhere, then they COULD be restored from, it might just take awhile. And if there were indeed no backups, then incompetence is almost completely at fault.

In any case, at least partial blame falls to the admins and their management.

davidhbrown 10/14/2009 9:30 PM
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terr281 :
... This would erase the "catalog of backups" ... then trial-and-error of "which tape to use" would be the only solution to get the data back.... (This could have been done manually... OR... as the suggestion states, with a time bomb program.)


I guess that's why I've switched to DVD-R/DVD+R backups in ISO/UDF format with the content scrawled on them in sharpie. No special software/catalogs required.

davidhbrown 10/14/2009 9:31 PM
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(obviously the ISO/UDF DVD idea isn't going to get very far for a massive database.)

chainsaw667 10/14/2009 10:07 PM
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I have recovered data on erased raid arrays before. Where are the old drives? Even if formatted the data should be readable with the proper tools. ENcase for example.

tntom 10/14/2009 10:59 PM
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Welcome to the Cloud everyone.

What if the backup administrator committed some crime that was caught and recorded with a Sidekick. So in order to cover is tracks he wipes out the whole system. Sounds like a TV show plot?

Do other mobile device providers keep a backdoor that could be exploited to perform an identical function? Think Amazon Kindle.

gorehound 10/14/2009 10:59 PM
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this is one of the reasons why i will never bother to buy digital files of movies or music or books.i know we are talking of a different thing in this post but the point is i want to make sure i own what i buy so if it is lost due to accident i wont lose my stuff.

and i do own a cellphone and use it as a phone.and all my contacts/numbers are backed up on a piece of physical paper.

remember to not trust to computers and back up your possesions.

betrayer_ 10/15/2009 12:10 PM
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I don't know about sabotage, but why would there be no backup at all? Seems very odd.

wayneepalmer 10/15/2009 12:23 PM
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I'd venture somebody deep in IT had a serious porn collection or something else really weird (and massively illegal - like maybe some money transfer program that grabbed a penny from every financial transfer or message) hidden in the system files that would have left tracks and been discovered if it was erased deliberately and decided it was time to make it go away in a manner that could never be traced.

croc 10/15/2009 2:04 AM
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Let's see here... A microsoft issue, and an appleinsider expert. Yeah, I believe this 'report'

mrmez 10/15/2009 3:27 AM
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Didnt Steve Jobs just come back from an extended hiatus?

I bet he was working undercover at Danger the whole time.

Sneaky bugger.

Anonymous 10/15/2009 6:19 AM
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Hey, Tina. You know that guy we laid off that fed the little square things that looked like tapes to the refrigerator looking thing? Yeah, um, do you thing HR might have his number still?

r3t4rd 10/15/2009 10:06 AM
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john_reed85 :
maby their server is running Os X and they upgraded to Snow Leopard?



Appleinsider said "Guest" account was turned on. Makes sense now that is why no TapeBackups were available too.

I knew it...put 1 and 1 together and you get 11.

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