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Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

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Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#11

Post by BukhariH »

I've been in the exact same situation with AWS ( http://cl.ly/SHOu ).

It was a nerve recking couple of days but I contacted AWS support and they were extremely good. They helped me secure my machine and then cancelled the 1.4K payment they were going to take from my account.

In all the whole process took 2.5 weeks and I only had to pay $15 for the I/O requests.

The best thing I can recommend is to talk to your host and tell them honestly you can't pay that much and you weren't the cause of the charges either.

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#12

Post by malditojavi »

BukhariH wrote: post #11

I've been in the exact same situation with AWS ( http://cl.ly/SHOu ). It was a nerve recking couple of days but I contacted AWS support and they were extremely good. They helped me secure my machine and then cancelled the 1.4K payment they were going to take from my account. In all the whole process took 2.5 weeks and I only had to pay $15 for the I/O requests. The best thing I can recommend is to talk to your host a…

Same here, not as big as 4k, but only $200 more. AWS took care in an awesome way.

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#13

Post by minopret »

Blahah wrote: post #10

1. Report the incident to the police. Right now. 2. Report it to the VPS provider. Explain that you've reported it to the police. Ask for their cooperation in investigating the problem. You do not have to pay. If they try to force you to pay, depending on your country, you'll probably end up in small claims court where you'll find judges are very reasonable people who usually side with the little guy. (IANAL)

I wonder what experiences we have with police in similar situations in recent years. In the USA many years ago I brought a telephone bill dispute to police. They explained, not without kindness and patience, that the legal question involved intent. Consequently it wasn't a matter where they could easily provide assistance.

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#14

Post by patio11 »

ishener wrote: post #8

I feel really sorry for you situation. I first suggest talking to the hosting provider and explain what happened. Any decent service will give some discount in this case. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else. I wish it was realistic to tell you to go to the police. Also, if you would give your email, I would definitely consider sending a donation through paypal... Hopefully other readers here will do the sam…

There is one great reason to go to the police: it establishes a paper trail documenting that a crime was committed. It isn't necessary that the police catch the bad guys for that paper trail to be advantageous.

(Examples: police reports make CC disputes and legal declarations much easier and more likely to be given weight as other than self-serving explanations of a deadbeat. It may also trigger insurance policies either for you or for the VPS company.)

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#15

Post by monstermonster »

Blahah wrote: post #10

1. Report the incident to the police. Right now. 2. Report it to the VPS provider. Explain that you've reported it to the police. Ask for their cooperation in investigating the problem. You do not have to pay. If they try to force you to pay, depending on your country, you'll probably end up in small claims court where you'll find judges are very reasonable people who usually side with the little guy. (IANAL)

Yes. This happened to a company I worked for in the UK in the last 1990s. We had a half rack full of NT4 machines and someone got into our kit and used it to run a pr0n FTP. They took us to court to pay up and the magistrate said we had no bill to pay and that it was a waste of court time as it wasn't intentional.

You're right about reporting a crime though even if the police don't take it seriously. A crime ref number goes a long way on its own.

Edit: we had to move our kit sharpish though as the company exercised their right to throw it on the street within 24 hours.

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#16

Post by hyperpape »

minopret wrote: post #13
Blahah wrote: post #10

1. Report the incident to the police. Right now. 2. Report it to the VPS provider. Explain that you've reported it to the police. Ask for their cooperation in investigating the problem. You do not have to pay. If they try to force you to pay, depending on your country, you'll probably end up in small claims court where you'll find judges are very reasonable people who usually side with the little guy. (IANAL)

I wonder what experiences we have with police in similar situations in recent years. In the USA many years ago I brought a telephone bill dispute to police. They explained, not without kindness and patience, that the legal question involved intent. Consequently it wasn't a matter where they could easily provide assistance.

What was the situation? In the OP's case, they're alleging a very definite crime of illegally accessing a VPN to do nasty things with it. I think at least taking a report is going to be standard behavior, though I wouldn't be surprised if they just let it "sit on the shelf".

If it's just a garden variety dispute with a company, then it's more likely to be a) a civil matter, and b) subject to interpretation.

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#17

Post by ishener »

patio11 wrote: post #14
ishener wrote: post #8

I feel really sorry for you situation. I first suggest talking to the hosting provider and explain what happened. Any decent service will give some discount in this case. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else. I wish it was realistic to tell you to go to the police. Also, if you would give your email, I would definitely consider sending a donation through paypal... Hopefully other readers here will do the sam…

There is one great reason to go to the police: it establishes a paper trail documenting that a crime was committed. It isn't necessary that the police catch the bad guys for that paper trail to be advantageous. (Examples: police reports make CC disputes and legal declarations much easier and more likely to be given weight as other than self-serving explanations of a deadbeat. It may also trigger insurance policies ei…

ok, so he should go to the police

but that has nothing to do with helping HIM...

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#18

Post by e40 »

BukhariH wrote: post #11

I've been in the exact same situation with AWS ( http://cl.ly/SHOu ). It was a nerve recking couple of days but I contacted AWS support and they were extremely good. They helped me secure my machine and then cancelled the 1.4K payment they were going to take from my account. In all the whole process took 2.5 weeks and I only had to pay $15 for the I/O requests. The best thing I can recommend is to talk to your host a…

I've seen AWS credit charges that people intended to make but didn't want. We have some public AMIs that include charges for our product. Twice AWS support contact us to ask if we would credit someone back on the order of $500 out of our pocket because their customer didn't realize running an AMI would incur charges. Yeah, I was pretty surprised by this, too. It seems AWS gives people one freebie, though.

Re: Ask HN: My VPS got hacked and now I'm facing a massive bill. What can I do?

#19

Post by guan »

e40 wrote: post #18
BukhariH wrote: post #11

I've been in the exact same situation with AWS ( http://cl.ly/SHOu ). It was a nerve recking couple of days but I contacted AWS support and they were extremely good. They helped me secure my machine and then cancelled the 1.4K payment they were going to take from my account. In all the whole process took 2.5 weeks and I only had to pay $15 for the I/O requests. The best thing I can recommend is to talk to your host a…

I've seen AWS credit charges that people intended to make but didn't want. We have some public AMIs that include charges for our product. Twice AWS support contact us to ask if we would credit someone back on the order of $500 out of our pocket because their customer didn't realize running an AMI would incur charges. Yeah, I was pretty surprised by this, too. It seems AWS gives people one freebie, though.

Did you grant the credit? Why or why not?
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