If you live in the United States, you were undoubtedly swept in "lotto fever" the last few weeks as the Powerball jackpot rose to over a billion dollars. While not quite the same amount, it looks like Ireland was having a bit of a rush, with their own lotto jackpot rising to €12 million (13 million USD). Unfortunately, those trying to purchase tickets for the largest jackpot in 18 months were met with a bit of frustration yesterday, as Ireland"s National Lottery website and ticket machines were knocked offline after a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.
According to the BBC, the attack started at around 11:21 GMT on Wednesday and proceeded to last for the next two hours. While data and the gaming system remain unaffected, the unexpected shut down coupled with the high volume of natural traffic, caused quite a stir for those trying to purchase tickets with hopes of winning. The website and machines have now fully recovered, with the lotto website greeting visitors with a splash page that proclaims that the site is protected from DDoS attacks by CloudFlare.
For those playing the lotto, good luck, as the jackpot for Saturday is projected to hit an astounding 14 million.
Source: BBC