The Hack of Fool & Scholar - An Overview
Hello Everyone,
It's been over ten days since the initial hack hit us, and we wanted to give a clear but simple overview of what we have endured so far. This has been a harrowing experience for Fool & Scholar, and while we'll come out of this better equipped for the evils of the digital world, this whole event has shaken and hurt us. We were attacked on every level. They came after business assets and personal accounts, big and small. We're going to be vague for the sake of safety, so we can't answer all your questions.
Let's make it simple. And what's more simple than an infographic?
(Text from infographic repeated here)
What happened?
In mid-October, malicious malware was downloaded to our studio computer through an automatic file-sharing app used to collect audio files from our actors and contributors. This happened as we slept, and infected our other WIFI connected devices. This was the beginning of a complex cyberattack against Fool & Scholar.
What was affected?
The attack went after everything. It reached our social media feeds and emails, deleting two accounts and stealing others. They targeted business and personal accounts alike (like Battle.net). They hacked into our Patreon and attempted to change the banking info, as well as our AdSense (YouTube). Note: They did not get any Patreon money.
They went after all things big and small, from websites tied to banks... to shutting down our at-home vacuum robot. Later we learned they’d spoofed our phone numbers, causing new problems.
What did we do?
So much. First was changing passwords and setting up new means of account authentication. With our phone numbers spoofed, this was harder than expected. We hired an online cyber security expert to scan and monitor our computers while we worked to save what we could. We hired another expert to come to our home and help us rebuild and strengthen our online and hardware securities. Then we wiped everything. We lost a lot (entire projects), but not as much as we would have without help. Other projects will be delayed.
How are we now?
Tired, hardened, and certainly less trustful of anything on the internet. We took a financial hit from this attack, and it also came during the launch of our newest story: Don’t Mind Riku Cave, which suffered due to our lost social media accounts and lost time. We lost over fourteen days of work and many sleepless nights, but we are slowly recovering. We’re still fighting the good fight, and keeping up with cyber security will be an ongoing battle in this age of A.I.
Thank You.
Support from our community, friends, and family has helped get us through this, and we can’t thank you enough. We encourage you to check for your data in online breaches, update your systems to the most secure versions, and double check your two-factor authentication on every platform possible. We make fiction podcasts and were still a target. Be safe out there.
Ways to help
Please help us spread the word about Don't Mind Riku Cave. Our actors and collaborators put a lot of work into this show, and we want do right by them. Use #DontMindPod when talking about the show. They can take our socials but they can't take that.
Comments (30)
Nobody deserves for this to happen to them, but it especially stinks for these creeps to target independent artists. I'm keeping my pledge & making sure I get the Don't Mind feed on my new phone. I got to listen to the first episode-- very cool to hear Erika and Daisuke!
Thank you! We're glad you've enjoyed the show so far. We're really excited for it. :D
My heart hurts for you. I lost a ton of creative work when an old laptop died, and it was never recovered. Years of work just gone. This happened a decade ago and it still hurts. I’m sorry you had this experience, but I’m glad you were able to recover what you could, and get the support needed. Many virtual hugs!!
Thanks. We're happy to have what we've still got, and we'll just have to work to create more to fill the gaps!
I was excited to see Old Gods of Appalachia share Don't Mind yesterday! Agreeing that hacking is true horror!!
We love those guys and it's super nice of them to recommend us! Horror working hand in hand to fight the world!
Must be incredibly hard to keep fighting. Please, take care of yourselves; we'll wait however long it needs to be!
Thanks! We have a lot to do, but we also still have the drive to create. Our stories must come out!!
Well, seems like a good time for me to pledge again. Hang in there guys
If you want to join us again, we are always happy to have you!
I'm so sorry this happened, it's horrible, you have me every sympathy. I've loved all your work since your early days, and I'm not going anywhere. Keep fighting the good fight my friends. #AtreusEndures
May The Archon Watch Over Us All.
Thats horrible. I really hope you're getting back on your feet and can recover some of your work and accounts. Stay safe and I also hope you can take time to recover from this shocking situation
Thanks. We know some stuff is gone for good, but we're also happy to have secured and fought for what we got back!
I love the 8bit infographic! Sorry and heartbroken it all happened, and I'm glad you were able to recover things!
Thanks man. Trying to add levity to it all.
Oh gosh that's awful, I'm sorry. Thank you for the infographic!
We wanted to let everyone know what was up, but... you know, in a fun way. 😂
I'm so sorry for all your losses 😞 I'm a CyberSecurity Engineer and have been for a number of years, it's crazy ironic you got hit in October of all times (it's CyberSecurity Awareness Month). I know first hand how devastating an attack of this caliber can be and I have to commend you on how fast you took action and got help to harden your systems, even your robot vacuum lol (that's diabolical tbh). It's so scary and violating and I hate that such wonderful people had to go through this. But it's a rough lesson learned and thank you for sharing because it's a lesson that can be learned by all of your supporters. Now more than ever, be diligent and mindful online - it can truly happen to anyone. Good luck and Godspeed, we're routing for your recovery from this awful situation. 🙏🏾🤍 P. S. Your infographic is awesome 😎
Thanks for the kind words and the encouragement. Yes, it's... crazy what happened, and we did everything we could as quickly as we could, but I'm sure you know there's still more to do. We really do hope our community of listeners and fellow creators take this seriously; we lost good projects and we don't wish this on anyone.
Oh wow. This is awful that it happened. I know that all of us supporters just want you to take your time and we'll be here as long as you need to get back to everything. I love all your work and everyone just puts so much into it. Stay safe and we're not going anywhere, no matter how much time you need.
Thanks Chandra. It means a lot, and there's still so much we want to create.
I think this is the scariest horror story you’ve ever published, unfortunately not of the entertaining kind. Hang in there.
Certainly not the scary October we were looking forward to! 😓
Put me in a room with the asshole that did it. I'll go Gradius from Vigilance on they asses.
Man, would if I could! We just don't know why they came after us! Like... did they think our terabytes of files were BitCoin or something?? It's all audio! It's spaceship noises and wind!
Sounds absolutely brutal. As someone that works in the industry of fixing issues like these you have my absolute sympathy and I hope you've got a good MSSP or MDR solution now. If not I can make some recommendations about all things related.
We have worked on this from multiple fronts, and we think we now have the right solutions, but as we have learned, we never really know. We're creative people, and we try, but it's clear how much training people in the IT and Security fields need to stay up to date with what is happening.
It sounds miserable and I mourn the lost and delayed work. That said, I hope you take a collective deep breath and relax for a bit. It'll pay better dividends than trying to push through in my experience.
Thanks, we hope to breath easier on the far end of this. We're still trying to keep hold of the important things, like planning a fun Halloween or celebrating Eezo's birthday.