It is a little bit of everything.Perhaps it was a dry run in preparation of targeting a bigger (richer) site. Perhaps the attackers/extortionists were going to milk the site bit by bit as some extortionists do.
- Could be testing their botnet (doubt it)
- From security blogs, if you pay them, they will come back with a monthly protection fee.
- Also from security blogs, if you pay them, they'll give you a discount to take out your competitors....
Thanks Shri for sharing this info, hope GEO team wins if hadn't already.
I hope my laptop isn't being used as one of the bots. I'll go home and follow what huja advised, thanks huja.
I am fairly confident that my machine and the server at work are clean, but will run those scans as a precaution. I will definitely scan my computer at home this weekend.
Tested my computer (Mac using WinXP) using Shri's software, beyond a couple of cookies in there there was nothing untoward. As I normally use MacOS I'm feeling happier, except when certain websites are prone to crashing out.
You will probably get approached now by security firms. Be very wary of them as they are probably the perpetrators.