HutScanner got robbed on Tuesday night
And I'm flattered. No personal data was taken - we don't collect any.
For a split second I thought we'd gone viral
445 new users overnight for a one-person led app is fantastic. Upon looking closer, all 445 opened the map and left within seconds. Not one of them looked at a single hut. I had to dig deeper.
They weren't people
- 25,000 automated requests in eight hours
- Thousands of different addresses across a dozen countries
- All dressed up to look like ordinary browsers
- Right through the dead of night for me (someone planned that)
- All evidence of deliberate disguise
Someone used real thought, time and money to do this. Making sure there'd be no way to know who it was.
They took a lot - the data has taken 6 months to compile so far
They loaded and downloaded 62 of our 66 regions. Every hut, every route, every availability calendar we have.
Huts matched by hand to a dozen booking systems that agree on nothing. Working out which "refuge" is really an unmanned box with no beds. None of that can be automated.
Someone thought it was worth taking
They rented an anonymous network of connections to do it. As compliments go, it is a strange one.
Someone thought the work I had done was valuable and unique enough to pre-plan and execute a heist. I was buzzing all evening as that's the best validation I have got that HutScanner is something people want.
Why I'm not concerned
1. The review process is still ongoing, so good luck telling the automatically generated parts from the reviewed ones. 2. I'm making constant improvements, and the whole map will receive an architectural overhaul soon. 3. It is watched now. I would know the same night if it happened again.
It was quite a thrill
Whoever did it, best of luck.
In summary, robbed, flattered, unbothered. Back to it.