Dear friends since Sunday night that the servers that host our ASMAA website and domain is under a serious DNS attack from some very nasty hackers. The website itself is secure and they haven't managed to break into it and we keeping it safe by monitoring it 24x7.

I was hoping for a quiet peaceful start of the new year with at least a half day off and some peace and quiet. No such luck.

Currently many of you are able to access our site, just as many of you will not due to the DNS attacks.

But the attack is not only on the ASMAA domain “www.asmaa-algarve.org", they also attacking another of our domains the Dar Voz ao Povo “dasvozaopovo.org”, which are the two domains we use in our fight against oil and gas drilling in Portugal. (And yes we do have other domains which are not being used publicly by ASMAA and which are not being attacked)

We could assume that its just one of these things that we hear about on the Internet and which can happen to anyone that has a website as it’s a risk we all face, if we were not in a position to analyse past events as well.

Since 2016 our website has been attacked on a regular basis, although the attacks have become much more sophisticated and malicious in the last few months. But we can now safely state that it has not been random attacks, and yes, we are tracking the “nasties”.

Interestingly the first serious attack took place a few days before we submitted our objection petition against the award of a TUPEM licence to Galp/ENI by the Portuguese government, and since then every time a major milestone was reached, the “nasties" came out to play.

To give you an idea …

asmaa-algarve.org website major hacking attacks

20, 21 and 22 June 2016 - petition against Galp/ENI Tupem application – website taken down on the night of 21 June. Our team worked through the night to fight this attack and had the website safe and online by 10h00am on 22 June.

11 to 14 July 2016 – ENMC / DGRM info sessions (Aljezur / Portimão) on GALP/ENI Tupem application - major DDOS attack – during these days, major attempt to break into the website - over 10,000 per minute.

13 & 14 Jan 2017 – First info workshop in Milfontes held on 14 Jan about the risk of Galp/ENI drilling – major DDOS attack on the 13 and 14 Jan. Another major DDOS attack. Many attempts to break into the website.

25 and 26 July 2017 - Info session in Aljezur about the Galp/ENI drilling risks - website under serious DDOS for 2 days.

10 to 12 August 2017 – Odeceixe "Save the Scared" beach event against Galp/ENI drilling. On the 11 August - hackers managed to get into the backend of website for first time. Backdoor found and closed by our team. Site back online on the morning of 12 August. DDOS attack continued through out the day.

19 to 21 December 2017 – Petition (Galp/ENI Tupem licence) vote in Parliament – Website under DDOS attack – 20,000 per minute. They could not break into the site but caused major access problems to our reader database.

21 September 2018 – Appeal about class action in court – same day that court Advert was published – our website major DDOS started at 8h00am until 18h00 with over 20,000 per minute attacks.

6 January 2019 till now – major DNS attack on asmaa-algarve.org domain – still running.

9 January 2019 – on the 8 and 9 we used another of our domains emails (which sits on a different server) to send out a small broadcast to my personal database using the domain darvozaopovo.org – since yesterday this domains in now also under a DNS attack that is still running.

Its clear that there’s a direct correlation between the various attacks on our web domains and websites linking directly to events relating to the Galp/ENI matter. It’s no longer a coincidence.

For example our website can be assessed from some places like Munich, California and even some areas in Portugal, but Rome, Sofia and Toronto reports DNS look-up errors?These are just a few examples, but we have many more. For someone to be able to launch and sustain the kind of attack that we are experiencing now, requires lots of money (bags full), access to the right skills (which there aren’t many around and these that are come with a hefty price), and the right infrastructure (computing power).

It is quite evident that ASMAA is very unpopular in certain circles for being extremely efficient and professional in our anti-oil campaigns. We are also the only organisation that has compiled over the years a detailed record of events across Portugal, and our website is used extensively by all that has an interest in this fight. Including pro-oil individuals and organisations.

It also appears that ASMAA is the only anti-oil organisation in Portugal that is experiencing this kind of attacks. It also makes us wonder why?

Another factor to keep in mind is that the ENI/Galp TUPEM licence issued by the DGRM 2 years ago, expires today. If nothing else, if they want to drill off the coast of Aljezur, they will need to restart the process from scratch. So yes, I guess we have seriously upset the powers that be and their controllers.

A date that you need to add to your diary is the 11 of February 2019, when we will be at the TAF (court) in Loulé for a preliminary hearing that is scheduled to start at 14h00. This hearing deals with our main case against the government (and GALP/ENI).

But as a result of this latest threat, we request that if you need to get in touch with us, or want to follow what is going on, that you contact us via Facebook until further notice – here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/asmaaalgarve/

In the meantime what this means as well is that it has not only disrupted our normal work but also greatly increased our costs. We are a small association, unlike these that we are up against.

PLEASE DONATE TODAY TO OUR LEGAL CAMPAIGN | FAZ UM DONATIVO PARA A NOSSA CAMPANHA JURIDICA
As our legal battle escalates, so do our costs. Currently we have to cover costs of 3484,68€ by tomorrow, and we raised only 265€ so far. Which means we are 3220€ short. The matter is serious, and this time you have to seriously ask yourself if you want us to keep on fighting against this risk or not. We can’t do it all on our own, we NEED your support in the form of a donation NOW

Please DONATE today to our anti-oil campaign fund. Currently we have two legal actions running in the high court to try and protect all our rights to a clean environment, our way of life, and the general public interest.

Via PayPal (including credit card payments): info@asmaa-algarve.org

Via Bank Transfer (EFT) - BANK: SANTANDER TOTTA (LAGOS ALGARVE)
ASMAA Algarve Surf and Marine Activities Association
IBAN: PT50 0018 0008 02686698020 51
REF: ANTI OIL&GAS - LEGAL

Thank you!

Laurinda Seabra and the rest of the team
Mobile: 969 320 231

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/asmaaalgarve/